This morning we moved to a campsite
that is more level and closer to the electric outlets. Then we went
to the little cafe/corner store (called a Bar/Tabac) in the village
to check on wifi and buy our bus tickets into Amiens. The bus ride
was through local neighborhoods, took about ½ hour and dropped us
just a few blocks from the city center. We walked through the
pedestrian-only shopping area and Jack stopped and got his watch
fixed. It turned out that the battery had come loose and the folks
at the jewelry store refused to take any money! They had worked on
it for at least 30 minutes because they had trouble getting the back
off, so we certainly were prepared to pay for their efforts. Who
says the French are not nice?
Then we stopped at a brasserie called
Le Charleston for lunch – an old cafe with excellent open faced
sandwiches on a huge slice of bread and a variety of salads.
After
lunch, we stopped at the visitor center to get a map of the downtown
and to rent an audioguide for the largest church in France – Amiens
Notre Dame. Notre Dame is the name of any church dedicated to Mary,
so there are many churches called Notre Dame, not just the one in
Paris. The Amiens Notre Dame is the largest church in France – so
large that two Paris Notre Dames will fit inside. It was built in
1220 to house the skull of St. John the Baptist – on display. This
gothic church is totally different than the ones I had seen in
England, that were dark and somber--this church is light and airy.
The statuary inside and ornamentation outside was spectacular. We
were surprised to learn that both inside and outside, statues and
walls were painted vibrant colors, so what we see today is a
grayed-out version of what it would have looked like when it was
built.
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| Center Entrance |
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| The skull of St. John the Baptist |
We wanted to visit a stained glass
museum, but it was closed today. Our original plan was to also visit
Jules Verne's home where he wrote many of his futuristic novels, but
we were tired and decided to skip it and catch the bus back to our
campground.
We found the French buildings, other
than the cathedral to be uninteresting, especially compared to
Belgium. The city seemed gritty and a a bit unkempt. While waiting
for the bus we enjoyed some great people watching – a version of
the “you see all kinds” found in big cities, but unique to
France.
Our grand experiment with public bus
transportation was a success as we returned back to where we started
without a hitch...just as it was beginning to sprinkle. We made it
back to the RV before a major rainstorm hit. A nice first day in
France, but it is true that the French speak little English. I am
trying to use some of the little French that I remember and it may be
helping to elicit a better response than the ugly Americans that
expect everyone to speak English. Come to think of it, wouldn't it
be great if everyone did speak the same language? Many lives over
the course of history probably would have been saved if we understood
each other better. I vote for English – and by the way, American
English, not that British stuff. The English talk funny.... a
campsite is called a pitch, the highways are motorways, and their
plugs and electric and stuff are all wrong not to mention they drive
on the wrong side of the road! So, just call me “ugly” ------
my last name is American.
