Thursday, April 4, 2013

Day 6 - France cycling trip: Amiens - Beauvais

Today, I saw farm vehicles going almost as slow as me,  cemeteries, snow, a shy horse, and lots of fields. When I saw the snow, I knew I had to stop to make a snowman. I only spent a couple of minutes on it though. It looks more like a snow owl than a snow man, I think.

Food seems to be an interesting topic for my readers, so I'll describe my gastronomic experiences of the day. I had breakfast this morning at the hotel in Amiens. Eggs and bacon were nowhere to be found, but I did have some crepes with apricot jam, a croissant, some ham, and orange juice. That's not too much, but my stomach wasn't awake enough yet at 7am to have a full feast. My mid morning snacks consisted of a banana, dried fruits,  nuts, and a baguette left over from Maroeuil. Lunch was not too tasty: a cold can of lentils with carrots.  I had to wait until I was quite hungry so that I could eat it. There was not much choice though, as there were no restaurants along the way. My mid afternoon snack was a kiwi left over from Maroeuil.

Dinner was excellent,  even though it was not French at all! (Some of you will be disappointed, sorry). I ate at Buffalo Grill, which is basically a steakhouse with an American country / tex-mex theme. I arrived at 7:15pm and I think I was their only customer. Maybe that's a bit early.  Country music was playing in the background and the staff were dressed in flannel shirts. They didn't have a southern drawl though (not sure what a southern drawl would sound like in French) .
I ordered a steak and a baked potato, with cranberry juice and a cheesecake for dessert.  Cheesecake is hard to come by here so I had to take this opportunity! It was all very delicious.

Tomorrow I'll be heading out to Mantes la Jolie.  It's not a great city but a necessary stop on the way to Chartres.

Today I marked a milestone by completing the first fold-out map: "Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Picardie". I can leave this map behind as I get started on the next one: "Oise, Paris, Val d'Oise"

4 comments:

  1. Lentils and carrots? And cold? Or were you able to warm it up somewhere? I hope so.
    I love lentils, spanish style, with potatoes, chorizo, tocino, etc...but hot. hahaha

    Well, your are gaining ground. Hurrah, for my girl.
    Love you
    Papa

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    1. The lentils were cold. It was canned food, I was in the middle of nowhere, and I don't carry a stove around with me :-) But I had a better lunch today.

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  2. Your snow owl is very cute. I imagine he won't last very long, just like this trip of yours. Keep that in mind on the tough days. You are more than equal to the challenge of getting wherever you want to go, but the important thing is to keep savoring each day and all the little things that happen. Trips like this can make you feel so alive. Good job, Carmen!

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    1. That's a good perspective. I'll try to keep it in mind. Thanks Don :-)

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