Driving through Cathedrals towns North of Paris

One of my goals on this trip is to recreate some of the paths that my father took on his trip to Europe in 1949. On Thursday we rented a car in Paris and set off on a day long journey that would take us to Soissons, Laon, Peronne, Amiens and Beauvais. I ended up cutting out visits to Coucy-le-Château and Château de Chantilly to save time, but the Cathedrals we saw were all worth it!

I had learned of my fathers trip to these Cathedral towns through a small diary he kept on his trip. Also, I scanned many negatives that I found and matched them up through countless google searches. The pictures my Dad took weren’t of very good quality, partly because his camera was broken (he stated he was taking it in for repairs) but mostly because his pictures didn’t include any people subjects, so they are just a picture of a Church. Sigh.

Sat Aug 13th, 1949:  Up at 7:00 – Have Phil’s Dad’s car for weekend – left for SOISSONS. Saw ruins of the Abby of St. John the Devine (walls sold in French Revolution for 4000 Fr.), saw the big cathedral (reconstructed after 1914-18 destruction) went on to BRAINE saw early french gothic church (quite small) on to REIMS – saw reconstructed Gothic church, very beautiful & Large – went next to LAON to spend night and see cathedral – Cathedral was exceptional, not as large as REIMS but different many humourous gargoyles (Monk) & stone statues & faces. Stayed at Hotel (?) (Back of choir square with rose window over – English)

From ADRs 1949 diary

Soissons

Our first stop was in Soissons, which is about an hour 20 minutes northeast of Paris on route A1. My Dad had two pictures of this church which was clearly damaged and not in use.

On our visit, we saw that the Cathedral had been renovated on the right side but as you can see, it was pretty much the same as it was then.

Laon

My Dad took a much more leisurely drive on his two night trip on 13th to 15th of August, 1949 and he spent the night in Laon in a hotel just behind this Cathedral.

While we didn’t stay the night, we had lunch in a nice little restaurant in an alley behind the Church. It was nice to feel the presence of my Dad again and share the experience of these incredibly beautiful architectural marvels as we toured the Churches.

Peronne

The visit to Peronne was the highlight for me as it was the only place that we actually had a picture of my Dad, which of course makes it more real. The Castle of Peronne hosts the Great War museum which was opened long after my father visited in 1949.

Sun Aug 14th, 1949: Left LAON 7:30am for COUCY-LE-CHATEAU (old fortress & Castle built around 1000, destroyed in 1600 & 1918) wonderful place, imagination can run wild – PERONNE (old fortress) couldn’t see through, not so hot – AMIENS saw famed cathedral beautiful on outside but inside ruined by baroque additions (Alter, pulpet, chapels) – ROUEN, churches all bombed, cathedral not open but beautiful on outside, St. Maclou also closed – stayed in unique hotel (sheets, mirror)

From ADRs 1949 diary

My favorite photos above 🙂

Amiens

Not only is this photo damaged but look at the church which obviously suffered substantial damage from WWII. Today the area around the church has been completely rebuilt.

Beauvais

Mon Aug 15th, 1949: In morning went through St. OUEN (n.b. Monastery of Saint-Ouen) – very lovely church (Facade 1800’s but rest 1200s) – BEAUVAIS. excellent (n.b. Saint Peter) cathedral (half finished – no nave ) extra large (158ft), saw old towers of Palais de Justice – SAINT-LEU-D’ESSERENT crossed OISE RIVER on hand pulled ferry (very primitive, but fun) – SENLIS saw old church, saw church parade Joan D’Arc won battle here Aug 5, 1429 – CHANTILLY, saw Chateau of Prince Conde (Story of cook) – ST DENIS, Joan D’Arc betrayed here, kings of France buried here, Beautiful church, heard vespers (n.b. sunset evening prayer service), saw part of Crypt – back to Hotel D’Isly

From ADRs 1949 diary

The Cathedral today: it was pretty much impossible to get a photograph from the same angle as in 1949 because now there are buildings surrounding the area very close to the Church. Look at the above photo to get a feel for the scale of this monster cathedral!

Although we did the trip in one day it was still a fantastic day and has brought these strange locations that I found in my Dad’s notes alive. There is really no substitution for understanding a place than to actually be there and to fully experience it. How much I would have loved to talk to my Dad about this trip. How did this plan to visit these Cathedrals come about? Why was he drawn to these places?

A final picture for tonight. This was the hotel that my Dad stayed at after returning from this 2 night trip to the Cathedrals. It was called Hotel D’Isly then but now it has been remodeled and is Hotel La Villa. It is a 30 minute walk from this Hotel to the Opera de Paris which will be a subject of another day.