Salutations from Lille!!!
Trip Start
Mar 05, 2008
1
82
107
Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
Lille,
Nord-Pas-de-Calais,
France
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Many of you who have checked to facebook have asked where Lille is ... it's in the North of France, not too far from the Belgium border. We organised to meet up with Karen (Ian's cousin) in Lille, which was also where we were dropping off the car, but first we had to make a stop.
We stayed in a place called Peronne for a couple of days to clean out the car & throw out some no-longer-needed (or unable to carry!) items. It turned out we were right in the middle of the Somme, so on the way to Lille we visited a WWI War cemetry and the Australian War Memorial at Pozieres.
We got into Lille and finally found our hotel, dumped our gear, then drove to the train station to drop off the car. It was sad to see the old girl go (well, she was old now - we did almost 20 000kms in her!)
We walked to Karen's mum's place (Nicky)and even managed to find it without getting lost! When we got there they said that we should stay with them. We'd already paid for the night in the hotel, but when Phillipe got home (Nicky's partner)they drove us back there in 2 cars to pick up the majority of our stuff (remembering we have massive bags & a bike in a box!), then back to their place to spend the rest of the day. That night Nicky drove us all out for tea with Karen's friend Nadia, then back to our hotel again!
The next morning they came back again to pick us up! Everyone has been just great! Karen is looking really well ... and OMG, don't get me started on Mailie, her daughter. She's absolutely beautiful! She's just over 12 months old and she's adorable. We shared a room with her, so you can imagine how happy we were to learn that she slept from 8 til 8!!!! She was a bit sick when we first arrived, but still as happy as Larry. She absolutely adores Ian, as some of the photos clearly show!
Nicky is really lovely. She is a teacher too. We almost had stand up fights in the shops when she wouldn't let us pay for anything ... so we shopped & cooked for everyone on a couple of occasions, but that hardly makes up for all they've done for us.
Phillipe, the poor guy, doesn't really speak any English, then he gets lumbered with two out there Aussies ... he probably didn't know what hit him! But by the end of the stay, we were all the best of mates, with him learning a few English words to go with the French ones they were teaching us. If you're ever in the market for a 'real' chocolate mousse, Phillipe is the guy to see. And of course he won my heart by giving us a dvd of 12 episodes of NCIS ... in English!, to watch whilst we were here!
The last 12 days have been really relaxing ... not one visit to a church or museum! But we have had time to do a few other things, including :
* A quick drive to Belgium to buy some chocolate & cigarettes (as you do!) It was only about 30 minutes away. It was strange that the border was in the middle of the street ... so at one stage I was standing in Frelgium (trying not to get run over of course)!!!!
* Some pampering (well me, not Ian). I got a long overdue leg wax & after 7 long months, a haircut. But I mean a REAL haircut ... it's just about all gone! Well, not like Ripley from Aliens or anything, but I can feel the breeze on the back of my neck, put it that way! It was long overdue & Ian really likes it. Unfortunately, being retarded at all things girly, once I left the hairdresser's, I was unable to do it! Oh well, guess it will grow back.
* Factory Outlet shopping ... another event that Ian was just salivating over!
* Some extraordinary meals ... we've had chicken, beef, kangaroo, duck, home-made pate & goose liver, the awesome previously-mentioned mousse, and please don't hate us animal lovers ... we even tried horse. They are properly bred for the market, it's not like we hijacked Black Beauty or anything! And if you must know, it was actually quite nice - really tender & rich coloured like kangaroo.
We had lots of trouble trying to organise our train trip back to England - it's cheaper to buy a return ticket than it is to get a one way ticket!!!!! Stupid Eurostar! And because we have Ian's bike, we are only allowed on certain trains, and they don't have any cheap tickets! So it's cost us a bit more than we thought it would.
Well, our stay here in Lille is now over. We just had our final dinner together (including a bottle of bubbly!) and we are off to the train tomorrow. We definitely had an amazing time - it was certainly the rest that we needed, and Karen, Nicky & Phillipe made us feel most welcome.
Mailie, Mailie, Mailie ... what else can you say ... she's beautiful ... & cuddly ... and if we had room, we'd sneak her into our luggage! (By the way, it's just your imagination - I am not clucky! Well, maybe just a little.)
When we catch the train tomorrow we are headed to Fred & Maisie's just outside London - they are some more of Ian's relatives (aunt & uncle).
We are really sad to leave here ... but the UK section of Grand Tour is just about to start!
Au Revoir
