Other than my trip to Paris I have mostly been working a lot so haven’t had the opportunity to get myself into many misadventures; I have however amassed a quantity of photos from around town which I will now inflict on you.

First of course is the cathedral itself which I visit frequently, or rather, nearly every day. The appearance changes throughout the day and if we have the occasion of some sun the interior can be quite beautiful (in fact it’s always beautiful, but in different ways).

A place of many colors (some days)

Also I will add here a photo of yet another church also near the city center, as part of my attempt to photograph as many churches in this town as possible, and there are a lot of them. This is Saint-Rémi and I have not been able to get inside, I believe it has been closed for some years due to structural issues. It was built in the late 19th century on the site of an even older Franciscan convent, but like Beauvais only the choir and transept were completed.

Église Saint-Rémi d’Amiens

Even “regular” buildings display a lot of architectural interest:

Caisse d’Epargne (a bank)
Some dude with a lion hat holding up a balcony

There is an apparently terrific museum here in Amiens, unfortunately it is closed for renovations and is scheduled to open the day after I leave!

Musée de Picardie, taken from a crack in the gates

There is also a cemetery a ways out of town that is famous for being the burial site of Jules Verne who lived in Amiens for many years. This is another place I would not have thought to visit other than I read about it in the blog that I mentioned before. Unfortunately the gravesite of Jules Verne himself was covered over for restoration, but you can see a photo of his unique tombstone in Kaitlyn’s blog.

I read 20,000 Leagues when I was a kid but I don’t remember much about it now. Anyway Jules Verne is not my personal literary hero or anything, as wonderful as he was, and I was happy to see the rest of la Cimetière de la Madeleine all the same. I went on an foggy and drizzly Sunday afternoon when very few people were out, and the half hour walk there was one of the more agreeable strolls I have ever taken.

The national train worker’s strike has been going on for over 40 days now, and every now and then the unions will call for a “national day of action” in which demonstrators take to the streets. January 9th was such a day and I was startled from my computer that afternoon by the sounds of explosions outside. Looking out the window I saw a cloud of smoke rising from the street, lit from within by an ominous red light. I walked out to see a large group of demonstrators making their way down the street and I followed them for a ways. Some had roadside flares, and some set off fireworks (of a magnitude I have never heard before even on the 4th of July in America), and they sang chants, and blared music, and some wore yellow vests, traffic was inconvenienced, and many employees of cafés and shops were standing outside looking on.

Although the procession did at first look intimidating, I will say that at least here in Amiens the protesters were peaceful and even I would say in a good mood. They were not knocking over trash cans or burning cars or causing any problems, in fact they seemed to be having a good time. What happens elsewhere, or on other days, I have no idea!

Grève du 9 janvier, Amiens

I will end with a photo taken about 2 minutes after midnight on New Year’s Eve. As you can see the streets were dead, but I heard lots of parties going on indoors…

From the cathedral looking back to the belfry