Not quite done with France yet

Tuesday 27th June 

Time to leave our beachside accommodation and start the trip back to Paris. Still time to explore a couple of villages along the way. 

First was Lyons la Foret. This was a gorgeous little village with half timbered houses typical of normandy style of 17th and 18th century. The village is in a circle surrounding the castle where Henry I of England (son of William the Conqueror) died. The houses and streets are lined with beautiful flower boxes and gardens. There was a tour bus group in town for lunch but I don't think they get too many groups here.

Loved this shingle hanging on the house.

Beautiful houses.

Covered market in centre ville.

Next up Gerberoy. Another village with beautiful half timbered cottages, and streets lined with roses.

Gerberoy.
A couple of famous artists lived here, one being Monet's brother.
They encouraged the villagers to add colour to the village by planting flowers. The villagers still do this.

Wednesday 28th June 

We stayed the night at Beauvais and were looking for something to do along the road so as to not arrive at our hotel too early. We picked up a brochure about the Cite de Bateliers (bargeman). This was a good find - just something a bit different. It was a very good museum with a lot of photographs and stories from the barge families. The museum looked at all aspects of barge life and family life. The guy at the museum was quite chuffed to have his first Australian visitors. Well, blow me down. As we were about to leave a bike and boat tour group arrived - 24 Aussies from Mandurah.

The living quarters on one of the barges. 

Watched this barge pass through the lock. There are hundreds of kilometres of navigable canals throughout France and Europe,

Engine room - photo a bit fuzzy with reflection and dirty perspex.

Still having time to kill we picked up another brochure about the museum to the memorial of the armistice. This museum was in the clearing near Compiegne where the armistice was signed on November 11 1918. This was done in a train carriage with the people being brought together secretly and away from politicians and media. There was supposed to be no photos but someone took a few and these are on display. The original train carriage was destroyed but there is a replica on site. A great museum with so much information and in French, English and German. 

The memorial cairn.

The armistice signing train carriage.

Photo of a photo of the clearing - in the middle of a beautiful forest.

Moving on from Compiegne to Paris, Dora decided that she still had a few narrow country roads she wanted us to see. Who am I to argue? Driving along a narrow road, came around a corner, and blow me down. Would you look at that castle. Looked it up when we got to the hotel and it dates back to 1397. It was destroyed early in 16th century - all about power. It was rebuilt in the 19th century by Napolean III.

Pretty wow as you come around a corner.

Not my photo - from a tourist poster.

Finally back in Paris for 2 nights before we fly.

Thursday 29th June 

Jobs day today. First to the supermarket for a few things. Finding the supermarket was a real challenge. There are so many big roads, roundabouts, motorways, cars, trucks, that it is hard to get a clear picture of where we are going. After one aborted attempt at one supermarket we changed our strategy and went for one a bit further out from the area we are staying in.

Bonus - supermarket found and shopping done. Passed a hairdresser in the shopping centre who didn't appear to be busy. Popped in to see if a haircut was possible. Maintenant (now) she said. Oui! Haircut done, and then Rob lined up for a cut too. So we are now tricked out with our Parisian dos, all ready for Greece. Next bonus - a laverie at the shopping centre. Laundry done while we had lunch.

Remembering our last time in France we decided to see if there was an elephant blue car wash nearby. Bonus again! Car now washed and vacuumed ready to return in the morning.

My next post should be from Greece. Looking forward to it. 

Tuk tuk - a long way from home

 Saturday 24th June 

Another day of relaxation. Its nice to have slowed down and having some really quiet and restful days. I am assuming the 2 weeks in Greece will be pretty full on, so gathering some energy was a good idea.

We had a booking for the afternoon to do a tour by tuk tuk of the medieval city of Saint Valery sur Somme. To fill in the morning we checked out where the small local markets were happening, and headed for Ault. We had been here a couple of days ago, but really just checked out the beach and the port. We should have looked further. We found the market where we bought paella and fruit, then wandered further and found the lovely main street, which headed down to the beach. There were a few shops and coffee places and we stopped for coffee. We tried the local speciality - Gateau Butte. Nothing to rave about. Bit like a madeira cake, a bit dry. It's probably fine for the french who dunk their cake in coffee, but not my thing (I hate the sloppy mess in the bottom of the cup). This shop also advertised 'oeufs de mouette' (seagull eggs - no thanks, pass!).

Yes, we are both here in France. Winding down.

Seagull eggs - didnt investigate. 

This was dinner. This one was very good. Nicely curried and a lovely spicy chorizo.

The beach front at Ault. There were a lot of people about.

Had a great tour of the city by tuk tuk. Unfortunately in French but we have a reasonable smattering now so did get some knowledge from the tour. Once we got away from the port front where all the tourist stuff happens - boat tours, train tour, restaurants, and general promenade - there is a lot more to the town, and it is quite hilly. The tuk tuks really got up some speed, and being electric they snuck up on the unsuspecting tourists with the driver calling 'attention, attention' every couple of minutes.

Joan of Arc was imprisoned in a cell in the fortified walls of Saint Valery sur Somme in December 1430. She was burned at the stake in May 1431. 

One of the original entrances to the fortified city.

Jail cells in the walls.

These streets were where the fishermen lived. The houses were painted with leftover paint from the boats. Even though most of the houses no longer are fishermen's houses, the people who own them maintain the tradition of the beautiful flowers and nautical themed decoration. 

There were a few of these narrow stairways linking the upper reaches of the town.

Market paella for dinner. Yum!

Sunday 25th June 

Very quiet day. A drive of 10k to the seafood restaurant for lunch. Lucky we had booked as they were turning people away. We were sitting outside on the terrace and it was very hot in the filtered sun.

Lunch. This lovely 2CV was parked out the front.

Think he was hoping for an oyster or a prawn. Part lab - he'd probably eat anything.

Monday 26th June

Today we headed north of the Somme River to visit a couple of small villages. First village was Rue where there was a beautiful church and chapel. Dates back to 12th century. Very elaborate carvings both inside and out. We had  win here - parked next to the laundry so was able to do the washing while we visited the church.

Church at Rue.

The ornate carving both inside and out.

One of the original houses - I still love the angles on the timbers, but they must have got something right for them to still be standing.

Moved on to the village of Saint Riqueir to visit the church and Abbaye Royale. Another stunning church. This church dates back to 625 and there has been a church on the site since then.  Both these churches sort of remind us of the cathedral in Milan with all the statuary and carvings.

The bell tower in Saint Riqueir.

And the Abbaye Royale - 625.

Inside the abbaye royale - unlike most other churches we have visited this one was very white and light.

Baptismal font.

We've been in France 10 weeks and at pretty much every meal we hear them say a phrase as they come to collect the plates. The accepted answer seemed to be yes, or very good, or similar. We weren't sure what they were saying but today I looked it up and they are asking 'how was that' or 'was that good'. You learn something new every day!

Seafood lunch again today. Tomorrow we head away from the coast.