A mostly architectural tour of Abbeville.

Arrival in Abbeville, Saturday night.

Look left:

Look right:

Well then.

We spent Sunday wandering around Abbeville, which left me with a ton of pictures of funny buildings and signs. I'll try not to bore you, but this is going to be a long one. At least it's mostly pictures.

Brief history lesson: Every time France gets into a war in Europe, Abbeville gets flattened. This monument attests to the mutilation it suffered during WWI. Guess we should be glad that WWII didn't flatten it altogether.

This church is condemned, and supposedly they're going to knock it down. Knock a church down, in France? Never, you say. I know, I was shocked. Apparently the work needed is too expensive, even though the residents want to save it.

Cute little street. Now watch this:

Residence at No° 5 ...

Residence at No° 3 ...

Residence at No° 1 ... Wait, what? That's rough.

Strolling. That's actually an island, wedged between a river and a canal.

Cryptic ancient ruins in the middle of some houses.

Molly and I (makes me sound schizophrenic, doesn't it?) took a relaxing break.

The river through town is La Somme.

For the record, there was no pont (bridge). Is this irony? There's a joke to be made here.

Different church, not too far from Molly's school/apartment (she lived on the campus of the middle school). Let me take a moment to reemphasize the spacious grandeur of her apartment. I can't pretend to hide my jealousy.

That means what you think it means. Ouf.

Climbing on some sort of ancient fortifications (you can't see from this angle, but I'm on the edge of a massive drop off/ancient brick wall). You can see that second church a little ways behind me!

Thanks, Captain Obvious. If that massive cliff didn't tip me off, I don't think the sign is going to help me.

We briefly considered this 'short-cut,' to the bottom of the wall, but eventually decided we both liked our lives too much to risk relatively certain injury.

Uhhh, I can still see your window. Molly told me that there was once a tax on windows, so people bricked them in so as not to pay as much (somehow windows = rich). Still looks weird.

You may not be aware, but Super Mario World is actually based on Abbeville. Look at those monster flowerpots! IN THE ROAD, no less! And also, that guy to the right-center is riding a go-cart. I swear. And we saw a half dozen of them driving around that day. Mario Kart. I knew it.

These are school buses. In my opinion, they don't count unless they're yellow.