Cooling Our Heals
Cooling Our Heals…Parc Charmont, Seine, and Amien
Yesterday we returned from mid sized town about 80 miles due north of Paris. We were in search of the quiet floral pathways called Les Hortillonnages, a riverboat market, and France’s largest cathedral. The cathedral was as advertised, gigantic and fortunately for us came with an organ concert. But I have to tell you, after you have seen 10 or so large cathedrals with stained glass windows, true vaulted ceilings, and golden alters, you become less enthralled. While “relaxing” on these little wooden chairs which really sets the stage upon how small we really are, throngs of middle and high school kids came down the church aisles like a pack of well fed wolves looking for mischief. The leaders, middle aged women, had those darting eyes, alert for transgressions. Their sloped shoulders and tired posture though said, “Lord let me get through this.” I said a silent prayer for them.
The riverboat market was rather disappointing. Apparently once a year this market is supplied by the growers from their small river boats coming into town from the fields outside of town. People dress up, there is music, completing the reenactment of hundred of years of history. Today there was 50 yards of nice produce support by Peugeot, Renault, and middle eastern gazole (diesel).
As we aimlessly walked around a lovely park, we considered an early exit from this town. Suddenly two paths converged at a small bridge. A gentleman and his dog appeared. The dog kept repeating a cycle of barking and lunging, and cowering and hiding behind the man. He stopped and asked in broken English if we were tourists. We said yes, which sparked a lively conversation between Gayle and Jean-Luc in FrenGlish. We told him we were staying in Paris and he told us that Paris is not France. It is for the monuments and museums but does not represent this country. Amiens I am certain does!
This mini trip would have been a bust had it not been for the Les Hortillonnages. These are 600 acres of very controlled wet lands that were set aside for the production of vegetables for the town. Today, its riddled with tiny canals and dotted with huts where the people come on weekends to play farmer and then return during the week to the real France! (the owners also play an important role of protecting and preserving this beautiful area) It’s funny, if you visit Versaille, you will learn that the king had a second place built on the grounds so he could get away from all the pomp and circumstance. Then Marie Antionette had a tiny peasant hamlet, complete with servants dressed as peasants, built so she could get in touch of her roots. There were long roots!
For ten euros, we were treated to a 45 minute cruise down what seemed to us a French Bayou. Our guide, shown in one of our pictures, chatted amiably (in French) the entire trip about the history of the Hortillonnages, calling out to friends tending their vegetables and yards along the way. Every once in a while, everyone would chirp out an affirmative. Once I was a bit late and exclaimed “Oui” to one of his statements. The boat chuckled, knowing of course that I don’t understand a word and that the boatman had just said. “I am thinking we should leave these American tourists on one of these islands, what do you think?”
The pictures below, include Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and portions of a romantic evening on the Seine. With the dollar situation, this means, a fair (read, inexpensive) bottle of bordeaux, some bread and cheese, all topped off with cheap Gyros from the Latin Quarter. This is Bob and Gayle getting back in touch with their roots!
Picture Set 1
Picture Set 2
Picture Set 3
posted by Bob and Gayle @ 7:43 PM
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