A Glimpse of Le Tréport

France loves vacations. I don't even hate to generalize about this. It's true. (I started reading Bonjour Tristesse, and in it they've rented a villa on the Mediterranean for two months!) Les Vacances de Toussaint started today, and we don't start back to school or work until 3 November. To celebrate, and just to get out and enjoy the lovely weather, I rode over to Le Tréport this afternoon, and TOOK SOME PHOTOS!


A sign, directing me to Le Tréport. The church, to the right of the sign, is l'Église Saint-Jacques. There was originally a church in the same location during the 14th century, but it was destroyed during a violent storm. Construction to rebuild the church began toward the end of the the 17th century, and if I remember correctly, it was finished during the 18th century. I went inside, but didn't take any photos. I figure I'll save that for its own day.



When the tide goes out, boats that're left in a certain part of the harbor end up on dry land. I was eating my "fesse de bébé" (see later photo) when the tide was coming back in, and watched a couple of fishermen walk out and hop in their boats, then wait for the water to rise and take off!


On my way across the harbor I noticed that there were boats lined up in the locks, waiting to be lowered and released from the harbor, out into the sea:

Notice the moving water in this photo:


No more moving water; it's all been released! The door starts to open:


And out parade the boats!





Here is a photo of some rather scenic, rusty old fishing equipment that I bike past on my way into Le Tréport. Just... yunno... some French stuff, bein' French, in France.



"Il fait souvent de la broum." Or, "it is often foggy. " Thus, "il y a un phare", or "there is a lighthouse." Also, you can sort of see in this photo that the water is a really nice, light blue color. However, it's not at all clear. In fact, when I went swimming I was only up to my knees and I could no longer see my feet! "Beaucoup de calcaire!" The water here is calcareous, or full of calcium.



And, finally, I stopped into a boulangerie/pâtisserie after wandering around for an hour or so, and bought this treat. It's called "une fesse de bébé", or "a baby's bottom." It"s two meringues dipped in hazelnut chocolate on a stick. Yum!



Last, but definitely not least, this is how I spent my mid-morning today, from about 11h30 to 14h. It's probably how I will spend many, many an afternoon while I am here... Coffee, Speculoos cookies (yup, I ate about half the package... they're just too delicious!), and some French literature.