"Putting on the Game Face" |
Senlis On our last day we wound up in Senlis. That is an ancient Roman City outside Paris. We wanted some place close to the airport because our flight was leaving in the morning and we had to turn in the rental van. We were booked at a Bed and Breakfast that was a residence built into the old wall of the city. It was a nice place to stay even if the owner did chew my butt for not wiping my feet well enough. His son however, gave my brother good directions to the airport. After settling in we went and got something to eat. We met some nice local people including an attractive lady who talked to us about French politics. While waiting to get served I walked around the corner to the local museum and it was a pretty neat experience. Beneath the church, shown here were excavations dating to the very beginnings of the city. It’s mind boggling to see the artifacts they had unearthed including the remains of an ancient temple used for healing. There were stone carvings of female forms used to enhance fertility. A container filled with ancient Roman coins was unearthed. There were many gargoyle like figures used to frighten away evil spirits. Collectively, deep under the surface the effect of seeing all this was an almost primordial feeling that reached to the very core of one’s humanity. The picture on the right shows what the old fortified city looked like. We walked along the wall and as the sun set it was a perfect ending to our journey, which seemed like a long trek back in years but in the overall context of history was no more than the blinking of an eye. |