Saint-Quentin

Saint-Quentin is a little town in the north of France (Picardie), somewhere between Lille and Paris. It has about 60'000 inhabitants and a little center, which is marked by it's central square, around which the stores and cafes gather and where the market takes place, as well as by it's big basilica. There's a little river (the canal of Saint-Quentin) that separates the main station from the center and has quite a big park on it's border.



Description
The town looks "nice and clean" today, but suffered from quite a hard past. Being occupied by the Germans during World War 1 (in 1914), it found itself in the heart of the warzone. In 1916, the whole population was evacuated and the town was systematically destroyed. Industrial equipment was washed away and 80% of the buildings (including the basilica) are damaged. The reconstruction took a long time and they never regained the (economic) importance it had before the war. The population only went back to it's pre-war extents in the 1950's, when there was a general economic expansion in France. Saint-Quentin recovered by taking over the textile and mechanical industry, but these also began to suffer under the impact of globalisation in the 70's...



Places to go


- The market (fresh vegetables, clothes etc.). It takes place two or three times a week (saturday util about 1pm) on the central square and the little one next to it (place du marché). It's quite small but you get your vegetables and other useful things cheaper.

- The library ("bibliotheque municipale maupassant", 9 rue des cannoniers). It's quite big - 3 floors!- and right next to the central square. They have some english books and lots of CDs/DVDs. Even 'though you probably have to pay if you don't live in Saint-Quentin..

- The Basilic (near central square, where the post is). It's quite impressing. I propably would have visited it if it hadn't been constantly under construction ever since I live here. Some scenes of the movie "La reine Margot" were shot in there. And there's a tiny little park behind it where you can watch the just married couples take their pictures on saturdays. (Yes, I get bored sometimes..:)

- The park (on top of the avenue "champs-elysee", yes we have one too but it's not quite comparable to the one in Paris!). Not much to say about it exept: it's clean, green and there's a pavillon and some playgrounds for children. I prefer the bigger park near the main station (on the other side of the bridge).

- The Cinéquai (movie theater right across the canal from the mainstation). It's a pretty ugly complex but the only cinema there is. They have some "art et essay" movies that are cheaper - check the programm - and they put a bunch of games (in there recently. To make it more interesting I guess. Sometimes they organize festivals where they invite directors and actors, which is very appreciated by the studentsof audiovisual media (like Hugo and me).

- Emmaus (take the bus 1 to "cimtière" station and ask for directions, it's not very far). A huge second hand store where you can find everything like furniture, clothes, books, household atricles etc. You can't buy much if you don't have a car, but it's still interesting to stroll arond in the dusty rows..

- The butterfly museum (14, rue de la sellerie). Never been there, but apparently they've 20'000 specimens of butterflys exposed. Now if that doesn't seem depressing to you it can be quite a delightful experience. (?)

- The Antoine Lecuyer museum (14, rue antoine lecuyer right next to the high school henri martin). Haven't been there either, but you should propably check it out if you're interested in pastel painture (by Maurice Quentin de la Tour).

- La Manufacture (35, rue flavigny), a little theater where they organize plays, concerts and expositions. It's more a cultural place than a party spot, but I like it and it's situated in one of the friedlier areas of the town.

- Mephisto Bar (http://www.myspace.com/mephistopub): the only "cool" bar in town. Thursday's happy hour evening and they sometimes have bands playing in the basement. Free entry.



Besides that...
- There's an Internet-cafe in rue de raspail (up the big street where the post and the basilic are), when you start walking down the hill again it will be on your right. Don't take the turn, go straight. It's not very cheap but the staff is friendly.

- The main bus stop is right in front of the basilic. But you don't have to take it if you want to go anywhere in the center since it's really small. Unless you want you go to Auchan which is the biggest commercial center of the area. In that case take the bus number 6 (going up), it's the last station.

- Personally, I don't recommend you to walk around to much at night when you're on your own. It's not really dangerous but there are some troublemakers around (mostly kids), and the streets are quite empty at night.. so just take care. It's a small town on the countryside you know.

- But for something more joyful: if you happen to come in july/august you'll get a surrealistic view of the main quare - since they but up a beach with real sand there every year! And they're really proud too because, apparently, they were ther first ones to do it in France. In december they usually put up a christmas village with an ice skating rink and some stands. This year they even got a machine to make real snow - since it usually just rains in winter.



C'est pas beautiful, ça?

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Saint-Quentin