Péronne, France 2018 🇫🇷 – Michael and Pam's Travels

Date: 6th October 2018

Travelled: 361 kms from Noyers-sur-Serein via Sézanne to Péronne, in the Somme.

Visited: Troyes, Sézanne and Péronne.

Stayed: Péronne municipal aire, free, limited services. N49.92630, E02.92663

Budget: 125 days @ €91 per day.

A very noisy start to the day in Noyers. The town is surounded by an étang or lagoon of which the River Serein is part. As a result it’s duck and water fowl heaven. Mind you it doesn’t get light until after 7am so it’s only noisy over breakfast.

We need to return the key to Mairie (Town Hall), so we plan a 10am departure. The Hymer is empty of everything nasty and full of fresh water. Pam returns the key and picks up a fresh baguette and we are on our way.

Once again we run the French D roads. Our first stop is a personal favourite of Pam’s, Troyes and the MacArthur DFO. We stop here every year is seems and Pam spends a couple of hours hunting something special for grandchildren. I get no joy from the place, however I do pop into Ralph Lauren and pick up a couple of polos as usual. We lunch then continue on for Sézanne.

Sézanne, Grand-Est, France

There is a free dedicated motorhome parking area (N48.72124, E03.72136) in Sézanne, it has no services but it does have free electricity. It’s already getting late so we do a quick walk up town. We are told it’s market day tomorrow (Saturday) and we need to park on the opposite side of the parking area.

The town square in Sézanne. The bars are just starting to get going as we walk into the centro. We probably didn’t spend enough time in Sézanne to really appreciate it.

The Church was an interesting one. Under the tower at one end of the church there are shops. A relatively modern residential building is attached to the other end of the church.

Inside the church. There are a couple of old ladies cleaning and doing this and that. One of them kindly comes over and gives us a tour. Interesting she tells us Sézanne has a large Portuguese community, we don’t know why.

So we have a free night in Sézanne. Mind you it’s noisy from about 5.30am with bins being emptied and venders arriving and setting up. It quietens down again and we have a bit of a sleep in. Pam loves a French street market, so we cruise through looking for something different for dinner tonight. We purchase a rolled jambonneau (cooked ham) with some new potatoes that had been simmered in a spicy stock.

We set the GPS to get us out of town on the D951. We do a short section of motorway to bypass Reims then spend the next hour or so on the D1044 to St.Quentin.

Having stopped at the aire in St.Quentin on our first trip across France some 5 years ago, we thought it would be a safe bet. However we arrive to find a huge festival underway, most of it directly across the canal from the aire. We have a late lunch, think about a noisy night ahead. I get the data-base out and set the GPS for Péronne.

Péronne, Hauts-de-France, France

We know nothing about Péronne and there’s nothing in our guide book. Anyway it has a nice little free aire, so we make ouselves at home.

Pam wants a walk so we head off for a look around. There are obvious ruins of old fortifications all about.

After walking around the étang we walk up town finding parts of the original fort intact. It’s now part of a war museum. Even more interesting an Australian flag flies above the gates.

We continue uptown into the main square. The church in the background.

The architect who designed the Mairie (town hall) has let loose his imagination.

It’s too late to visit the museum today, so we make our way back to the Hymer for drinks and dinner. The aire is full of German motorhomes on our return. We have a bit of a chat with our neighbour, without mentioning the war.

We have a quiet evening and a good sleep. It’s another cool misty morning, we breakfast, service the Hymer and say goodbye to the Germans. We drive up into town as there is a carpark next to the museum.

So we pay our €7pp and go and check out the museum.

Not sure what this is or where it came from. But it does catch your eye.

To our surprise the museum has a wing dedicated to the Australian’s and their liberation of Péronne and nearby St.Quinten in September and October 1918.

Another very Aussie reference. Just a passing comment, it was surprising how many people were visiting the museum for an early Sunday morning.

Our visit to Péronne concludes and we continue our travels transitting France for the Chunnel.

Michael and Pam

Edited with BlogPad Pro

2 thoughts on “Péronne, France 2018 🇫🇷”

2 Comments

Jeni Pollard
October 10, 2018, 10:36

France as always looks beautiful, lovely architecture. Great photo of Pam.

Doriana Jones
October 10, 2018, 22:43

So many interesting and pretty places your finding. Enjoy and see you when you get back.

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2 thoughts on “Péronne, France 2018 🇫🇷”