Sci-fi author Jules Verne fell in love with Amiens, France, when he moved there to write. Take a walking tour and find out why
- The author of Around the World in Eighty Days moved to the tiny city when he took up writing full-time, and was inspired by its architecture
- From France’s largest gothic cathedral to Jules Verne Square and the writer’s house, it offers a fascinating glimpse into his life
For an author who fuelled the world’s wanderlust with his books, Jules Verne, who penned Around the World in Eighty Days in 1873 (it is the most translated French novel), didn’t do much travelling.
After a day in Amiens, the canal-streaked Picardy town he settled in after relocating from Paris, I’m beginning to understand his reluctance to leave this tiny city, a two-hour drive north of the French capital.
This year, Amiens honoured its former resident with a Jules Verne-themed walking trail – 16 locations lining a route that pays tribute to the sci-fi writer. At each, information is displayed in French and English, with scannable QR codes that unlock further information.
Born in Nantes, western France, in 1828, Verne may have approved of the QR codes, but I suspect he’d have longed for a more creative name for the 2.6km (1.6-mile) Jules Verne Route. “Around Amiens in 80 Minutes,” perhaps?
Nonetheless, the route offers an informative way of gaining an insight into his life. Paris had served him well as a law student and stockbroker, but when he turned his passion for writing into a full-time job, he retreated to Amiens, drawn to its leafy plazas, meandering canals and Gothic architecture.
