St-Leu

While the cathedral in Amiens buttoned up for lunch (as all proper French landmarks do) we had lunch and explored the town a bit before returning.

We had lunch near the 12th century Belfry and checked out the market around it.

I'm not sure how much use a solar calendar gets here. I was really hoping for a sunny day to shoot. At least it wasn't pouring rain out, and that's all I can really hope for at this point.

We ended up wandering around the cute neighborhood called St-Leu. It used to be a bit of a slum, but it's been prettified and painted and it's now very quaint and, when I was there, complete devoid of life.

It's all built along canals, where there were once tanneries and textile dyers had set up shop.

There is also a large park with canals and floating gardens.

Parts of the town were a bit run down, but overall it was a pleasant place to stroll around. It was very quiet. There were few other tourist around the town, and just a handful around the Cathedral.

It seems that there would be a fun scene here in summer as there were quite a few cafes and bars along the canals with views. Aside from the fact that one of the main sites, the Museum of Picardy, is closed for renovations, I would hazard to guess that this place would be a much more lively place in July.

But in winter, there wasn't a lot open. It was almost eerie how quiet and shuttered things were. Ha, we joked. I don't have to take pictures at weird angles to try to crop out random people standing around in my shots.

Happily, Amiens is known for their own special kind of Macaroons. They weren't the lovely fruit flavored egg-white and jam Piere Herme jewels, but they were slightly more rustic yet tasty confections of almond and honey.

I am eternally grateful I could at least find a bakery open. I seem to be a bloodhound in that respect.

In Which Our Neighborhood is Invaded by Commies

Living next to a big square in Paris (actually, it's a circle) means that we get to see our share of protest and events. A couple weeks ago, there was a rave there. I have no idea why. There were people wearing rainbow hair and dancing to really loud music being blasted out from the top of double-decker buses. I generally look on with interest, but it's days like this my street turns into one giant urinal and I'm careful where I step.

Last Sunday, there was a rally for the various Communist Parties and organizations. While this would be taboo and downright scandalous in the states, the Party here is alive and well despite that it's a political minority.

Just to further our Communism Education, we also checked out the Chinese Moon Festival.

The festival ended up being non-existant, and we couldn't even find a place to get the traditional Moon Cookies. We consoled ourselves by walking around Chinatown and eating all the dumplings.

Here's a real sign of cross-culture cuisine:

Durian Macaroons!

The Chinese food here isn't up to New York standards...even the really good authentic places just aren't as good. Still, we will suffer through.

After all, Communism is all about mutual suffering, right?