Saint-Quentin to Tergnier

The two photos above are from my walk out of Saint-Quentin on Friday morning. The first is a completely whimsical mural of a dozen Salvador Dali portraits along with images from some of his paintings. There was no sign indicating why the mural was there, but it was a fun thing to run across randomly. The second is a pop-up flower stand in honor of May 1, Labor Day in France. There were dozens of these stands on the streets of San Quentin. In addition to the holiday’s many marches and gatherings celebrating labor and workers’ rights, there is also a tradition of giving your family and friends small bouquets of flowers to celebrate the end of winter.

The Canal de Saint-Quentin

I wasn’t expecting much when I left Saint-Quentin. In fact, I was kind of dreading it a little because I assumed the trail would be a repeat of the last few stages, and the day’s walk was longer than I really wanted to do (20 miles). Once again, though, the day had positive surprises for me, and at least half of the day’s trail was on the towpath of the Canal de Saint-Quentin, which runs a total distance of 58 miles with 35 locks. Construction of the canal began in 1768 and was completed in 1810. It is still operational although it carries very little traffic south of Saint-Quentin. That sort of logistical and engineering accomplishment in 1768 tells me, once again, that we wildly underestimate how skilled and intellectually capable people were long before the 20th century.

Since May 1 is a national holiday in France, there were a lot of people fishing, running, riding bikes, and just generally enjoying a beautiful spring day.

The trail left the canal (temporarily) at the village of Seraucourt-le-Grand, after which there were some long stretches through fields on what looked like at first like a gravel road but which was actuallyI cobblestone. The cobblestone ran for miles from one village to another, but I couldn’t find any information about it. It just made me wonder what importance the road had at one time to merit the expense of making it cobblestone while now it only carries a few walkers and tractors each day.

The trail rejoined the canal in the village of Jessy, a few miles outside Tergnier, my destination for the night.

Tergnier wasn’t the most charming of French villages. It has an ancient history, but it was razed during World War I and heavily bombed during World War II. More recently, it has suffered the decline of industrialization associated with the canal and the railroads. I think it shows all those scars, physically and emotionally. Nevertheless, I had a clean room with a shower in a funky little hotel and a good meal in an Indian restaurant in which I was the only customer on a Friday night.