Saturday and French Markets!

I think I was the last one up today around 9AM ... I've just felt exhausted lately. Nic went down to the bakery again for 4 pain du chocolates! They were enjoyed by all! We decided to head in the direction of the cathedral today and perhaps doing some shopping along the way. We at least needed one more shopping bag as one that we have brought from home is ripping. We also noticed that the French version seems to be much larger. We were also considering a little cart that you roll around on wheels for groceries, but mostly we've only seen older people using them. We've decided not to stoop to that level yet. We got out the door around 11AM and one of the first stops was Les Halles which houses the toy store and the Carrefour.

The weather shows rain for the next few days and Amiens does not seem to have many rainy day options for kids. So we sprung for a lego set at the toy store to give the kids something else to do besides computers when we are in the apartment. Gwyneth really wanted a playmobil pirate set and we told her she could save her euro allowance to get it if she wanted. She seemed okay with that. After the toy store we hit the Carrefore one more time. We picked up a large reusable shopping back and a 10 pack of Pain du Chocolate for 1.5 euro ( a little over $2). The 4 that we had gotten at the bakery this morning had cost us 4 euro for comparison. After that, we headed down a street where we had seen an outdoor market with goods, food, and flower. The picture above shows Gwyneth at the market.

The market was quite large with many vendors. I talked to one and she said she was there Wednesday and Saturday. (Mecredi et Samedi). So I assumed that was the same for most of the stalls. We waited in line a vegetable/fruit stall and got some artichokes, broccoli, strawberries and cherries. There was a little discussion about the strawberries and we finally decided he was trying to tell us that if we got 2 we got a better price. So we did. He nicely wrote the price down on a piece of paper as we had already pulled the "je ne parle pas francais tres bien" card already. We walked around most of it. Gwyneth definitely wants to come back with her euro allowance. I will need to come back for some of the rotisserie chickens that I saw. We weren't prepared for that today. By this time the kids were hungry again so we decided to give the panini shop and second try and show Nic where it was. This time we successfully got 3 paninis - cheese, bacon, and jambon (ham). They were enjoyed by all. Ethan was especially excited by it and it is good to know that he won't starve in France.

After lunch we tried the playground with the rope bird's nest. Then we walked towards the cathedral and got some more information in the tourist office. This time we came away with a few more pamphlets ... you never know what you are going to get. We looked at the cathedral from the outside and tried the nearby public toilet. It was fine, although we never would have found it without directions. There was an attendent and you were supposed to put .4 euros in the cup. We were down by the old town with the canals briefly. That is where this picture was taken. Then we walked up on the other side of the cathedral to playground number 1 from yesterday. Gwyneth and Ethan got a into a little game with a french girl and boy (they were between Gwyneth and Ethan in age I think). They were all trying to run up the (short but steep) slide to make it to the top. It was fun and you had the parents cheering them on in French and English. "Bravo", "Good job", "Allons, Allons", "Go Go", etc..... Everyone said goodbye in the other person's language.

We were tired by now, it was close to 4 o'clock. We decided the free number 8 bus (which travels in a figure 8 pattern around the center of town) to get us closer to home. It came very close to the playground, but then took us out of the center then back in based on where we were in the 8 pattern. Nic likened the ride to freak show. There were a lot of people on the bus first of all, and then were all sorts of strange characters. There was this one woman with this horrible teeth .... sorry but it was hard not look at. Anyway, the bus took us toward the train station where it stopped because of switching drivers. Then we gathered that it wasn't going to leave for another dix-huit (18) minutes whereas the bus behind us was leaving in quatre (4) minutes. So we all got off and on the other. In the process we lost our seats and Nic was carrying Ethan at this point. It was no easy task for him to stay upright while the bus was moving. Eventually we did get to our stop and we were closer to home, but I'm not sure that it was worth our while. We may not do that again. On the walk home, the kids and Nic bought me some flowers as today was Mother's Day in France.

Once home, the kids (Nic included) played with the legos while I did some Internet banking. I couldn't imagine how we'd be doing this trip without the Internet. We did tacos (lame but easy) for dinner and used up another can of beans (2 left!). The kids LOVE baguettes so I don't think we'll have any food issues while we are here and I am not worried about using up the beans. After dinner we ate the 2 pastries that Gwyneth and I had picked up at the bakery on the way home. One was a "Truff" which was basically a giant meringue covered in a chocolate frosting. Gwyneth had picked that one but I think she was a little surprised (disappointed) at the meringue in side. I had picked something called a "Jalousie" and it was flaked pastry with some kind of cakey filling. I realize now that I should have taken pictures. Too late, they are already "in belly". They were tasty.

So here we are. It feels good to be caught up on the blog. Ethan is next to me playing some computer games. Nic is relaxing on the couch - thinking about mathematics. Gwyneth is working on her engineering skills with the legos. Bon Nuit!