We made it to Cambrai yesterday safe and sound. It has been so fun to explore this quaint shop-lined, cobble-stone street town. Everywhere you turn there is another wonderfully stunning church or building that just begs us to walk up to it and sometimes even through it.
Dan and Mike went into work today around 8:45AM, after a nice continental breakfast provided by the proprietors of our lovely hotel. I had a croissant, a yogurt and orange juice. Once the boys left, we headed out to explore the city and then quickly realized that the town stores really did not open until about 9:30AM. So we headed back to the hotel and I relaxed in our bed while watching Rio on the iPad. Once it hit 9:30AM, we were out the door again on a wonderful adventure. We walked by and into so many shops, it was a wonderful way to spend the morning.
We also wandered into several churches and through some city monuments. It was a glorious way to spend a somewhat drizzly day. Yes, for the first time since we have been on vacation, the sky was overcast and the rain started to fall early this morning. It misted through most of the day, but that did not stop Jane, John and I from exploring.
We went all over the city including a walk by a wonderful butcher shop that I was especially drawn to because I just finished the book "Cleaving" by Julie Powell. It was so exciting, I brought Mike back later in the afternoon to oogle over the amazing meat these people had in their butcher shop. I also adored watching them actually utilizing their butcher skills on a variety of meats.
We went to lunch at fun restaurant across the street from and old entryway into the town. I had carbonara pasta that was so rich and creamy that I could not finish it. The lardons (bacon croutons) were delicious and the creamy sauce melted in my mouth. John had pasta with bolingese (I know this is mispelled, but you get the idea) and Jane had a calazone.
We then headed toward the grocery store so Jane could pick up a few items and bingo...there was McDonalds. I took John to McDonalds, ordered a Happy Meal and then John played on the play structure. The ordering of the happy meal was quite comical because I knew how to say no cheese - "sans fromage" but I had no idea how to say no pickle - so there was a bit of acting a pickle out. Basically I made a circle with my thumb and forefinger about the size of a pickle and said "verte" - she totally understood and said "Ahhh cornishon." So that was perfect!
After our time at McDonalds we headed out to find the park that Mike had pointed out to me the day previous. We got a little lost, but found some wonderful structures that we were not sure what they were. Jane took a ton of pictures of them, so hopefully we will find out what they were used for.
We then headed back to the hotel after being briefly lost and they boys were back from work. They had a good time touring the warehouse. We hung out for a bit, but as mentioned previously I had to take Mike to the butcher shop. So Mike and I headed out on our own afternoon adventure. We walked to the ice cream truck and I had a scoop of chocolate chip mint and Mike had a scoop of coconut. We went to the butcher shop and while I preferred to watch from the outside window, Mike went inside to see the entire case of meat. He said they had some pate and other prepared meats at the end of the counter. We both wish we could speak French mainly so we could talk to these experts. We then headed into a bakery and I found what I have been searching for...a meringue. It was lovely but HUGE! I think there is a picture on picasa of the large meringue.
We headed back to the hotel and rested a bit before dinner. We went to dinner with J.C. who is a local Columbia employee and then three Portland warehouse guys that were in town doing a software upgrade. It was a lovely dinner with pink bubbles included (for those of you who do not know, I LOVE Brut Rose). I also had steak with shaved black truffles and butter all over the top of the steak. YUMMMMM! It was so good.
We headed back to the hotel and fell asleep.
I truly enjoyed our time in Cambrai and would love to spend more time there. It was what my idea of a French town is!
Cheers to an exploration day in Cambrai!
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