Département de la Somme
Amiens and Crécy		Péronne		Rambures
A house where I nearly spent a night near the coast many years ago, and where I was given an insight into how the other half lives. We went out for the evening and came back, not very late, to find the doors locked. As it turned out, Monsieur had gone away for the night on business, and Madame had gone on, er, not business, but still for the night. Each had assumed the other had left us a key. We spent the night in a nearby hotel. and in the morning tracked Madame down with surprising ease. Local gossip has its uses. She let us back in to collect our luggage, but on opening the front door discovered that two Great Danes and a kitten had been left overnight in the marble-paved hall. The mess was indescribable, as was the smell. 'Never mind', said Madame, 'The housemaid will be in on Monday.' – and she fed the animals, let us out, locked the door again and went back to her not-business.