les hortillonnages

Yesterday I braved the mean streets of the French countryside and drove to Amiens for a day of fun with some coworkers. I met Virginie, the Italian teacher, at the Rectorat, and then we drove to her house so I could park my car. After a quick visit with her boyfriend Rodolphe, we then walked to the centre ville to meet Mélanie and Emmanuelle - a math teacher and an English teacher - for lunch. We had delicious Greek food on the terrasse of the restaurant, since it was such a beautiful day.

After lunch, we toured the streets of St. Leu (from the word loup; perhaps wolves used to roam the streets...). Once again, I was told that the area used to be malfamé, or infrequented, but is now one of the hottest areas in town. We then hopped aboard une barque to tour les hortillonnages. These man-made gardens surrounded by branches of the Somme have been in existence since Gallo-Roman times. In fact, their name comes from the Latin word for garden, hortus. In the 300 hectares of privately-owned gardens, you can find more than 600 different kinds of plants and over 120 species of birds. Most of hortillonnages are only accessible by boat. Visitors can take a tour like we did, or rent their own rowboats or canoes and hope they don't get lost among the 450 little islands on 65 kilometers of water. (Our tour only covered about 3km). A century ago, there were over 1000 gardeners who raised produce to sell at the local market; I learned that now there are only 9. Most of the owners come to their island gardens to raise flowers, to fish, or simply to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Even though it's just a few steps from the heart of Amiens, it is a peaceful place.


After our boat tour, we walked through the Parc St. Pierre, which was crawling with people taking advantage of a rare warm and sunny day. We stopped for an ice cream treat back at St. Leu, walked by the Cathedral where there was a large group of motards (maybe a motorcycle wedding?) and then went our separate ways. I went back with Virginie and had a Mexican dinner at her house. At midnight, I was finally able to tear myself away from an entertaining conversation with her sister Caroline and her boyfriend, and navigated my way back to Poix. A very good day!