La Baie de Somme, une Odyssée Picarde – Les 100 Lieux qu’il faut voir – Documentaire – MG

La Baie de Somme, une Odyssée Picarde – Les 100 Lieux qu’il faut voir – Documentaire – MG

Do you like France? Do you like to explore it,
discover it, and meet it? Sometimes you even
feel like you know her well. We all have a small beach,
a small cove, a clearing, a hamlet or a path that belongs
only to us, far from the beaten track, and that we only want to share with
those we love. This is the France we want
you to discover, through 100 places that you absolutely must see in your lifetime. Today, we are heading to the Bay of Somme, a little corner of Picardy,
located less than three hours from Paris. Considered one of the most beautiful
on the planet, this bay follows the long and winding history
of its river: the Somme. This trip will introduce you to some of the
wonders of the Picardy coastline, including the medieval heart
of Saint-Valery, the historic capital of the bay,
the splendid gardens of Valoire Abbey, and the
inimitable architecture of one of France’s oldest seaside resorts,
Mers-les-Bains. The Bay of Somme
is also a wild setting that is home to an exceptionally rich fauna. So many treasures that you will discover
in the company of those who live, love and bring the bay to life. A fishing and pleasure port,
sheltered in the hollow of the Somme estuary, Saint-Valery takes its name from the monk
Valaric, who evangelized the region in the 7th century. Saint-Val, as its inhabitants call it
, is above all the most picturesque village in the bay. So this is where we
will begin our adventure. An adventure in Centre-Mesle,
in the heart of the Bay of Somme. A thousand-year-old history, sometimes little-known,
and an exceptional architectural heritage. Here we go ? Yes, it was Isabelle who wanted to
accompany us for this visit. I’ll finish the tour anyway. By this magnificent view. And so there, it is one of the most beautiful
panoramas, with the mouth of the bay and therefore the sea entering. Isabelle is a passionate guide
who loves sharing her love of this region with
day visitors or vacationers. On the left, therefore the point,
with the Marquenterre park. These magical places, which you will
soon discover, were the backdrop to Isabelle’s childhood. That’s why she absolutely wanted to
reveal her Saint-Valery to us. Is everyone okay? Isabelle chose to start our
visit in the oldest part of the city, the medieval quarter. To accompany her,
she knows she can count on the knowledge of her friend Hervé
Bernard, a guide at the Tourist Office. Hello Isabelle. So, I know Saint-Valery well, but
tell me, why this meeting here? Because we are located right at the foot
of the towers and these two towers are the symbol of Saint-Valéry. They date from the 11th century. We must clearly imagine this gate
with a large Lovis bridge which lowered and rose,
with a guardhouse above which, unfortunately, has disappeared. And then, a large ditch in front
which defended access to the medieval city, because we are
located at the entrance to the old town. Why are they called
the Guillaume towers? Ah, they’re called the William Towers
, in memory of the passage of the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror,
who left in 1066. In fact, he was claiming the
English crown after the death of Edward the Confessor. He gathered an army in Normandy, had
400 drakkars built, and a huge armada set
sail from the Normandy beaches. But at the time, well, they had
n’t necessarily been in France. What happened? A storm surprised them,
the north, northwest winds actually forced them into the Somme estuary. We can imagine that at the beginning of September
1066, the entire fleet was pushed by violent winds. And besides, it appeared that several
boats capsized, ran aground, there were damages. And so the entire fleet was
stuck for almost three weeks. Another much less well-known anecdote is that
it was also in this district that one of the most famous heroines of our
history was delivered to the worst enemies of France. So here, we really pass
under the Joan of Arc gate. This plaque commemorates the passage of Joan
of Arc, taken prisoner by the English, who passed through this
gate on December 20, 1430. In fact, Joan of Arc was held prisoner
by the Burgundians and they had moved her from castle to castle. And the last castle she
stopped at was the Crotoy fortified castle. Okay, which is right across the street. So. And one day, a beautiful morning in December
1430, the tide must have been high, they took him across the Bay
of Somme on a small sailing boat, and the English really took charge of
Jeune d’Arc, here at Porte-Guillaume, to bring him to Rouen. In Rouen. If you want to immerse yourself like Isabelle and Hervé in the medieval world of Saint-Vaast,
nothing could be easier. The city still contains many
cobbled streets that intertwine between venerable half-timbered houses,
the oldest of which date back to the 15th century. Our visit continues to the
Saint-Martin church, a splendid religious building whose stone mosaic wall,
characteristic of this coastline, is impeccably preserved. So, Isabelle, we can come up here
