Friday we headed for Arras. Years ago when Spain invaded France, this was a town in which they settled. The Spanish influence can still be seen in the architecture. It is the first time I've seen a covered sidewalk with arches surrounding the central town square. We found a parking spot and headed for the tourist office in the smaller square a few blocks away.We passed by this little car. Anyone in France can call for a free ride to their polling place to vote and this would be the kind of car that would give them their free ride.
We just heard on the radio that when Sarkozy first ran for president it was the dictator Khadafi who gave him a lot of money to win. This may become the scandal that will make sure he loses this election. In France voting always takes place on Sundays. For president the first vote narrows the field to the two people who get the most votes. Two weeks later there is a second vote between those two people.

This town is known for its giants. Just in case you can't tell how tall they are, that's Francis standing in front of them.
During the war this building was almost completely destroyed. It was rebuilt with the same stones on the outside, but mostly concrete inside. Below the building is a maze of tunnels which were created when it was first built as a church. The excavation provided the stone for the building. During the last world war, apparently some of the Allies used these tunnels to work their way beneath the German army and then dig to the surface as a surprise.

It is no longer a church, but is the tourist office. We purchased tickets to climb the tower. Fortunately, there was an elevator for most of the way up. Once again the wind was wild at the top of the tower. This is a picture of the small town square which gives an idea of how high we were.


We had also purchased tickets for the Versailles in Arras, a museum housing many of the carriages used by royalty in the past. As we were walking toward the museum we heard music.

Suddenly this group appeared around the corner. The fellow in the middle is playing bagpipes. They were led by two people handing out flyers about an upcoming concert.

This is one of the carriages. It is covered in gold and was pulled by 8 horses. One of the lead horses had a rider. There was an interesting movie that showed how carriages work and how they have changed over the years, but it didn't explain why a team of eight horses would need a rider. It showed a carriage riding through the gardens of Versailles pulled by 4 horses. It takes a set of reins for each team of horses. The ability to turn sharp corners and to brake going downhill, as well as the springs are things that have  improved over the years.

I took this picture to show another example of a  tree being espaliered. 

This was Pierre's birthday and we were expected at the home of Serge and Joscelyn to celebrate with cake. Pierre will soon be studying physics for 3 months in Romania.

Serge showed us his bee hives.

The house next door had a pond in the back yard with a pair of nesting geese.

Serge and Joscelyn also had geese and chickens in a back section of their yard as well as a large rabbit hutch and place for carrier pigeons. Their were several cats in the yard, but they were wary of people.

This room is both living room and dining area with a couch facing the raised fireplace and a long farmers table at the nearer end.

Pierre played an instrument that sounded a bit like bagpipes. He has to crank it with his right hand while playing notes with his left hand. This is a viele a roue...but there should be an accent mark over the first e and the a. I'm not using a French keyboard and I can't make accent marks with this little netbook.

This evening Francis and Marie-Annick went off to have dinner with Francis' godfather and his wife. I stayed home with Julian. He played the film Avatar for me in English.