Editing Amiens (section)

==<FONT COLOR="#660000">Amiens and Picardy's spirit</FONT>==
Travelling an area will never show you the complete face of it. The photo on the right gives an idea of one of the face: [[File:Picardy_ID.jpg|thumb|350px|]]
Couchsurfing, Hitch Hiking, Meeting people help, but details can help :

1- In the stats, Northern France (Picardy + Nord) is the higher rate of alcoholism, within it Amiens is just at the national average for medium student city. Alcoholism follows the line of unemployment, Picardy's economy is mainly about agriculture : Beetroot (for sugar), potatoes. Cattles are in the west (Bay the Somme). Large industries are still in but, as elsewhere, they tend to go away.

2- Health : Amiens, main city of Picardy got everything needed. The first complete face transplant some years ago happened here. But for a larger population: as Alcoholism follows unemployment, cancers follow alcohol. 

3- Education : Worst results of France at the A Level are shared between Corsica and ... Picardy but at Uni the level is good : as many places Medical, economy and Law are a priority, but Sociology is getting reknown as well.

4- Sport : Amiens is mainly about Ice-Hockey with its team called " Les Gothiques". Usually one of the best team of France with Rouen and Grenoble, in 2011-2012 the team didn't do what was expected from her. But in 2011 two of the Amiens' swimmers became world champions. In rowing Picardy is usually good. But far from all those entertainments, the first sport in Picardy is hunting. If wild boars and deers have better to hide themselves the main targets of Picardy hunters are birds. Here that's the hunters who hide themselves in huts around pounds and rivers (from Peronne to Baie de Somme via Amiens and Abbeville).

5-environment : Amiens has developped a large pedestrian area and tracks for bikes. there are 2 mains park : La Hotoie and St Pierre where birds like to live. Both park are irrigated by natural rivers. Amiens has dedelopped on either banks of the Somme River. So it results that you can cross the city from west to East along the river and mostly with no car to interfere. East Side, the '''hortillonages''' are specifics to Amiens. They are "floating gardens", created by roman they used to, in Middle Age, to feed, roughly, the northern part of Europe. These days there are mainly private garden while four allotment still sell their vegetables at the St Leu Market on saturday mornings. To visit the area a boat is most needed, following which CS members will host you, you may have a more or less nice sightseeing. Natural zones are getting more protection these days around Amiens


===<FONT COLOR="#990000">How to come to Amiens</FONT>===

* '''By Car:''' 1h30from [[Paris]], 1h15 from [[Lille]], 1h20 from [[Rouen]], 40 min from [[Beauvais]] and its [http://www.aeroportbeauvais.com/ airport] (it's Paris airport for many cheap fly), 15 min from Villers-Bretonneux and its Australian and New-Zealand memorial for WWI (ANZAC day on 25th April).

* '''By Carpooling:''' You can find a driver or passenger to share the ride and cut on travel cost. In France carpooling is very popular and is called "covoiturage". Try [http://www.covoiturage.fr/ Covoiturage.fr] to get to Amiens. 

* '''By Train:''' The main train in [[Picardy]] is Paris-Amiens = 1h05 (if stop at Longeau) or 1h30 if more stops (Creil, St Just, Clermont) (no TGV, fast trains, only trains called "TER" or "Intercités"), you will arrive in Amiens' city center. But WARNING if you take the TGV (fast train in France), you won't stop in Amiens but in a train station 45 min away called "Gare TGV Haute-Picardie" where coaches are available for Amiens .