Situated at the intersection of trunk roads linking Paris with northern France, Britain, and Germany, Amiens is a busy town and popular tourist center, rebuilt after suffering heavy damage during the Second World War, which fortunately spared its magnificent cathedral. Amiens has long been famed for its linen, wool, cotton and jute industries.
St-Leu, the medieval quarter north of the cathedral with its network of canals, has been renovated and within a few minutes' walk from the train station the hortillonnages transport you into a peaceful rural landscape.