Lille

While wandering around Lille, we wondered whether there was an AppleStore in Lille. John had been looking for an opportunity to change the battery in his phone and it looked likely that we might find a store. Sure enough, a quick search showed that we had been standing next to one while taking photos the previous evening.

Having made an appointment, we went off with the cameras.

Porte de Paris








A plaque to previous makers of Lille and a detail of the arch of the Porte de Paris.











Around the Citadel of Lille, including a NATO centre.





















John's phone is now behaving itself.

We spent a week in Broadstairs with the boys.































- Pat and John on tour

The Hague to Lille

Most of this day would be spent on trains. We left The Hague and travelled to Antwerpe where we had 15 minutes to find our train to Lille. This should have been simple, but our train was one of a pair and so we could only identify it by time of leaving and the stated destination was confusing.

The station itself was very unusual: platforms were stacked vertically. Using different levels in a station is not that unusual, but when you can see the trains on top of each other, this was new to us.


We had a bus replacement at the end of the journey, so were later than expected, but soon settled into our hotel conveniently close to both Lille stations.

While we have passed through Lille on many occasions, we have only ever seen the route from one station to the other, which is not something of note. However, Pat had received an email from SNCF promoting Lille as a destination and was impressed. Once John had seen the photo, he was interested too!

We spent two nights here and were ready to be impressed, and so we were. The town is very well preserved and worth a visit.




















We will have more time in Lille tomorrow before taking the EuroStar to Ashford and on to Broadstairs.

- Pat and John on tour

The Hague

The main reason that we went to The Hague was to meet John's second cousin once removed and his family. We made our way out to their house and spent the late afternoon and early evening with them. Dad, Matt, is Australian and Freddie is Dutch. Vos is with Dad and the two boys are Flint ans Charlie Fenn.







It is more that 45 years since we were last in The Hague and so an update on any photos that we might have taken at the time, was long overdue. We stayed in the centre of the city so that we had easy access to many of the sights.

We had a few places that we wanted to visit, but most, we were just wandering around wit the cameras.

We started close to the hotel and worked our way towards the sea.



















Then we moved to the Binnerhof area













Some house carvings and decorations on our way.






Our next stop was the Peace Palace. There is no tourist access to the Palace or gardens, but there is a tourist centre with displays and a commentary.







These items are from the first peace conference in 190? The Peace Palace was funded by Andrew Carnegie.

We continued our walk through woods until we reached Madurodam, a minature Holland Park where we ate lunch.

A model of the Peace Palace with its gardens







Models of Kinderdike and Schipol airport






Then is was time for a rest and so we took a tram back to the hotel.

After a short rest, we set off again for the Binnerhof area.















After that, we looked for somewhere to ear and then made our way back to the hotel.

- Pat and John on tour

Sunday in Brussels

We had a later start to the day on Sunday. Sophie and Jim picked us up in the late morning and took us to a part of the city that she knows well, it being the area that she has lived in and represented when she was an MP.

Sophie is greeted wherever she goes in the area, from the fishermen on the lake to the market.







We stopped in the market for breakfast where we could buy omelettes, and other egg based dishes, coffee etc.

There was also a busy wine bar.





It was just as well that we were not staying long. All the produce looked very inviting. Then we moved on the see some of the sights of Brussels







We continued by tram to a large park by a museum which is being renovated. It has a lake and lots of woodland to walk in.





Some of the outdoor exhibits, showing Belgium's colonial past.





Out last stop was a cafe for a much needed ice cream and drink.

In the evening, we ate at a local cafe and then went to the Grand Place for a final photo.








Now we are on a train to The Hague

- Pat and John on tour

Brussels

We had decided to breakfast in a local cafe rather than the hotel. Close by, there are some lovely archades with cafes, so we selected one and ordered 'p'tit dej'. It included orange juice, an enormous croissant and a large piece of baguette. Delicious!

The cafe was very busy serving breakfasts of all varieties including enormous waffles.

After that, we bought some small Easter eggs as a gift for the children at our next stop and then set off for the sight seeing.

The Grand Place is always busy on Saturdays. Marriages take place in the Hôtel de Ville.








Guild houses surround the square and are elaborately decorated.









Some of the detail














The Maison De Roi.








The Bourse







And some detail








Place Royale







In the evening, Sophie and Jim arrived at the hotel where we started the belated celebrations of Jim's 40th birthday with a bottle of champagne.

We then continued to the restaurant that we had booked, Comme Chez Soi. Sophie had booked us a table in the kitchen, so there was lots going on and we had very good service. The wine list featured the wine of Leon Barrell, a wine from Léntheric in the Languedoc. The winemaker, Didier Barrell was a regular customer in the small pizzeria in our village and gave us a tour of his domain.

The meal was excellent and we were pleased that we had chosen the less formal kitchen tables.












Jim and Sophie






- Pat and John on tour

An eventful start to the trip

We set outnon the first bus to Beziers, then stopped on the Avenue Riquet for breakfast all as usual.

We arrived at the station in good time and set about retrieving tickets from the bourne. This proved to be more difficult than anticipated, but eventually we collected half of the tickets, intending to collect the rest in Paris.

Our train was made up of two smaller trains (sets in English, rams in French).