and see an example of a near-perfect checkerboard wall by the fellow masons
who knew how to cut flint. So that’s quite
typical of the region. So, that’s what we
find going 10, 12 kilometers around the Bay of Somme. And after that, we don’t see any more. And he knew how to cut flints
in a certain way. The flint cut in two. It is repeated on four sides. And then they are arranged
on top of each other, but without joints per year. And at the time, there was no
cement, no mortar. Obviously, yes. It was sand,
clay and lime. And it is the compression of the mass of the wall
which has not moved, in fact, for 500 years. It’s impressive. This is a very,
very beautiful piece of work. And if we can approach a little
further, we can see the signature of the Masonic companions. I will come to you who comes
to the coastal church. Destroyed during the Hundred Years’ War,
then rebuilt in the 15th century, the church is located at the top of the medieval quarter that you have just discovered. Saint-Val was fortified in the Middle Ages,
as the city housed one of the most prosperous fishing and trading ports
in the Kingdom of France. Although fishing has now
practically disappeared, the lower part still bears witness to this activity. It is truly a typical district
of the lower town of Saint-Valéry, it is the Courguin district. And we call it the Courguin district
because people did n’t earn much money. Short, small, earnings, salary. People have low incomes. And that’s why most of
the houses around us are very low, close together
, you know, with only one story. And actually, the upstairs
was just the attic. And these were large families
who occupied these small houses, perhaps families
of six, eight or ten people. Indeed, in
such a confined space, we were going to… Yes, in particular. So there were the children,
but there were also the grandparents. And then, most of the houses are
very colorful, bright colors. This is the testimony of the Navy. Every year, the sailors repainted what was
called the boat’s mustache, that is to say the waterline,
and the excess paint was systematically put back on the doors and
shutters. Which is why the
Fisherman’s House was in fact the image of the boat. This is how families
recognized each other. It’s very… Very comical,
and typical and traditional. For Clore, our Valérican escapade,
Isabelle asks Hervé to go back up to the top of the city to
show us the most beautiful view of the Bay of Somme. Along the way, they improvise a short
stop in front of the sailors’ calvary, an essential site of local history. It was on this place, on this belvedere,
that the wives of sailors came to see if their husbands were returning safely from fishing. She recognized
the boat’s crash in the distance. And unfortunately, sometimes, inevitably,
there were shipwrecks in the Bay of Somme. It also served as a
place of meditation. And that’s why we have a small
oratory, this little chapel that is there in honor of the sailors
who have disappeared at sea. Located slightly away
from Saint-Valery, facing a fantastic panorama, this charming little corner
is almost the place of privileged reunions for lovers. Welcome to the Sailors’ Chapel,
built at the top of Cape Hornu. It’s a very old chapel, then? No, it is not that old,
since Abbot Caron, who was the priest at the end of the 19th century,
in office at the parish of Saint-Vaast-a-Rie,
demolished the old Romanesque chapel to rebuild this chapel in a
neo-Gothic style, like the church of Saint-Valéry, since he
reused the checkerboard walls. And what do we see
here, Hervé? So, here, you see,
these are limestone stones that were used, between the checkerboard. And then, the young Valéricans,
as it is quite crumbly stone, were able to write their names, graffiti. So, it was already done at the end of
the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century, right away, when the chapel was built. So, this was where the young
Valericians took the oath of loyalty to each other. So, theoretically,
this is something that should not be pursued again at the moment. But, that said,
very old inscriptions are… They are part of the heritage. The inscriptions
are absolutely part of the heritage. These magnificent lights and shimmering colors have earned the Bay of Somme its official classification as one of
the most beautiful bays in the world. However, this natural jewel is threatened,
victim of an inescapable phenomenon. For centuries now,
the river mouth has been retreating deeper and deeper inland. This is how the Molières are formed,
immense plots of land mixed with sand that only the high
tides still manage to cover. This geological phenomenon is the East. However, organic farming does make
some people happy. Sefolk, Ameshaier or Boulonnais,
the sheep of the Bay of Somme, are the big winners
from the appearance of these meadows. They are weighed there all year round, offering
their lovers tender, red flesh. Isabelle wanted us to meet one of the bay’s breeders, Régis from Coucou Régis. Hey, did you find me? Yes, with difficulty, not easy. It’s true that we’re quite far away there. We are right in the heart of the bay. We tend to get lost trying to get there.
