Namur

I was on my way to Strasbourg and broke my journey in Namur, Belgium. This being Belgium, it had a Flemish name also, Namen. It's on the Meuse/Maas river. A citadel overlooks the city.

I remember a boy hosteller telling me that the river reminded him of home because his home was downstream, on the Maas.

Did you know that the Meuse is the oldest river in the world, in the geologic sense? I didn't before. All those millions of years are humbling.

While walking in the city I fell in with a couple of Dutch girls also at the hostel, who were touring the low countries on their holidays. I'm still in touch with P, in the foreground, after all these years.

I remember we wandered into an unfamiliar part of town. I wonder where we are, asked one of the girls. I looked at the advertising sign where a street sign would be that read Buvez Coca-Cola, and quipped: Coca-Cola Street.

A local resident.

An interesting hydrant. Underexposed rather than taken in poor light.