My day at Museum d’Orsay

It was a warm summer morning. But the wind was fresh that it made me forget the harsh thirty-plus degrees weather that was burning the city of love for the past months.  In view of this, it’s been really hard for me to concentrate in the afternoon classes ever since summer waltz in unannounced in our lives. But not today, today the weather seemed to come to an abrupt cosmic agreement to cool its summer rage.

Taking the train and metro on that day felt like a limousine ride. Almost all Parisians were out of the city on vacation. This also made me forget how busy Gare du Nord is on any other given ordinary day. I closed my eyes and inhaled the fresh air also committing this peacefulness to my memory.

I made it to my class (professional training) right on time. I always try to make it five to ten minutes before class starts because our French teacher always rebukes us for not being on time. I have developed a habit of avoiding her mini-lecture about the importance of punctuality and the consequences of running late to class.

I guess everyone is in a good mood today for our teacher decided to take us to a museum as class attendance was low that morning. Going to museum has been on our bucket list as a class but we  couldn’t get to actually do it because of the packed schedules we all have.

The long queue in front of the Museum didn’t feel so boring as me and my classmates were blabbering and having fun the whole twenty minutes wait. Until this day I didn’t know our teacher Alla was an art enthusiast.  Her whole demeanor changed once we were admitted into the museum. Her face lit up. She began talking about the paintings and the sculptures one after another; stopping to read on the information accompanying the pieces, just to find the very few details she’s missed. She is well-versed in art and its history and she was trying to explain to us in elaborated but simple ways.

Left to right (Olivie, Me, Amir, Than)

Do you know what makes visiting museums more fun? It’s having someone fluent in art and history right beside you. Someone who tells you about the artworks and pieces and their era as if they were part of that period, someone who is engrossed in the telling. If you haven’t tried exploring the museum with art and history enthusiast, I suggest you try it as soon as possible. You will thank me later.  Alla was that person for us. She guided us expertly. I saw her transformation right in front of my eyes: the more time we spent in the museum, the lively and engrossed she became. It made me wonder if I have a passion that transforms and brightens my face with passion as art does to Alla? But this is another topic, maybe we will wander around to it some other time.

Me (left) Alla (Middle) Amir (right).

One thing that caught my attention was Alla’s narration of the earlier history of the museum and how it used to be a train station. This was during the war and later the French decided to turn the train station into a museum. Guess the first thing I did upon reaching home? Yup, I Googled it and saw myself the earlier history of the museum.  

Architectural sample of Paris Opera. Masterpiece of Charles Garnier  

Call me old-fashioned if you may but I tremendously enjoy such outings and explorations. Some of my classmates, however, didn’t hold the same sentiment. Take Olivie, the cool dude from our class, for instance, he come up to me and said,  “you know Dinar, this art thing is not my thing. It’s good and all but I am more like sports and horse guy.’’ Well they say there is no accounting for taste so I shrugged it off and continued on. Amir, another classmate of mine, on the other hand was so in to the art. He was jumping from one painting to another sculpture gleefully.  Let me share with you guys what I used to think of Iranians prior meeting and befriending Amir, I thought Iranians were Arabs who spoke Arabic. Shame on me. To my bewilderment, Amir spoke neither Arab nor English. Personally I like talking to him because it is always a win-win situation. I get to practice my French, and he is always interesting to talk to.

left ( Olivie) and Me(right). On top of Paris City architectural model.

Well don't judge me but exploring the museum for me was like taking a kid to an amusement park for the very first time. I was in utter awe. The museum in a way kind of merged centuries of art and history and offers a summary of it.  The Medieval Arts have always excited me. For an art amateur like me, all the sculptures of that period seem to hold mystical and magical power. I couldn’t ask all the questions I had for the fear of appearing real dumb but wow, how did all these ancient civilizations manage all the progress and achievements.

Amir with Vincent van Gogh's Starry night. 

I mean clearly now life has become more easier with the advancement of technology and in the advent of artificial intelligence, but just look at some of the earliest famous paintings of the world.  The paintings in the museum were so good that some of them seemed photo-shopped Van Gogh mastery and his way of playing with colors in a canvas gave me goosebumps. Also another favorite of mine are the masterpieces of Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne and others.  That day I learnt the colors of the paintings of Monet were so sensational and give the beholder unique feeling to the eyes that one hasn’t experienced before, moreover it makes one realize what one has been missing before such experience. Maybe I shouldn’t talk more about art, lest I show my ignorance on such topics.

