Michael and I decided that some respite
from the war was needed so we took a drive to the beautiful mediaeval town of
Bergues. This was the town that featured
in the fabulous French film of the above name.
If you have not seen this film, then I strongly recommend that you
should. It is a very funny story about a
postal worker who gets sent to a remote town and how he adapts to their
unsophisticated lifestyle. The film has
obviously put this town on the map as the movie is referenced throughout the
town, with the local tourist office featuring many stills from the movie and
even a postman’s bicycle. It was a
lovely interlude strolling around and admiring the ancient architecture that
was so familiar from the movie.
We also drove to Dunkirk where we saw the
markets and the port. It was a nice
modern town with a lovely church.
On the way home, we stopped at the city of
Amiens. Here we viewed the magnificent
Notre Dame cathedral. The cathedral is
massive, so large in fact, that two of Paris’ Notre Dame cathedrals could fit
inside. It was without doubt the most
elaborate church we have seen on our travels (except for Russian churches which
are in a league of their own). The
stained glass windows were exceptional and the outside was adorned with a
plethora of statues. There is a light
festival held here during the summer months and over Christmas, where they
light each individual statue in a different colour. Unfortunately we were about a week too early
to view this however we could imagine how spectacular this would be.
Michael’s French has improved along the
way. He has mastered the French word for
two and no longer asks for God café cremas!
There was one amusing incident when he tried to pronounce the name of
the French beer Ch’ti. The waiter very
gently but firmly advised him that, “we do not serve shitty beer here!” Well, I thought it was amusing.
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