Exactly, exactly. So your herd is
still here or not, Régis? No, we move through the marshes. That is to say, when the
tidal coefficients drop and the sea goes down, we move forward. So we find ourselves rather
opposite Saint-Valery, first of all. And when next… With the big marshes. Yes, we are evacuating. And then, really,
when the sea really rises sharply where there is a big risk
of drowning, because we are not sheltered, we evacuate and go back behind the
dikes to get to safety. Why are they called
salt meadow lambs and sheep? Because they regularly graze on
a specific grass called powderpost grass. And who is salty then? Yes, which is iodized, highly iodized. There is also the impact,
the atmosphere, marine. We do a lot of walking,
so it has an impact on our muscles and our quality of life. It’s true that we have
very red meat, strongly marked, muscularly fibrous. Let’s say it’s really… Compared to a classic lamb.
Yes. There are around ten breeders
like Régis in the bay. The culmination of several decades
of work, their sheep have been classified as a protected designation of origin
since 2013. Like their cousin from Mont-Saint-Michel. Looks like everyone’s
regrouping here. Well yes, yes, yes, well there,
that is to say that we are at the end of the day, there, it is 5:00. Well, we’re going, we’re going back to the park. They have
eaten enough for today. They are, as they say, round,
that is to say they are really full of grass.
So there, we’re going to take them to sleep. We’ll put them to bed in the park. We have a net,
an electrified net to make them sleep tonight, to prevent them from wandering
and then to disperse tonight. So we bring them in.
You take this way, your right there. No worries.
I’ll take a left. We put everything together. Come on. It’s going to be just as we wanted. That’s good, my dog, you work well. Come on. If you’re wondering where to enjoy this
meat, follow Isabelle’s advice. His recommendation: take a full tour
of the bay to get to Le Crotoy, the village opposite Saint-Valery. In this inn,
salt meadow lamb is Pascal Lefèvre’s specialty. How are you going to
prepare this little lamb for us? We’re going to cook it
in three ways, in fact. So, actually, it’s three
different pieces of lamb, completely. The small lamb chops that we’re going to
grill instead, because lamb chops are often found that way
and in terms of their taste, they’re very good. The leg of lamb, which is whole,
we will cut into small slices of lamb which we will pan-fry. And the rest of the lamb,
we cooked it in a marinade, so it’s just finishing cooking, frankly. Your specialty is
using all local products. So, for example, would
n’t that be Juliette des Sables? Yes, that’s right, actually. It is a potato that grows
in the Somme Bay region, which is eaten with its skin, since it
grows in sandy soil. So, we really use
products from the Somme Bay. We try to promote them,
to make people discover them by trying to find them
from local producers. All right. We favor
short circuits and zero carbon. We’re going to start cooking,
we’re going to make a small piece of leg of lamb that we’re going to cook. We will season at the start of cooking,
a little pepper, a little salt. Do you add salt? Salt, yes, because contrary to what you
might think, salt meadow lamb is not naturally salty. The mother salt,
which the lamb grazes on while eating its food, only serves to give it its
flavor and color, the pink color of its flesh, but will not salt the flesh. It’s a beautiful coloring. It has already taken on a beautiful color. So. So I sear it in a
very hot pan with olive oil. Olive oil can heat up much more
than butter, which allows it to have a nice
color without burning, in fact. Pascal’s lamb stew simmered for
over an hour before being presented in a casserole dish, alongside
the chops and the pan-fried leg of lamb. There you go, your recipe is already, already ready. We’re almost done.
We’re going to dress the plate. We’re going to put a little good package. We’ll come and place your little rib. The slice of leg of lamb.
Yes. We’re going to add a little bit of color with
a small leaf of carmine, it’s a red book. How exactly do you prepare your
sauce, Pascal? It’s a sauce that I made with the
lamb bones, we roasted them in the oven and actually made
a jus that we reduced. We got this little sauce
which is very fragrant and strong in taste. I suggest you taste it. Go ahead. The plate,
how it is served in a restaurant, currently the eggplant marigold, Super. So, what wine do I pair it with? More of a Loire wine,
served a little chilled. But the real highlight of this getaway that Isabelle has put together for us is a hike that begins in
Le Crotoy. And not just any hike,
since it involves crossing the Bay of Somme,
one of the largest estuaries in France. This is the walk that you
absolutely must not miss. But be careful, don’t venture there
without an experienced guide like Emmanuel Dubert. Hi Lisa. Hi Vannu, how are you?
Very good, in shape? GOOD.
Ready for… So you’re taking me
across the bay? Right, yeah, yeah. So, we’ll leave there,
quietly, until the locks. All right. We jog and then go down to the bay
to go to Saint-Valéry, three kilometers. It’ll be OK.
In shape? Here we go.