Vincent van gogh's masterpiece 'The Starry Night'.

There was another intriguing section to the museum, , the collection and display of classy and classic furnishings. It got me thinking why the world stopped creating cool furnishings like those? Where did all the carpenters go? Paradoxically, it seems the world was so developed then than now. I know it might sound bizzare having to say this but my IKEA furnishings  at my apartment are witness to my absurd statement. Maybe the new world and the current generation is more into comfort and ease than design and class? Maybe.

Well to show off our generation’s achievement in the face of the austere grandeur of the artifacts of the museum, we took thousands of photos and selfies. Well if there is one thing we have in abundance in the modern era is taking photos and selfies. But in the frenze attempt to take as many photos as possible, we didn't forget to respect the privacy and wishes of our classmate Ephigenie not to be photographed. She has a Fotografizophobia.

Our time in the museum stretched into adventurous six hours. It was a great experience. I loved everything about the museum. From the view of the ceiling to the large and priceless monuments to incredible paintings well preserved.

The Museum of Orsay. A view from top.

Well the moral of the museum tour is that even though I am living in Paris, I am not living it to its fullest.

As Alla says, ‘’ vous vivez à Paris, il y a beaucoup de choses à voir et à visiter. S'il vous plaît sortir et profiter.’’ She’s right, I should take advantage of it and with this in mind, I left the museum with a promise to myself that I will come back to visit very soon.

Do you know what the best way is to conclude such a great adventure? A picnic. So we set up our picnic at the bank of La Seine. We ate our lunch,  waving at and greeting the tourists who were passing by the boats. We took some more photos and call is a day.

Left (Than), Alla, Amir and Me. At the roof top of the Museum with a great view of Paris.

ስደተኛታት ቀደምን ሎሚን

ኣብ ሰማንያታትን መጀመርያ ተስዓታትን ናብ ኣመሪካን ኣውሮጳን ዝተሰደዱ፡ ኣብ እዋን ክረምቲ ኣብ ጎደናታት ኣስመራ ሓጺር ስረ መሊሶም፡ ኣብ ከብዶም ዝእሰር ቦርሳ ዘዘውትሩ ዝነበሩ ናይ ደገ እንዳ ተባህሉ ዝጽውዑ ዝነበሩ፡ ደሓር ድማ ፎር-ኤን ዝብል ስም ዝተዋህቦም ኤርትራውያን ትዝክርዎም’ዶ?

እዞም ብርክት ዝበሉ በራሓት ዝርከብዎም ህዝርጥ ዝበሉ ወለዶ፡ ኣብዚ ግዜ ደሃይ ከምዘጥፍኡ ዝፍለጥ ኮይኑ፡ ኣብ ግዜኦም ን ኣስመራ ‘ki ki, do you love me ‘ ዝዓይነቱ ገይሮም ዋካ’ የብልዋ ነይሮም። ኩላትና ከም ንዝክሮ፡ ምስ ጠሊ ናይ ክራማት ኤርትራን ኩነታት ኣየር ኣስመራን ዘይከይድ ኣከዳድናን ከምኡ ውን ዘይሰትይዎ  ማይ  ወይ ለስላሳ ሒዞም ጎደናታት ኣስመራ ሸናዕ ይብሉ ከምዝነበሩ ይዝከር፡፡

Asmara, the Capital city of Eritrea

መብዛሕትኦም ካብዞም ወለዶ ኣብ መወዳእታ 80ታትን መፋርቕ 90ታት ናብ ኣውሮጳን ኣመሪካን ዝኣተው ኮይኖም፡ ቅድሚ ምእታዎም ግድን ኣብ ሃገራት ዓረብ ዝነበሩ እዮም። ኣብዚ ግዜ ከም ኣጋጣሚ ኣብ ኣውሮጳ ወይ ኣመሪካ ብወዝቢ ተራኺብካ ኣብ ተዕልለሉ ግዜ ዝደጋግምዋ ዘረባ እንተሃልያ፡ ‘ ኣብዚ ቀረባ ዓመታት ኤርትራውያን ብብዝሒ ምስዳድ ካብ ዝጅምሩ ክብረትና ኣዝዩ ሓሲሩ’’ እትብል ሓረግ'ያ። እዚ መበሊኦም ከኣ ኣብ ኣስመራ ዝነበሮም ዓብላልልነትን ኣብ ኣውሮጳ ዝነበሮም ጀለጠ ስለ ዝሰኣንዎ ክኽዉን ከምዝክእል ይጥርጠር።

