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Map of Le Crotoy

From: Ian Thompson <ithompson~at~geog.gla.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 08:48:36 +0100
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

Zvi has kindly archived a map that I have produced which recreates Le Crotoy
and the Baie de Somme in the nineteenth century at the time of Verne's
residence there.Without going into detail, it shows that at that time the
Somme estuary was already being transformed into a delta. The Canal de la
Somme had been constructed in an attempt to keep the port of Abbeville open
and the original course of the Somme, which had previously given access to
the port of Le Crotoy, had disappeared.In spite of the construction of a
tidal reservoir basin ( opened at low tide to flush out the channel to the
open sea) the port was only navigable at high tides; hence Verne's comment
to Hetzel that he could only put out to sea in the St Michel twice in every
24 hours. It also explains why the St Michel II, with its deeper draught,
had to be berthed at the deeper port of Le Treport to the south.The map also
shows the railway at Rue which enabled Verne to travel to Amiens and to
Paris.I am designing a map of Nantes-Loire estuary in the nineteenth century
in the hope that the two maps might interest those who hope to visit Le
Crotoy and Nantes next March.
Ian Thompson.
Received on Fri 25 Jun 2004 - 10:49:11 IDT

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