As you can see from the title we did not make it to Rouen (it is still
on my places to visit).
We had a lovely breakfast supplied by Trees including speculoos (Andrew, I tried it and
was too sweet for my taste). Another couple joined us for breakfast who
happened to be Australian teachers from Tasmania who were spending 6 weeks in
Europe. Trees kept asking us if we were
going to stay another night and it was very tempting but because of the
distances we had to cover we decided to go after we went back into the centre
of the city to a market that Trees had suggested we go to. There was a lot of fruit, vegetables, cheese,
meats and dried fruit available which looked like it was very fresh. We bought a whole lot of dried fruit which
was cheap and of good quality. We also
got some kiwifruit (Zespri brand but from Italy), apples and a fruit which we
did not know but called kaki and is a Japanese persimmon. What was nice at the market was the ability
to try what we were buying particularly with the dried fruit. In fact there was no-one at the dried fruit
stall but soon after we arrived a whole lot of people started showing up.
 |
| Self explanatory |
After the market we went to the reputedly best chocolatier in Belgium
at the Chocolate Line where we got to taste some of his wonderful wares and to
buy a few for a later indulgence.
It was around midday before we managed to leave Bruges and we both
decided that Bruges was worth a revisit.
Next on our itinerary was Le Quesnoy where New Zealand soldiers kicked
out the Germans in the First World War without destroying the village as had
been the practice during the war when villages would be shelled to dust. It is clear that the village or should I say
town is grateful as there were street signs with All Blacks, Helen Clark and so
on. It was very touching. We had a quick walk around the place before
heading off. Just before we went Bev saw
a place to get a coffee and I gave her some guidance about how she might do
that and to use the word emporter. She
told me that after some attempts and sign language they finally got the idea
and gave her a coffee in a plastic cup which by the time she got back to the
car was melting a bit. Bev was pleased
with her first attempt to utilise her newly acquired knowledge of the French
language but realised a fair amount of practice was still required!
 |
| The stairs |
By the time we left Le Quesnoy the light was beginning to fade and as
there was over 200 kilometres to go to Rouen I decided that we would go to
Amiens instead. Darkness was falling as
we arrived. The first three hotels that
we tried were either closed or full and I finally found one called Le Prieur
which was next to the cathedral. Finding
a place to park was a real challenge as the centre of the city was largely
given over to pietons or pedestrians. I
found a place where it was ok to park temporarily and went to see if there was
a room in Hotel Le Prieur. There was and
it was on the 3rd floor.
The stairs were something to behold; very steep and the steps were
also very narrow which made it an interesting challenge to get up (the hotel
was too old to have an elevator). The stairs also had a lot of movement in them making one wonder if they were on the verge of collapse. The
room was very cute with exposed beams (we were in a loft) and had been recently
renovated by the look of it.
We then went looking for places to eat and many were not open. We found one called Le Porc St Leu which was
a celebration of pork. The meals were
large, hot and filling as well as being very flavoursome. Bev had a version of cassoulet and I had a
porchetta nicoise. Neither of us could
finish the plate.
 |
| Hotel next to Amiens Cathedral |
No comments:
Post a Comment