AMIENS TO COMPIÈGNE
See route-map, p. 57.
From Amiens to Villers-Bretonneux
via Longueau, Gentelles and Cachy.
Leave Amiens by Exit V (Michelin Tourist Guide) (Rue Jules-Barni, Chaussée Périgord and N. 35). Cross the railway twice (l.c.) or if preferred, take the road on the right under the railway. Longueau is soon reached.
The road from Amiens to the crossing over the river Avre, before reaching Longueau, follows the left bank of the Somme. Market-gardens famous for their fertility and known locally as "hortillonnages" lie in the valley, especially around Camon. Formerly, the river-side seigneurs above Amiens, met once a year for wild swan-shooting in the valley of the Somme. The custom died out in the 18th century, poaching having by then exterminated the swans.
It was at Longueau that the Roman roads from Amiens to Rheims and to St. Quentin crossed the river Avre. Gallo-Roman tombstones were discovered in 1848, while excavating near the first bridge at Longueau. In 1590, the Leaguers held the village to ransom, and the Spaniards burnt it in 1636.
Beyond Longueau, leave the Montdidier road on the right, and keep straight along the road to Roye for 4½ kms. Take the second road on the left, to Gentelles. Gun emplacements, shelters and trenches are met with on both sides of the road. Gentelles Wood is on the right. (See sketch-map, p. 59).
Pass through Gentelles village, entirely destroyed. 1½ kms. beyond Gentelles stands a partly destroyed monument to the memory of the French who fell in the Franco-German War of 1870 (photo below).