[July 2023] After taking a break at a friend’s house in Avon, a town next to Fontainebleau in France, our friend and her husband took us to a village called Samois-sur-Seine along the Seine River.
When we arrived in Fontainebleau earlier, we were hit with a torrential downpour, but this time it was filled with beautiful evening light.
It is a place rich in nature, and the trees along the shore are reflected in the river, creating a mesmerizingly beautiful sight.
This village is famous for its historic and luxurious villas.
It is true that the houses lining the riverbank are magnificent.
In such a nice environment, people in the neighbourhood were out playing boats and paddling canoes.
There were some boys jumping into the river, and one person was seriously swimming.
It was a rich atmosphere, like a smaller, more relaxed version of Richmond on the outskirts of London.
Drinks were being served on a boat moored along this river, so we went on board.
It was a pity that they didn’t have any food, but I drank kheer here for the first time in a while.
I just looked at my notes and it says, “It’s as delicious as a Bellini.”
There was another group of customers on the boat, and they seemed to be regulars who were good friends with the owner, and they were having endless conversations.
It was like getting a glimpse of how the rich people of this village spend their summer evenings.
After a while, the person who was swimming earlier also came up from the river to this boat and chatted with the owner.
Do they all know each other, or do they feel comfortable chatting with people you don’t know?
By the way, a jazz festival is apparently held in this village every June.
Apparently, Django Reinhardt, a famous jazz guitarist (whom I did not know), lived out his old age in this village and started a festival.
This village, which was peaceful on this day, will probably be flooded with people during the festival.
As we couldn’t find any food here, we went back to Fontainebleau and had some ham and cheese on the terrace of a restaurant.
This was the end of our long day of walking 21,487 steps.
I slept soundly on a mattress laid out in the spacious living room of a friend’s house.