 መብዛሕትኦም ካብዞም ናይ 90 ታት መናእሰይ ኣብዚ ግዜ’ዚ ድማ ማእከላይ ዕድመ ዘለዎም ወለዶ፡ ኣብ ናይ ጉልበት ስራሕ ዝወፍሩ ኮይኖም፡ ብዙሓት ካብዚኦም ኣብ ጥዑም ግዜ ዝተጠረየ ገዛውቲን ትካላትን ኣብ ኤርትራ ከም ዝውንኑ ይንገረሎም። ንነብሶም ድማ ኣዝዮም ጻዕራማትን ምሁራንን ገይሮም ከምዝሓስብዋ ካብ ትንታነታቶምን ዕላላቶምን ምምልካት ይከኣል። ኣብ ኣስመራ ኣብ ዝመጹሉ ዝነበሩ ግዜ ድማ፡ ተጣፊኦም እንግሊዝ እንዳሓወሱ (ወላ እቶም ካብ ቋንቋ እንግሊዝ ዘይዝረበለን ሃገራት ዝመጹ)ፈሊጦም እንዳጸየፉ ከም ዝዛረቡ ዝነበሩ ይዝከር።

YPFDJ conference

ካብዚኦም ወለዶ ዝተፈንጨሉ ዘይሕዉሳትን ሃተውተው በሃልቲን ጉጅለ ኣለዉ። መብዛሕትኦም ከኣ ዕላላቶም ናይ 70 ታት ብረታዊ ቓልሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኮይኑ፡ ወላ ውን ከም ለውጢ ሕክያ ናይ 90ታት ወይ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ከም ዘየዘውትሩ ይንገረሎም። ብ ዘመን ዉበ ዝጸመመ …… ብከምዚኦም ዓይነት ሰባት ርእሱ ዝተቶከሰ ሓደ ዓርከይ፡ ንኣዉሮጳዊ ሕብረት ክሲ ክምስርት ከምዝሓሰበ'ዩ ዝዛረብ።

ምስ እዚ ዝብለኩም ዓርከይ ሓደ ግዜ ነዚ ኩነታት ዘኪርና ኣብ ነዕልለሉ ዝነበርና ግዜ፡ ‘ስማዕ እስከ፡ እዞም ኣብ ኣስመራ ናይ ወጻኢ ዝበሃሉ ዝነበሩ፡ ገዘፍቲ ድዮም ነይሮም ወይሲ ህዝብና’ዩ ቀጢን ነይሩ እንዳበለ ደጋጊሙ ክሓተኒ እዝክር። ደሓር ከኣ መብዛሕትኦም ስቋራትን ቁንናትን እዮም ነይሮም’ ብምባል እዩ ዘስተንትን!

እዞም ወለዶ ከም ተወሳኺ ብ ሓፊስ ኮንፈርት ዝተሓጸበ ልባስ ክዳውንቲ ብሰማያዊ መርቢላት ናብ ቤተሰቦም እንዳሰደዱ ንኣስመራ የጨንቕዋ ከምዝነበሩ ኣብቲ ግዜ ዝነበሩ ተማሃሮ ኣብ ዕላላቶም ይዝክርዎ። ተማሃሮ እንከለና፡ ደቂ ክላስና እዚ ጨና ናይ ክዳነይ ናይ ወጻኢ እዩ፡ ርሳሰይ፡ መደምሰሰይ፡ መጽረበይ ናይ ወጻኢ……..ክብሉ ዝዝክሩ ብዙሓት እዮም። (ዋላ እቲ ካብ ሹቕ ንገዝኦ ኣብ ወጻኢ ዝተሰርሐ ምዃኑ ዘይምፍላጦም ዩ ዝገርመኒ)………

ኣንስቲ ኣስመራ ከኣ ቀንጠመንጢ መሊኡ ዝመጽእ ሰማያዊ መርቢላት/ፊስቶታትት፡ ማይ መሊአን ኣብ ኮንቸሎ ዘው የብላኦ ‘ሞ ክረኣየለን ን ማዕጾ ናይ ካንቸሎ ጋሕ ከምዘብላኦ ዝነበራን፡ ብዙሕ ግዜ ንንፋስ የላግባሉ ምንባረን ይዕለለን። ጃህራ ኣብ ገዛውቲ ከም ምዕባለ ተሓሲቡ ያኢ።