All went well until we reached Montpellier. We have been on trains that have broken down here, leaving us late for connections. It is always a relief when the train pulls out of the station on time, but this was not one of those occasions.

The pause in Montpellier became sufficiently long that we were smelling a rat. The train wasn't moving - something was wrong. Fortunately, I had left us with enough time in Paris to have a leisurely lunch before the train to Brussels, so wasn't too worried.

Eventually an announcement was made. The second set wasn't going anywhere, so they would reboot the system. After several attempts, they decided to give up, decouple the second set and send us on our way.

People from the second set left their train and were directed to another.

The trains were separated.

We were ready the leave when our train which was working, came out in sympathy and refused to go on without its friend.

What to do?

We were all told to get off the broken train and board another on platform C. Half way there, we were told to go back to our train, which presumably had recovered from its sulk. When we reached the train, there was no one else there, so after waiting for a while, we got off the train again. People were gathering around anyone in an SNCF uniform, but everyone was confused, including the staff. Slowly people began to arrive, but while we were in our correct seats, there was a mixture of those who had been with us before and others who had not.

There were now two trains running one behind the other (but not coupled) and both with the same number. Confusingly, the back of the train was now ahead of the front of the train.

The train was to stop at Nimes and Valance before reaching Paris. Apparently another set would join us at Valance, though it was unclear why.

We had at least three versions of what was going to happen at each of the stations where additional people would board but their seats would not necessarily be empty (and whether they were on the correct set is another question).

At Nimes, there were various people with clashing seat reservations, including us, but we were there first!

By the time that we reached Valance, a pragmatic solution had been found. Those with a seat should stay put and those without a seat should get off and get on another train (presumably the set that was joining us).

Whatever happens next, the next scheduled stop is Paris and our destination. We should have enough time to change stations and pick up the remaining tickets for the rest of our journey, as long as there are no more delays. It's just as well I had included enough time for a leisurely lunch.

Once at the station in Paris, we were able to collect our remaining tickets, change stations and join the long queue to pass through the security gates for the train to Brussels. Fortunately, checks are random and so we were soon on the train and in our seats for the 80 minute ride.

The rest of the journey went well and Sophie was there to meet us when we arrived and take us to our hotel in the centre of Brussels.

After a quick orientation reminder, we returned to the hotel Metropole for a beer and then Sophie made a reservation for dinner for us at a favourite restaurant where we ate last time and left is to wander around with the cameras.










Inside the restaurant


- Pat and John on tour

Lancashire and Northern Island

The trigger for this one week trip was the 40th wedding anniversary of Pat's friend and bridesmaid, Olive who now lives in Appleton near Warrington.

We flew from Carcassonne to Manchester and then hired a car for a couple of days. We had booked a small simple car, but when we arrived at the
Hertz depot at Manchester airport, we were presented with a huge, black. automatic Merc. It took us about 15 minutes to work out how to adjust the seats! The seat control panel was on the door!

We had booked 3 nights in a conveniently situated pub.

The first evening, John's niece, Belinda and her partner Robin, came over to eat with us.

In the morning, we went to see the Trafford Centre and pay a visit to the AppleStore in the hope that they would be able to stop John's iPhone dying on a regular basis.

This was our first visit to the Trafford Centre






and the next night, Pat's cousins, Bernard, John and Iris and John and Enid all came over to eat with us.








On Sunday, we drove over to Appleton, ready for the 40th anniversary celebration. Olive and Peter had booked a meal at Bistro Pierre in Stockton Heath.

By the time we arrived at the restaurant, guests were gathering including Kate (Olive and Peter's daughter) with Andy and grandsons Ben and Thomas all of who whom we know.

Andy and Kate both work for the environmental agency and after heavy rain, Andy was on alert for opening an incident room, should the rivers start to flood.

After a very agreeable meal, we all returned to the house of the cutting of the cake.






















Views over our tables













Finally, we all retired back to Olive and Peter's bungalow for the cutting of the cake and tea.





















The next day, we returned to the airport and took a flight to Belfast for the next stage of our family week.

In Belfast, we stayed with John's second cousin Paddy and Alec, who picked us up from the airport and entertained us that evening. The next day we met with cousins Sandra, Roberta and Anna at Belfast castle and the went on with Sandra to the Titanic Museum. This was a really well presented display of the history of Belfast, the time and the building and loss of the passengers and ship. Film of the ship at the bottom of the Atlantic fishes off the display. A full day would not be long enough to do it justice.














After that, we had dinner with Paddy and Alec, Paddy's brother Sam and Carole and a distant cousin, Doreen at the picturesque Merchant hotel.











Our next destination was Donegal and the very comfortable Castle Grove hotel.













The following day, we went to meet more distant cousins who live very close to where the Stewart family lived more than a century ago. Joy has four children under 6 and so has her hands full. She and her mother Marbeth joined us for dinner at the Castle Grove.







Despite our worries about getting to the airport in Dublin in time for our flight, sandra got us there with with time in hand.

We returned to Carcassonne airport to pouring rain, worse that we had seen all week, the joined friends in the local restaurant for dinner.

We now have two weeks at home before the next trip.


- Pat and John on tour