To the Sea!

Bonsoir all!  I am beginning to feel more comfortable in my living accommodations again after that terrifying evening, which is AWESOME because I might start sleeping again soon.  Here’s to hoping!

I was here yesterday:

Gwenola’s teacher, Ilka, took us to the seaside town of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme.  It’s at the mouth of the Somme river and has been around since before the 600s(!!) so needless to say it has some cool stuff there- for example it’s medieval ramparts, its abbey, and its gothic church. It has some crazy history!  It was under Roman control for awhile, William the Conqueror assembled his fleet there before sailing over to England and dominating, when Joan of Arc was captured by the English she was detained there before being sent off to Rouen to be burnt at the stake, and at one point Victor Hugo, Degas, and Jules Verne had houses there   It’s also just generally really pretty being on the water facing a small island that serves as a bird sanctuary.  

Bird sanctuary across the way

Tiny house!

We wandered about on the beach a bit, had some tiny coffees, and then wandered through town.  I walked through the original entrance of the town’s walls, the very same entrance Joan of Arc passed through and it was just mind-boggling that this kind of stuff is still around.  In town we looked at some very strange antique shops and then stumbled upon a small, local market.  There was a little bit of everything locally made in Saint-Valery-sur-Somme- some local spice bread, some sausages, wine, cheese, liqueurs, fish, and yes, escargot.  I had wandered off from the group at this point to check out the various colored liqueurs at the next stall over, when I came back though my friends were talking to a very nice lady at the escargot stand.  They had tried the traditional escargot- in its shell with butter, garlic, and parsley.  When I walked up they were getting ready to try the other type of escargot- still with the butter, garlic, and parsley but with the addition of chevre cheese and in a shell-shaped cracker- and I was offered one.  Needless to say I was hesitant, not just because it was a snail, but because Gwenola had had some at her prof’s house a few weeks prior and had been ill the next day because they hadn’t sat well with her.  I was reassured that it was good, just maybe a little rubbery.  They smelled good enough so I gave it a go.  OMG IT WAS SO GOOD!  It was nothing like the typical Hollywood interpretation of the bizarre, chewy, slimy, and too fancy for its own good hors d’oeurves.  There was so much flavor and zero rubbery texture.  I really wanted to buy some after this delicious revelation, but I don’t have a stove for heating them up.  Phooey. 

Portion of a strange antique shop- boar's head anyone?

Escargot!

We rode back to Amiens after the tasting and thanked Ilka for her hospitality.  Then our Halloween festivities began! 

So, Halloween isn’t really celebrated here.  I saw a handful of shop windows decorated and three total people in costume, with one of them being a lady trying to sell candy at a grocery store.  So, it’s basically used as a marketing gimmick with none of the celebrating.  We used it as an excuse though to make a yummy meal of tacos and watch horror films.  The tacos came out perfect!  They really hit the spot too since I have been missing Mexican food here.  We watched Poltergeist, which was less scary than anticipated (this is a movie that would benefit from a remake I think, special effects-wise), and Red Dragon.  We also continued our pig out on popcorn (something that has only caught on recently here and was tres expensive at the store) and candy.

It was really an excellent day.