Il pleut beaucoup à Amiens

This is the beautiful Beth in Amiens Cathedral - I just loved the play and colours of the light.

Both Clare and I are suspiciously free of a gueule de bois. How, I do not know. But I am not going to question the kindness of fate on this day!

After a very chilled out morning consisting of black sugared coffee, guess the Disney song in French (cheers Thomas!) we wandered down to the station to collect Beth, the final member of our band, and started the tourist trail of Amiens. So since I asked Clare what Amiens had of interest and she answered with a "Well, we have that cathedral" and pointing at one of the biggest and most ornate cathedrals I have ever seen, we decided we should start there! And the inside did not disappoint either, here are a few of my favourite Blip rejects. We were tempted by the idea of going on a tour up the tower, but decided that food was probably of more importance...it would also involve many stairs and the day was pretty cold, even with sunny spells! So instead we had a wander round the canals and the rest of the city (more photographs here) before ending up at Au Bureau. As the weather took a turn for the worse, we ended up staying in there and chatting for over three hours, which was fabulous! My only gripe with the restaurant...well now I enjoy the food of Au Bureau (I had a Potatoes Burger; pretty much burger, cheese, "bacon" between hash browns and a bun...with a side of chips as well!) but I do not enjoy the service. As it is a chain, there is also one in Caen, and I have to report similar problems there are well. I think if we had just walked out without paying they wouldn't have even noticed we had gone! Everything was also referred to mon collègue...one poor guy who seemed to be running himself ragged while everyone else stood around and chatted or checked their phones. Alright, rant over. It just frustrates me as I worked in a retail environment for over two years, and customer service was the key thing!

After a quick wander round the shops Beth caught her train back to Saint-Quentin and Clare and I headed back chez elle. Now the evening was definitely a bit more docile (shall I say!) than the evening before! We met up with Laurel and Ludek and headed back to the bar of the night before. After one beer I decided that my throat was actually getting worse, and I needed to lay off the alcohol for an evening. After only meeting the barmen the night before, I was rather surprised to be told "that's not like you!" when they heard my drinks order of a Coca Light...my worry is what makes them believe that isn't like me after knowing me for one night!! Lovely to see more of Clare's friends anyhows, and again, another lovely night.