Here we go. I follow you. Isabelle offered us something to eat before leaving, as the length of this walk across the bay
depends on the extent of the marshes. You really have to walk
slowly so it doesn’t get in. But it’s true that today,
with the big marshes, there’s… Yeah, well I thought about it.
There’s a little juice. The crossing is of course made at low tide and has some new culinary surprises in store for walkers. So there, the samphire, hop there,
you cut it delicately. If you want to taste.
Okay, thank you. You’ll see, it’s the best.
Just like that, straight into the bay. Oh yes, that changes. Ah, that’s a change from what we
usually find, so we consume, well, preserved in vinegar.
Exactly. You’re still making a funny face.
No, no. No, it’s fine. No, they’re not bad.
It can be eaten raw, directly. You make them into a salad. It is also cooked like
covered dishes, the simplest is steaming. Which is super rich in vitamin C. So, in fact,
it’s a super healthy product. We are lucky.
There they are in bloom in fact. So the little yellow dots,
but they’re actually the flowers of… Glasswort. Samphire. You have a bouquet of flowers right there on
there. Thank you,
because I have short legs. Here we are in a field
of sea asthera. The famous pig’s ears. It’s spectacular. So. You see, this is very, very good. We go a bit towards radish, black radish,
even sorrel, in fact, at certain times. But rather sweet. You’ll see later,
it’s like wine, in fact. There’s a little taste,
a second taste, you know. And it goes more towards a
slightly peppery hazelnut. And so we consume it… How? You then eat it raw, directly
in a salad, or it is cooked. There are actually quite a few
possible uses for it as a green vegetable, in fact, quite simply.
Here we go again. So be careful when going down. Cheneau, Slick or Molière,
all these formations discovered during the crossing are
the result of a long process. The sum leaves tons of clay
in the estuary which, once in contact with sea water,
transforms into sediment rich in trace elements that plants love. It actually changes all the time,
with added level differences. Saint-Valery-de-Mandou.
That’s it, you haven’t arrived. That’s it.
Not yet. We have less than a
kilometer left to go now. We will move forward because night is falling.
Yes, not much. It would be a shame to get lost anyway.
Exact. Come on, just a little more water. Even if you begin your walk under
an overcast and threatening sky, the Bay of Somme will almost always offer you
breathtaking sunsets. To enjoy this spectacle,
simply check the marsh opening hours to choose
a mid-afternoon departure. The sandy strips of the Estuary are
not the only treasures of the Bay of Somme. Once you’re there,
we recommend heading about twenty kilometers further south
to discover a radically different landscape of rugged cliffs. In the mid-19th century, the new fashion for sea bathing established the small meadow of Merce,
which thus became one of the first French seaside resorts. A top resort
with a panorama and architecture that will surprise you. The story I’m going to tell you
is the story of a man who does n’t care at all about what’s
in the sea, about how his life is. He just wants to live and survive. For this new visit,
Thomas will take over from Isabelle. This storyteller loves to tell stories
of his Somme Bay outdoors. He said to himself:
I’m going to hunt seals and I’m going to take the pots
and then I’m going to sell them. A sealskin sells for a lot. He then draws inspiration from the sumptuous
natural decor that surrounds him to better captivate his audience. Because that’s never
what there can be. If Thomas’s stories have made his
reputation bitter, he also knows how to listen to those of others.
In this case, our silk mother never tires of hearing Françoise Douvrin tell her the story of her city.
Hello Françoise. Hello Thomas. And especially that
of its colorful houses. I’m glad to see you here. What I would like is for you to
tell me a little bit about where it comes from, etc. How did all this happen? Well, originally, Meyre
was a small fishing village. You have to imagine that there
was nothing here. There was only a strip of pebbles,
a fort there. And the railway arrived
at Tréport. Le Tréport began to be built
as a seaside resort, with pleasure villas.
And then… First on the other side over there?
First on the other side. There was no longer enough space. And at that time, people
started building here. You see these houses, whirlwind,
twilight, moonlight. All three of them, yeah. These are three houses
that belonged to the same owner. He occupied the one on the corner,
he rented the other two. So if you look at them, they are
both similar and a little different. Because
when people rent, they had to not feel like they had the same house
as their parents. Okay. Where does this fashion for
sea bathing come from, ultimately? Well, it was Empress Eugenie,
the wife of Napoleon III, who started the fashion in Biarritz-et-Pie. And of course, things got tense at
all the stations. All coasts. So.
So, Merce was no exception.
