Seeing as how Matt’s friends in nearby Amiens, were the main catalyst for this whole trip to France, we thought it smart to head north for a visit to show our appreciation. Again, Matt knows these students through his Romanian tutor who studies and rooms with them in Amiens. So on Monday morning we packed up our stuff, made our future reservation at the hostel for our planned return on Wednesday and checked out. A small, but thoroughly positive, twist to this story is that two more Peace Corps Volunteer friends would be joining us that day, flying in to Beauvais Airport. So being the gentlemen that we are, Matt and I agreed to swing by Beauvais to pick them up on the way to our adventure in Amiens.
Knowing that we could easily get to the airport on the same bus that brought us to Paris, we made our way back to the Porte Maillot metro stop, grabbed the bus and motored effortlessly to Beauvais. Timing it perfectly, Matt and I arrived only a few minutes before Nick and Jessica’s plane landed. After our cheerful mini volunteer reunion we figured out that we’d have to, in a somewhat complicated manner, make our way by city bus to the center of Beauvais before picking up another bus that would take us to Amiens. Though in continued good company, we weren’t the least concerned about the various modes of transportation that lay ahead, especially with our newly honed skills of navigating Romanian transport. A few hours later, as the sun set over the French countryside, we pulled into the now sparkling city of Amiens and picked up another city bus that promised to take us to the neighborhood where our new-found friends live.
Amiens was, somewhat surprisingly, quite active on that Monday evening with students coming and going every which way; the bus itself was standing room only at this point and suffocatingly crowded. Though within fifteen minutes we had made our way to the outskirts of town to the bus stop in our friend’s neighborhood and where we were able to inhale fresh air again. While picking up provisions at the local grocery store, we made arrangements to meet up and make the walk back to their apartment.
Personally not knowing these students at all, I really didn’t know what to expect. For that matter, neither did Matt since his Romanian friend was coincidentally on holiday in Romania at the moment and he’d only briefly met one of our hosts the previous summer. When they arrived to guide us back to the apartment, we exchanged introductions, saddled up our backpacks and followed as they led the way. Over the course of the following two nights and a day we were shown nothing but the most thoroughly pleasant hospitality. I wish I could blame this incredible congeniality on the gifts of țuică, zacuscă and vișinată that we had brought as a thank you, but there is no question that these girls are just naturally amiable to the core. Having arrived relatively late, they threw a few pizzas in the oven for us while we lightened the mood with a mix of cocktails and conversation. We finished off our first brilliant night in Amiens hanging out in the cool Parisian air on their third floor patio while sharing a cigar that Matt and I had scored from one of our neighbors back at the hostel. It was another perfect end to a great day.
The next morning the girls had set up a full breakfast spread on the kitchen table for us before heading off to their classes. Being the first one up, I managed the important task of figuring out the espresso machine, knowing that this would be a key element in getting us moving that morning. After showering and munching on some first world breakfast cereals we were ready to take on the day. The night before, our hosts had drawn up the major Amiens landmarks on a map that they lent us, and pointed out the best route to get around and see the city for a little sightseeing. So we headed out on foot to see what trouble we could get into.
Amiens is an absolutely beautiful town with architecture reminiscent of its long history and thoughtful green spaces, exhibiting historical monuments to various wars, intermingled among the neighborhoods. Though, probably the crowning sight to see is the Notre Dame Cathedral of Amiens, which is a Roman Catholic cathedral built in the 13th century. Having said that, I’ve seen a lot of cathedrals, monasteries and churches in my life and frankly I could take ‘em or leave ‘em at this point, but this place is impressive if not for its detailed beauty then certainly for its sheer size. The spire itself is over 112 meters high, with general building dimensions of 145 meters long and 70 meters wide; it’s significantly larger than an American football field. There really isn’t much more that I can say about this place that would do it justice. Check out the pictures and read up about it on Wikipedia if you’re interested.
After wandering around for a while we came across a series of beautiful canals nestled among the houses, not far from there we settled on a great little French restaurant for lunch. Following another long and relaxed dining experience we ducked into a bar around the corner where we had made arrangements to meet our new friends. We spent most of the rainy afternoon there enjoying each other’s company and the hospitality of the bar. Later on, when the girls finally met up with us, we closed out our tab and headed to an Irish pub around the corner. While our hosts sloughed off the stress of the school day we all got to know each other and enjoyed the atmosphere of this quintessentially Irish pub. Before we knew it, though, we were whisked off back to the apartment. As it turns out the girls had planned a special French style dinner of crepes that they were going to prepare from scratch. So we picked up a couple of bottles of wine and headed back to the apartment.
This part of the evening was particularly special for me. In my opinion, there is nothing better than the smells, sights and sounds of a hectic kitchen, especially when it’s not your own. And seeing as how I have a love for food and how the mother of all cuisine is French food, how could this have been any better? With my background in cooking, my services were even enlisted a couple of times to taste check the Béchamel sauce they were making for the crêpe filling, a duty that I gladly obliged. Before I knew it, with the kitchen in shambles, it was time to eat and once again our excellent hosts had done us right; the dinner was absolutely delicious. The rest of the night was filled with the typical merriment that was beginning to spoil us all; plenty of good food, excellent wine, great conversation and even live music as Nick broke out the guitar. Needless to say, this was another incredible day in France that will definitely be fixed in memory forever.
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