Albert: Art Deco Town

So after a pretty full day we departed Amiens. FWIW, our new favorite cathedral is Bourges, to which we'll return next fall. Great architecture, good sculpture, windows of great quality and age you can actually see; and even touch. Best all-around.

Anyhow, Vicki had read that on our way north now was the town of Albert, pretty much destroyed in WWI, but which had rebuilt with a substantial number of Art Deco homes and buildings. So we headed there for a look before driving on to Arras' camping aire. We walked and drove around Albert for nearly two hours, looking for the Art Deco district or neighborhood or whatever.

Absolutely the only thing we found that might conceivably
qualify as Art Deco is this pretty nice specimen: now a gun shop
(which is pretty rare in France)

But we did see some other interesting sights,
including this, the city hall

And this--I swear I am not making this up--
a bread vending machine; we actually bought
six croissants and pains chocolats...2 euros

And then this, Albert's Basilica, Notre Dame
de Brebieres; note the giant golden Virgin and
Child at the top

There's always room for another church, even if it's a neo-Byzantine

Complete with mosaics all over

But this one is famous and special: in WWI,
the church took 2,000 artillery hits, leaving
the golden Virgin and Child weirdly askew;
among the soldiers there arose the
superstition that when she fell the war would
end; it finally ended, and she and the church
all were put back aright, at unimaginable
expense, of course