Today was a “rest day” – we weren’t
going anywhere. We started the day
watching Qualifying for the F1 grand prix in China - should be a good race
tomorrow.
Last night I put a load of laundry in
to soak. It was a bright sunny morning
and I finished ti off by mid-morning.
Just as I was hanging out the last item the heavens opened and down came
the rain. I just dashed inside and left
the washing getting wetter, not dryer. Just
squalls passing through, so it was not long before the sun came out again.
Taking advantage of the sunny
conditions I went for a walk to explore the town.
It is a lovely little town at the
confluence of two rivers.
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| Photo of the town in the central square |
Of course the most imposing building is
the Mairie (Town Hall), but I found this one particularly interesting because of
the doors on the far right and far left.
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| Ecole des Garcons - Boys' school |
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| Ecole des fille - Girls' school |
These are the entrances to the schools – Girls on the right, Boys on the
left – and never the twain shall meet!
Not much in the way of commerce: a
bakery, a pharmacy, a café /grocery store, and 2 plumbers.
It is a very old town and the site of
one of Joan of Arc’s battles against the English, which is commemorated in a
statue in the town square (on Rue Jean d’Arc).
The streets are narrow and lined with
lovely little cottagey houses,
mostly sharing communal walls so all you see
from the street is a brick façade.
But
every now and then you get a glimpse of the gardens behind the façade.
By the time I got to the confluence
of the Canal Lateral de l’Oise and the Canal du Nord, there were big black
clouds blowing in, then the rain came down – lots of it! Fortunately right there, there is a café/bar/epicerie
with a covered pavement café outside, so I sheltered there till the worst of
the rain passed.
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| The confluence of the two canals: Lateral de l'Oise and Canal do Nord |
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| Pouring rain - looking east along the Canal Lateral - lots of barges parked here |
We like this place so much we are
going to spend another day here.
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