Since we were staying Sunday and Monday at Hotel Nord in Besancon, France we did not have to wake up and rush to get out by check out time. We woke up at noon, showered and walked the town for a bit but not too long because it was Sunday and the shops were all closed. We headed up to Max's flat, he was out with his girlfriend (Julie) for the day at some friends house but was nice enough to allow us to hang out at his place and wait for him. Craig, Nicole and Wyatt spent the downtime napping, Jason did some book keeping and journal writing and I sat in a chair in the kitchen with the window open enjoying the French afternoon breeze eating cheese and bread. max's flat is roughly five stories from the bottom and it over looks a cobblestone courtyard covered with patches of moss here and there. The sky was so blue that day with the whitest puffiest clouds you can imagine and off to the right sits a church top with beautiful mosaic turquoise tiles and some terracotta looking to contrast. When we first arrived in France I noticed that every second home or apartment (aka flat) had a window of which a person was peering out of. At that moment I realized why, I was so relaxed in absorbing the outside beauty from the comfort of "my" space, I could have sat there all day.
Max and Julie came home around five and Julie cooked up an amazing dinner consisting of escargot, yep..snails, frog legs, cheese, wine and brochette with pesto and garlic on top. Absolutely amazing. Escargot is certainly not for everyone but I, for one, love me some snail!! I had only had escargot one other time before at a restaurant back home and it was served in a mushroom cap covered in garlic butter and I loved it. I was a little put off, yet still pretty confident I would like them, because the escargot was served...still in the shell and we had to take a toothpick and dig the snail out. It was delicious. On to the frog legs, I had never had had frog legs before and had been told by many, "They taste just like chicken". Not the case, to me they tasted more like fish. It wasn't bad, the texture was a little slimy but that did not stop me from eating six of them!! I don't think I need to elaborate on the cheese, wine and bread. It's France, enough said.
After dinner, Max and Julie took us on a tour of the city, we walked maybe five miles looking at all of the history. The highlight of the tour was a stop we made atop a hill that overlooked the entire city which is surrounded by a canal (somewhat like a mote) on the outside of the canal are a range of mountains, which if a circle had sides, each side had a fortress which over looked the city and protected it during ancient times of war. I am fascinated with history and to have that access to the history of that city was such a great experience, you can feel it in the air and see it on the moss covered cobble stone roads and walls. This is nothing you can learn in a classroom.
The walk back to the hotel was easy and the weather was perfect, we called it an "early" night and said au revoir to our friends Max and Julie until tomorrow.
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