Merce les Bains. So, bathing, at the time,
had therapeutic virtues. We took cold sea baths,
we took rope baths. We had a rope that was stretched,
a meter of the baths that was watching. And that was really the purpose,
we also took hot baths. So people came to the sea to have fun
and they also came to the sea to heal. So there is a society
that comes to be treated, etc. If you are looking for a good example
of architectural evolution, this is a city not to be missed. Inspired by the Second Empire,
it subsequently developed its own style ,
with the appearance of decorative ceramics on the facades,
then the construction of Oriels and Logia, with English influence. The inimitable result
is now protected. There is another question I ask myself,
for example, there, on the villa opposite us, it says RIP.
Is that his name? Do you know the names we
give to the villa? There were many opera names RIP,
it’s the title of a comic opera by Robert Planquette. There have been many names of pieces of
opera music, and then also many first names. Like Thomas, the people of Mers are
very attached to their heritage. Many residents regularly
call on experienced craftsmen to maintain or restore the Mersois spirit. One of them is just finishing
a construction site a little further away. Well, Thomas, you see,
we’re going to go see this house. So this is a house that has
been completely restored. And we’re going to meet Louise. Who is there working. There you go, who is a ceramist. Hello Louise.
Hello Françoise. Hello Louise.
Good morning. So today
is the start of the ceramic laying, the number and the name of the house. And in fact, we will be inspired,
we were inspired by the grilles, by the grille of the door which was recovered. This is an old grille that was very,
very damaged and was actually sandblasted, metallized and painted. It’s great when
people collect the grids. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I found her, well, interesting,
but it’s true that she had no character, she had no character.
Oh no. So, we had to think about
giving it a more Mercois character, and finding a little bit of…
consistency with the whole neighborhood that… There you go. So, your job, ultimately,
when you create the ceramic, is to work in conjunction with
the owner, what awaits them, and the architects possibly, everything that… Absolutely, since the project is
then submitted to the architects of the building of France. But because ultimately there
are two types of work. There is the restoration of
existing ceramics, and creation as today. Quite.
So in fact, they are
either reconstructions of already existing elements which are damaged
or which are fragmentary. And otherwise, afterwards,
we can also create something inspired by the setting,
the character of the house, the elements that already exist or not. Well, Louise, we’ll
let you work. THANKS. It’s mine. What I’d like to do now is
climb up to the top of the cliff over there. We have a beautiful day,
try to enjoy the view. So, to the statue up there, then?
Yeah, that’s it, yeah. Well, let’s go then.
Come on, let’s go. If
Thomas suggests to François Françoise to climb to the top of this
cliff, it is not only to allow us to enjoy the
breathtaking view that it offers over Mers. Our counter is an
expert on its history. We have been walking on rocks for 65
million years, with limestone, in fact,
which formed in a warm, slightly deep and calm sea,
in which there were microscopic organisms which had
a shell around them, precisely, limestone. When it died, the limestone
was deposited on the seabed. And all these organisms
accumulated, which makes the layer of chalk that we can see today on the cliffs. From time to time,
we see black lines. That’s flint. Because from time to time
there were other microorganisms that lived with a
siliceous shell and stuck together. It made flints. And so we have these
white and black stripes on the cliff. Yes, but the pebbles that we see over there. The pebbles
are when the cliff collapses. Due to water seeping in,
frost, etc. The chalk, as it is very soft,
will be dissolved by the sea, by sea water. There remain these groups of flint
which will be rolled by the waves, therefore which will round off,
which will then travel from west to east, because of the currents, in fact. Françoise takes advantage of her presence at the summit
to end this visit with the story of Notre-Dame-de-la-Falaise,
a statue well known to all the people of Mers, visible
for miles around. It is a statue that was erected at the end of
the 19th century, 1878, and the war 39 In 1945,
it was a magnificent landmark for aviation, for example. So the Germans shot him down
in 1942 and the people of Mercy saved him. And it was put back here in 1955. So, it was mounted
on a blockhouse? Yes, it is no longer on its
previous base which was a brick base. She is on a blockhouse. All right.
Further north of Mers-les-Bains, Thomas shows us all the
possible walks available to visitors along the immense pebble beaches
which form the longest natural strip in Europe. In Caillou-sur-Mer, for example,
you can see the oldest beach huts in France which,
contrary to legend, were not built in Normandy, but
here, on the shores of the Bay of Somme. It is aligned with one of
the longest plank paths on the continent. North of Caillou, Thomas takes us to an astonishing place:
the Pointe du Hourdelle, home to the largest colony of seals in Europe. The best way to see them
is to get close to them using Mathieu Cornu’s Polynesian canoes. Hi Mathieu.