Ngdet in Eritrea. (Photo from google)

ኣብዚ ግዜ ዝነበሩ ሰራሕተኛታት ወደብ ሮተርዳም ኣዝዩ ይገርሞም ነይሩ ይኸውን’ዩ፡ ምኽንያቱ ኣብ 90ታት ናብ ኤርትራ ዝስደድ ዝነበረ ንብረት ዝጸዓነ መራቢል ማስቲካ፡ ኮራሜለ፡ ዓሲር፡ ፓስታ፡ ካብ ቦንዳ ዝተገዛአ ኣልባሳትን ካልእን ዝኣመሰለ ዘይጠቕም ንብረታት ጥራይ ስለ ዝሰዱ ዝነበሩ።

ኣየወ ኣብ 90ታት ዝነበረ ጉራ፡ ዝኾነ ናይ ቀረባ ቤተ ሰብ ኣብ ደገ ዝነበሮ ሰብ ክዝክር ከለኹ ገለ ‘ንዘይፈልጦ ሜስ የጥርጦ’ እትብል መጽሓፍ ድረስ እዩ ዝመጻኒ። ኣቦይ ሓሪቑ ጉንዲ እዝነይ እንተጸፍዓኒ ሰንከልከል ኢለ ናብ ተለቭዥንና ምስ ዴካ ኢየ ዝወድቕ፡ እንተደገመኒ ናብ ፍሪጅና፡ እንተቐልዓኒ ናብ ቴሌፎንና ክበሃል ከሎ ይዝከረኩም’ዶ። ኣየወ ኣብ ግዜኡ ንብረት ገዛ መርኣያ ሃብቲን መወራዘይን እዩ ነይሩ።

ብመተመሳሳሊ ኣብ ከተማ ኣስመራ VHS ቪድዮ ካሴት ተሰኪሞም ኮለል ዝብሉ ዝነበሩ መናእሰይ ከይዘከርና ክንሓልፍ ደስ ኣይብልን። ኣብ ኣስመራ ኣለዋ ዝበሃላ ካፈታት ኮፍ ኢሎም ኣብ’ቲ ጣውላ ከም ዝዝሕዝሕዎ ዝነበሩ ይዝከር። ምስ ከምዚኦም ሰባት ኣብ ተዕልለሉ ኩሉ ግዜ ብዛዕባ ካብ ደገ ዝተሰደደሎም ንብረት accessories ከይገለጹ ክሓልፉ ከምዘይደልዩ ይንገር።

ብ ኣየር ወይ ብ መስርሕ (Process) ኢና ኣቲና ዝብሉ ስደተኛታት ናይ 2010ታት ድማ ኣብ ፖርቶፎልይዮኦም ቪዛ ዝረከቡላ ወረቐት ወይ ድማ ናይ ቪዛ ረሲት ሒዞም ከም ዝዛወሩ ይንገረሎም። ኣብ ኣድላዩ ኩነታት ወይ ድማ ምስ ጨረሙ ክፍክሩ ምስ ዝደልዩ፡ ኣነ እኳ ብ ኣየር እየ ናብ ኣውሮጳ መጺኤ ክብሉ ከምዝስምዑ ይፍለጥ።

ብኻልእ ሸነኽ እዞም ብ ጀላቡ ናብ ኣውሮጳ ዝኣተዉ ዘመናውያን ስደተኛታት፡ ሓይሎም ኣብ ምልኣኽ ተክኖሎጂካዊ ንብረታት ከም ሞባይል፡ላፕቶፕ፡ ታብለትን ካልእን ከም ዝኾነ ይፍለጥ። እዚ ዘገርም ነገር ግን ክንደይ ሓይሊ የድልዮ ወላ ገለ ከይተመራመሩ እዮም ዝሰዱ። በዚ ከይኮነ ኣይተርፍን ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ናይ ጸዓት መመንጨዊ ማእከል ንንውሕ ዝበለ እዋን ሕጽረታት ዘጋጠሞ። ካብቲ ዘገርም ከኣ ሓደ'ኳ ዝንበብ መጽሓፍ ዝሰድድ ዘይምህላዉ'ዩ።

