I decided to try a bikepacking expedition down the towpath of the river Somme as a bit of a holiday this year.
The river Somme has been canalised for many years for most of its length so I thought it would be easy for an OAP like me.
The bike I took was an old Bickerton Country folding bike, 20'' wheels with offroad tyres. I carried tent,s.bag clothes etc in a 25 litre rucksack attached to saddle with the rest of the kit in the bike bag attached to the handlebars. As a folding bike in its bag I could take it on the Eurostar.
I got off at the Calais Frethun station and then caught local trains to Noyelles sur Mer, nearest station[also with campsite] to the start at St Valery sur Somme. The estuary is worth exploring for a couple of days with towns like le Crotoy and St Valery and dedicated cycle tracks to keep you out of the traffic.
As a Guide I used the Editions du Breil guide to the Somme. This is aimed at boat owners but it was excellent for my purpose.
1st day via Abbeville to Long. 2nd day to Amiens; nothing strenuous as only a distance of about 60Km. Lovely picturesque ride with views of Kingfishers skimming alongside.
Stayed at Parc des Cygnes campsite just outside Amiens for 2 nights, you can use the towpath to get right into the centre of town to explore and as I found cycle right through onward.
4th day on to Corbie via the historic area of Les Hortillonages a sort of watery market garden area for Amiens. Just at the end of this bit I came across a 2.5Km section where the towpath was just a grass track and difficult cycling for my bike, there was another section of about 400m just before Corbie. At Corbie the towpath seemed to be in the process of being relaid onwards.
5th day from Corbie I cut across country by train to Ham from Villers Bretonneux. I wanted to explore that area a bit as I had done a school exchange about 50 odd years before. Stayed at Voyennes [where Henry V crossed the Somme before Agincourt.] My plans did not work out the Somme canal is not used for navigation here and the towpath is just grass path. There was a strong wind and I did not fancy busy roads as an alternative.
6th day up to Bethencourt where the Somme canal becomes the Canal du Nord and the towpath reappears. Cycled up to Peronne.
7th day looked round Peronne big museum on WW1, Historial de la Grand Guerre essential visit.
8th day cycle on minor roads from Peronne to TGV Haute Picardie Station {15km] TGV to Lille Europe [27minutes] then Eurostar to London.
With hindsight my decision to cut across country was a mistake, I would have been better continuing on from Corbie to Peronne stopping at a campsite en route which would have been more interesting. The distances I covered were not great but the idea was a steady
potter along the towpath.
I could recommend it as an interesting traffic free journey through that part of France.