Hello Thomas. So, we’re ready to go. I guess we’re not going to be all
alone paddling the canoe, are we? No, no. Well, actually,
I’m preparing this canoe because there will be five of us with you. I’ve never done it, it’s in the middle of
the bay like that, so it’s going to be awesome. Yeah, it’s going to be awesome. It is the river that will take us away,
it is the tide that will bring us back. So there is nothing to do.
Push it down. So. So. François is our skipper. If you row on the right for 5 minutes,
Pascal will row on the left. And we, behind, we won’t row,
they won’t see it if we do nothing. If I ask you for a little
paddle stroke, then hit me. I won’t go with your paddle,
but it’s for your safety. It’s because I have to avoid
obstacles, because I’m steering the boat. There are buoys, there are
seals that attack, etc. You see what I mean?
It’s for your safety. Come on, let’s go, friends. These reinforcements will not be too much,
because if the experience tempts you, know that you will first have to
paddle a little more than six kilometers. But what a spectacle! Grebes, cormorants, migratory birds,
the escape is complete. And suddenly,
emerging from the water just a few meters from our canoes,
the famous seals. Dear friends, all these
sustained efforts to finally see the colony. There you go, you are an actor
in your activity, precisely. You deserved this show. Because you respect
the movements of nature. And when we respect nature,
it gives itself immediately. So why are
there seals here? Imagine, there they are on their resting place.
Quiet, resting. And there’s the sea that’s going to arrive,
that’s going to cover the entire bay, that’s going to cover 4,000 hectares. There are fish that will arrive. So what do
seals have to do? They just have to go hunting. They need to eat fish. They need to eat fish
and rest on sandbanks. The Bay of Somme
is the best there is. So why
shouldn’t we disturb them? First thing is that in summer
they are moulting. They have their coats to redo. If they can’t grow their
fur back, they won’t survive the winter. Then, in July,
all the females give birth. They must not be disturbed. It takes a lot of energy too. And in July
there is tourism here. So we, the canoeists,
generate these flows. All the guides there
respect protocols. It’s what ?
Is it a distance? Is this a way of approaching? You see, we’re silent. We ask people to
tell themselves that we are just passing through. So, we’re going to try to go past the
red and green buoy, land up there, and there, you’ll have a school of seals all to yourself. These few hours of paddling will
undoubtedly leave you with a few aches and pains, but what unforgettable memories
await you, as the colony can number up to 400 individuals. If you try the adventure, you are
sure to see them like Thomas. Anyway, what I like
is that I had never seen seals so close. When you see their heads coming up, right there,
right next to you, right next to the edge, right there, when you see their big eyes,
their eyebrows, that’s fantastic. Also the fact of leaving at low tide,
of coming back there, it’s the sea, it can be all that.
That’s really great. The environment changes immediately.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I’ve been here for 15 years
, I never get tired of it. Every time it changes.
Every day, I never get tired of it. I will share this with everyone. The next stage of our journey in the Bay
of Somme takes us this time about thirty kilometers
inland, a little away from the main
tourist routes leading to the coast. Here, you will dive into a universe where time seems to have stood still. Founded in the 12th century,
the monument has adapted eras and architects to constitute one of the
rare French examples of Rococo style. For about twenty years,
the complex has been surrounded by extraordinary gardens. They are the ones who make the site’s reputation today. To discover this abbey,
we place ourselves in the expert hands of Martine, an
adopted Picard who fell in love with the region. Here, she is especially known
for organizing original courses all in two horses. The visit to the abbey therefore begins with the discovery of its gigantic
park which brings together more than 5,000 plant species. If you dream of enjoying a garden
open all year round in an enchanting setting, Valoire is
a must-see place. This enclosure is also the pride
of Hubert Bucet, the head gardener of the place. Hello Hubert. Hello Martine. I come to discover the Valoire gardens.
Show me. Under this beautiful ray of sunshine.
Show me. Let’s go. So Martine, here we are in the
French garden, with the monks’ three favorite colors. The blue garden which was a detour
of the auti, which was the river which crossed here, which represented water. Then there was the large lawn,
the white garden for the purity of the monks, the color of their dawn,
which was white. With white flowers. Here it is, with white flowers. And just above,
you have the yellow garden which, for them, was the light, the sun. So. And now, I’m going to invite you to go
see the rose garden which is over there at the end and which is still the joyful…
The symbol. … The symbol of our garden and the joy
of the monk, you see, our garden. The flowerbeds were made a little 5 by 5 in a square like this. Always to remind that in the time
of the monks, they cultivated their vegetable garden like this and that their vegetable garden
was at this level. We have at least 70, 72
different varieties of roses in here. So, the rose is your baby too?