 ኣብ ኣመሪካ ምዃኑ'ዩ፡ ሓደ ወዲ ኣስመራ እየ ባሃሊ ሓድሽ ስደተኛ፡ ኣነ እኳ ማኪና ይሕዝ ነይረ’የ፡ ከማይ ገይሩ ን ኣስመራ ዝረጋገጻ የሎን እንዳበለ ሕክያ ጀመረ። እቶም ምስኡ ዝነበሩ ጀምዓ ምጽዋር ስለ ዝሰኣንዎ፡ ብ ኡበር/ታክሲ ምዝወር ኣዝዮም ዝተዳኸሙ ሰባት፡ ሓውና ናዓ በጃኻ ተሰተር። ኣብ ኣስመራ ኣብ 10 ዓመት ዝኸድካዮ ኣብዚ ኣብ ሰሙን ክትከዶ ኢኻ በልዎ ንብለኩም።

መብዛሕትኦም ካብዞም ብሊብያ ናብ ኣውሮጳ ዝኣተዉ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ኤውሮጳ ንዝኾነ ዝጋጠሞም ሽግር ምስ ሊብያ ከምዘተኣሳሰርዎ ይንገር። እንታይ ኮንካ ቋንቋ ዘይትመሃር፡ ክላ ርእስና ኣብ ባሕሪ ሃፊፉ። ዘይ ከም ኣያታቶም ድማ ስራሕ ኣይበዓልቲ ለይቶምን ኢያ።

እንታይ ኮይንካ ዘይትሰርሕ ትብል ሕቶ ዘልዕለሎም ሰብ፡ ክላ ጭንቀት፡  ማራ ናይ ሊብያ  ዝሓለፍክዎ ሽግር ዉጥረት ገይሩለይ ኣሎ ክሳብ ሕጂ ኢሎም ክምልሱ ከም ዝስምዑ ይፍለጥ። እዚ ድማ ሓደ ካብ ዘተሰደድካሉ ዕላማ ረሲዕካ ካሊእ ዓለም ከም ምድላይ'ዩ።

Eritrean refugees in Europe

እዞም መናእሰይ ብብዝሒ ምስ ጸዓዱ ተጸጊዖም ከም ዝሰኣሉን፡ እቶም ዝበዝሑ ጸዓዱ ድማ ዕድመ ድፍእ ዘበሉ መማህራኖም ምዃኖም ኣብ ፈይስቡክ ዝተገብረ መጽናዕቲ ይሕብር።

 ገለ ኤርትራውያን ዲያስፖራ ስግንጢር ኣተሓሳስባ ከምዘለዎም ይፍለጥ። ኣብ ቀዳማይ ዓለም ዘሎ ዲሞክራሲን መሰል ደቂ ሰብን እንዳተጠቕሙ፡ ክማሃሩ፡ ከይሰርሑ፡ ክናበሩ፡ ደቆም ክዕብዩ ዕድል ተዋሂብዎም ክንሱ፡ ኣብ ባሕሪ ጸቢብነትን ኣፋላላይን ክሕምብሱ ምርኣይ ኣዝዩ እዩ ዘስደምም። ሓደ ዓርከይ ነዚ ኩነታት ክገልጾ እንከሎ ፡ ‘ብሕብሪ ወላ ብ ጂኦግራፊያዊ ኣቃምጣ ምሳኻ ዘይራኸብ ሰብ፡ ኣብ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኣሚኑ፡ ኣብ ዓዱ ተቐቢሉ እንዳ ኣናበረካስ እዚ ጸሊም’ዩ፡ እዚ ኣብ እምኒ ይኣምን፡ እዚ ኣብ ጎቦ እዩ ዓዱ፡ እዚ ጽርግያ ጥራይ እዩ ዓዱ እንዳበለ ኣፋላላይ ኣዝዩ እዮ ዘገርም’ ይብል። እዚ ድማ ጽምብላሊዕ መዓኮራ ዘይከደነት ምድሪ ከደነት ኮይኑ ነገራቱ። እቲ ዘገርም ከኣ እቶም ክንደይ ሽግርን መከራን ሓቢሮም እናተቛደሱ ሰሃራን ባሕሪን ሰጊሮም ዝመጹ መንእሰያት ኣብቲ ምዕቡል ዝበሃል ዓለም ምስ ኣተዉ ብጸቢብነት ክፋጠጡ ምርኣይ እዚ ወለዶ ገና ሲቪካዊ ትምህርቲ ኣዝዩ ከምዝውሕዶ ይበርሃልካ። ካብዚ ኣተሓሳስባ ንምውጻእ ድማ እንተወሓደ ትምህርቲ ወይ ስራሕ ወይ ውን ናይ ንባብ ልምዲ ብምዝውታር ነብሶም ከማዕብሉ ከምዘለዎም ክኢላታት ስነሕብረተሰብ ይመኽሩ።

ኣብ መወዳእታ፡ እዞም ብጃልባ ንኣውሮጳ ዝኣተዉ መንእሰያት፡ ነቶም ንስድራቤቶም ክብሉ ነብሶም ዝረስዑ ናይ ስደት ኣያታቶም ብዙሕ ሂወት የብሎምን፡ ኬፋት ውን ኣይግጥምዋን እዮም በሃልቲ ምዃኖም ይንገር። ናይ ስደት ኣያታት ብ ወገኖም ፡ ክላ ናይ ሕጂ ስደተኛታት ኣይኮነን ንስድራኦም ን ነብሶም ዘይኮኑ ሰነፋት እዮም በሃልቲ እዮም።

ወደሓንኩም!!!

ምስጋና ንኣሰናዳኢ ተመስገን ኣብርሃ 

Tourists and journalist in Asmara

Eritrean Diaspora in Asmara

Eritrean ministry of tourism

My One Day Sojourn in Amiens, France

This sojourn in Amiens was totally unexpected. An opportunity knocked on my friend’s door and so she went on knocking on my door which happened to be the bathroom door  at this time (before bedtime routine) and told me that we would go to the city of the largest gothic cathedral in France. And yes, it is really beautiful-inside, outside and the  feeling when you’re there. One Amiénois whom I chatted with on the street had even said that it is the most beautiful cathedral in the world.  

I’ve made a mental list of the places to visit in France and Amiens is one of them. I was more than excited to go that I wasn’t really sure if I’ve slept or not that night. I felt like floating that day. Got up at 7 am because Mickey the cat was sitting beside my pillow and was staring at me. The weather in Amiens was hotter than in Dièppe, where I was staying, but it was still cold at 9 in the morning. And I am a novice sojourner in Normandy that I didn’t bring pants.

So my friend and I stormed Amiens with me in my short tattered denim shorts and a long striped chemise. I’m describing my clothing because my legs and I were really suffering the whole morning because of the cold. When we arrived, there were about 15 people. The Sunday mass was about to begin when we went inside. I’m more spiritual than religious but I’ve never been to church since 19-forgotten so I decided to attend the Holy Mass. That made it my first Holy Mass in France and in French. It’s good for my French and my decaying soul. To tell you, I was serious in the Mass. If you had heard the organ playing and the voice of the chorale which seemed to reverberate inside that 13th century gothic cathedral, you would understand why I felt something peaceful inside. I remember my Mom. I did some reflection and it was kind of calming. I love churches. They’re one of the best places for thinking. Though, my friend was probably dying of boredom waiting for me. 

After storming the Cathedral, we stormed the centre-ville. I passed by Chez Jean Trogneux and I was eager to buy some macarons d’Amiens. They’re not like the colorful macarons you’ll see at Ladurée. They’re more like of the macarons we have in Philippines except that they’re not made of coconuts but of almonds. Unfortunately, it’s Sunday and like most of the stores in France, it was closed. And, oh, First Lady Brigitte Trogneux Macron is a member of the family who runs this French chocolatier which is best known for their macarons. Just a trivia. 

There are many things to see in Amiens. Walking along Les Hortillonages or the floating gardens of Amiens, which used to be market gardens in the ancient times, is a plaisir. The flowers. The houses. The gardens. The canal. The boats. They’re all perfect for a Sunday afternoon walk. Or even a morning or evening walk. The temperature seemed to be peaking and my clothing has become appropriate finally. 

While walking along the bank, I was behind two elderly ladies. Two scooters were speeding and the two dames were horrified. I thought it was because of the probability of accidents- pedestrians run over by scooters. However, I heard them saying that « oh, we should close the road. Scooters are speeding. It’s dangerous. They might grab your bag… » It’s in French, I couldn’t capture the humor.

Anyway, Amiens is less than two hours from Paris so it’s easy to go there even if you don’t have a car. The train station (la gare) is close to everything so, no sweat. You can just walk around the city and visit and take photos. 

A picture can tell a thousand words so I took photos that could tell a total of a million words. Check it out.

I don't know what's this fruit...

Jolie House in Les Hortillonages