Yes, it’s a baby. And all the more so because, well,
we have nevertheless created several roses here, at the Jardin de Valoire, including
the Jardin de Valoire rose. And the godmother is Catherine Deneuve. So this rose was created in 92
and then, in 2005, we created the Picardy rose. Valoire is therefore a pleasure for
the eyes and for the scents. But that’s not all. More unexpectedly,
this immense botanical collection is also a wonderful pantry. This is also why
Martine is leaving our gardener to join Ludovic Dupont,
a chef specializing in the preparation of plant-based dishes. Ludovic, what are we going to eat? So, we’re going to eat some
trendy appetizers and I need your help to prepare a little tartare
of wild flowers and plants, which is not far away. We’re going to start putting our
foot in it. So here we go a little… Into the dish, without pricking ourselves. It’s going to be difficult. You can go wherever you want.
Yes. Be careful, because here, you’re going to…
Damage… You’re going to damage what we’re going to eat for lunch. So, what are you going to
pick for us, Ludovic? There, I will pick the young
shoots of cirece from the vegetable garden. Cirece? It’s one of the good
weeds. Ultimately, I like to
cook anything that is invasive, anything that bores people. So, we’re going to make a little tartare with it. All right.
So, is it eaten raw? It can be eaten raw, yes. With a little marinade,
still with olive oil, to try to cook
this plant a little, but naturally. You’ll taste it if you want. My pleasure. It’s crunchy. Extraordinary. So here, we’re going to
take a little bit of nettle. Okay. And you, aren’t you getting pricked by
the nettle? No, because in the end, you
always have to grab the nettle from below to avoid getting stung. Alright.
Yes, and it works too. Fine, but where are you taking me now,
after this first taste of good weed? We’re going to pick some flowers. According to Ludovic, 80 percent
of plant species are edible. On condition of course
that you know them well. A godsend for this culinary artist
who has the exceptional opportunity to do his shopping in
the abbey gardens. So here, we’re going to continue the
vegetable tartare by brightening it up a little more. Alright. With a little pleasure that you
know, that you have certainly never tasted?
No, no, no, no, no, Maybe. It’s almost a condiment. Yes, it’s our Picardy lemon. Alright. I think it’s good. We are going to prepare our plant tartare. We will cut it into thin strips. So, we’re going to put this in the fridge
for about a quarter of an hour. Ludovic combines this tartare with trendy appetizers and cheese cooked on a
lime leaf, quite simply. And for cooking? So it’s 170 degrees for 20 minutes. This is one of the specialties that you
absolutely must taste when coming here. You can also indulge
in desserts such as floral waffles, elderflower and poppy seed puffs,
or candied pears with rose wine. The choice is yours. But visiting Valoire without entering
the abbey grounds itself would be heresy. To do this, Martine knows she can
count on the knowledge of the site’s general secretary,
Emmanuel Delaparen. Hello Emmanuel. Hello Martine, nice to
meet you and welcome you. You asked me to meet you under this pear tree.
Indeed. It’s not by chance, I think. No, it’s not by chance. This pear tree has a long
history like the abbey. He is 257 years old. Planted during the consecration
of the abbey on September 4, 1756. But above all,
we must still have around thirty of these pears. These are called Madeleine
d’Angers, or commonly called the thigh madame with the little story, because they
are supposedly tasty and juicy. Since 1922, this Abbey has been managed
by an association whose mission is to help the most deprived,
while ensuring the upkeep of the site. It was a Red Cross nurse,
Thérèse Papillon, who was behind this initiative
with her brother, the abbey’s chaplain. So you see, Martine, we
are here in the cloister of the abbey. A cloister is obviously a square which is
a symbol at the religious level. But above all, this cloister
provides a gallery called the Colacio gallery,
because the monks came to eat in the summer when it was very hot, hence the term collation. Our next stop takes us to the
spiritual heart of Valoire Abbey, Notre-Dame de Saint-Martin. A building whose construction took place between the 13th and 18th centuries. I am truly struck
by the beauty of the place. Can you tell me more? We are in a marvel of the Baroque,
symbolized at the same time by the gray, by the altar, by the continuity
of the angels and especially by this organ. Gorgeous.
Six years to build this. And the organ is still active. By one and the same man.
One and the same man. So it’s very difficult
to pronounce his name. It is an Austrian,
Baron Pfaf de Pfohn Pfaffenoffen. There should be no play on the tongue. With her little ones, what we call,
Pouty, little water angels. And we also see a
water angel who has no hair. And we know why? It is believed to be a
stillborn child of Pfaffenovfen. He had married a Picardy woman
and lived in Saint-Riquet. And it is believed that
one of his children died. So he wanted to pay homage to him by
removing his hair compared to the other little Poutys. Today,
Mademoiselle Papillon, her brother, and the Counts of Pontieu,
a wealthy family of Picardy nobles, still rest within the abbey. I’ll let you visit on your own. But before setting off on other
adventures, Martine would like to offer us a little gift. Enjoy this exceptional view,
as the bell tower is unfortunately not open to the public. Further west, on the edge of the English Channel, Martine now invites us to discover the mythological journey of Marquenterre,
a bird paradise located on the major migratory routes. It is home to nearly 360 species,
incubated from morning to night and from night to morning by Philippe Carruet. We will go to the observation posts
which will allow us to observe the migrating birds
without disturbing them. That’s the man in the cage there. We are the ones in the cage
and they are the ones free. Contrary to appearances, the
Marquenterre park is not at all natural. It owes its existence to the visionary dream
of the owner of the place who decided to convert his
agricultural land into protected areas. It’s been 40 years now. The spatulas we see in the middle of the body
of water, why are they static?
So, there are two reasons. There is already bad weather, wind. A bird sleeps facing the wind, lands
facing the wind in the direction of its plumage. This way, water doesn’t get
into the plumage. And the second reason
is that for spatulas, it’s really about comfort activities
during the day, washing, resting. And then, the activity in the evening,
the food, the travel. This is really unique
to the Somme Estuary. Of course, the ideal is to come with
a good pair of binoculars. But if you ask nicely, the
park’s scientists will be happy to let you
observe the birds through their telescopes. We have a lot of missions with
the park’s educational team. So, one of the main missions is
scientific monitoring, and in particular through
baggage, as we will see, we will capture birds in nets
to follow their migration, sometimes as far as Africa. We’re lucky. Céline has just caught
a bird in the nets. A robin, yes. Even the robins, which a priori,
the robin is still a fairly common bird. I was going to say especially robins. The more common the birds, the
less information we often have. A little robin like that could
come from Norway, Sweden, or Finland. Precisely, capturing it, measuring it,
weighing it, will give us information about its
present life and its future life. So you’re going to ring him.
That’s it, absolutely. It’s Celine who will ring him. He doesn’t even struggle, this After,
there is a way to hold him. You see, we hold it at the level
of the thighs, we will also hold it at the level of the head,
behind the neck, there, which allows us to hold it well. So. Little cry, little cry of contact, there. These are little cries of both
alert and contact. Between individuals. So. Philippe and Céline gain valuable
information from capturing each bird,
as all their observations are then analyzed by the
Natural History Museum in Paris. It has small orange spots. So the top of the palate is clear. So, it is indeed a young person from this year. So we measure the length
of the folded wing. So, there we are at 74 millimeters. So now we’re going to weigh the bird. So I’m going to swaddle him
like babies. So we are at 14 grams. Do you want to release him, Martine? Uh, yeah, but I’m not going to hurt him. So, we’re going to explain to you
how to release it, eh. Yes.
Taking the two fingers like this. We close our fingers behind. So, it’s the fingertips that are used,
it’s not at all that part. So. So, to release it, it
will just be a matter of spreading your fingers and the bird will fly away.
Well, good luck, have a good trip. She stays great, she stays calm.
That’s great. It remains placed on the finger. Hop, and there you have it.
Here we go. Like this robin, don’t hesitate to fly to the Bay of Somme to admire its thousands of
treasures that you absolutely must see in your lifetime.

Située sur le littoral picard, la baie de Somme est un vaste réservoir de merveilles naturelles.

Pour découvrir les merveilles des plus belles régions de France, c’est ici – Abonnez-vous 👉 http://bit.ly/3zjR2Vj 🙏

Elle est notamment reconnue, aujourd’hui, pour sa richesse ornithologique. Classée parmi les plus belles baies du monde, elle offre de magnifiques paysages et un cadre de vacances et de promenades idyllique. D’ailleurs, les touristes ne s’y trompent, qui viennent y flâner tout comme les artistes, et ce depuis le XIXe siècle. Ce document invite les téléspectateurs à une odyssée picarde, à la découverte de sites comme la cité médiévale de Saint-Valéry ou les jardins de l’abbaye de Valloires.

Réalisé par Pierre CHASSAGNIEUX.
© MORGANE PRODUCTION