I'm sure I've already used the heading "A weekend in France" and if I have not, I might want it again. So today was the start of our long weekend mini-break to compete at the Coupe de Druides, which this year is dance-only and is being held in Tours.
This meant getting up early to leave by shortly after 7:00 am, not helped by an attack of cystitis, fortunately not severe, but enough to wake me several times in the night. We made our booked crossing, which always feels slightly like a failure, as it feels we've won if we get on an earlier one. But we had 20 minutes to wait in the terminal, enough to buy a new road atlas and for me to discover where I should have bought a new travel hairdryer - the one I bought on Amazon is practically full-size.
Smooth journey, stopping three times, and arriving at the hotel about 6:00 on. Hotel is really lovely, just the kind of place I like. Very warm welcome, large, comfortable beds, and somehow very French. Also cheap!
After a cup of tea (not provided but I brought my trusty travel kettle), we went out for a walk and found the rink, and then looked for a restaurant. Found a very nice one called L'Entracte, not far from the hotel, and had a delicious, if meat-heavy, meal.
Then wandered back to the hotel and a relatively early night.
31 January 2014
28 January 2014
Travelling First Class
I had never travelled First Class in my life before last Saturday, when I went up to Crewe for the day. Now that I have a Senior Railcard, the Weekend First option was not impossibly expensive, and I thought I would treat myself.
The outward journey was via London Midland, a train company I had not used before and, frankly, I don't think I mind if I never use them again! I would have regretted paying for a First Class ticket had the train not been so full as to be standing-room only between London and Stoke-on-Trent. The seats were no bigger or more comfortable than in standard class, and the compartment was not at one end of the train so there were a constant stream of people walking through trying to find either a seat or a lavatory that was working (in vain!). And it was COLD! The heating seemed to have been turned off in favour of the air-conditioning! At least in First Class I had a seat and nobody sat next to me so I could spread out a bit. Plus I could plug in my phone while listening to Saturday morning radio (via Internet, which ate my data rather, but I couldn't get a signal on the FM bands). Nobody checked my ticket at all - good thing I'm honest - although the guard did say there was an inspector on the train and First Class Tickets Would Be Checked. They weren't. On the whole I was not very impressed.
I was, however, very impressed with the facilities at Crewe station, which were both clean and free to use, not a common combination.
My time in Crewe was lovely, apart from being severely hailed on just before I arrived - I had gone to attend a friend's husband's induction to the Pastorate of a Baptist church, and there were other friends there, too, which was great. After a lovely tea, some kind people let me share their taxi to the station - it had stopped raining and I would happily have walked, but it was nice not to have to.
Then the First Class really kicked in. I was able to go to the First Class lounge which was very comfortable and had free Wifi and was warm and clean. I made myself a cup of Earl Grey to drink while I waited. I was going home with Virgin Trains, and as the train was non-stop the waitress suggested I sat where I pleased, so I had a lovely four-seat bay all to myself. I didn't want any tea or coffee, but did have an orange juice, although I passed on the snack box, having had a huge tea. Really, I should have had one and eaten it another time....
Virgin trains were blissfully comfortable and had free WiFi, and plugs, so I turned on my phone's maps and had great fun watching the train careering through the countryside. Well, while I was awake, that is. I did sleep between Stafford and Milton Keynes! The only blight on the journey was that the train was rather late, the earlier storms had caused some damage to the overhead lines. But when you are sitting snug and warm and it is dark outside, this doesn't really matter!
Virgin Trains did cost about twice as much as London Midland, and you can quite see why. I am not sure whether I would travel First Class again - certainly not on Southern or South-Eastern, it really isn't worth it. If I could get a decent bargain on Virgin, though... well, their First Class is worth it!
The outward journey was via London Midland, a train company I had not used before and, frankly, I don't think I mind if I never use them again! I would have regretted paying for a First Class ticket had the train not been so full as to be standing-room only between London and Stoke-on-Trent. The seats were no bigger or more comfortable than in standard class, and the compartment was not at one end of the train so there were a constant stream of people walking through trying to find either a seat or a lavatory that was working (in vain!). And it was COLD! The heating seemed to have been turned off in favour of the air-conditioning! At least in First Class I had a seat and nobody sat next to me so I could spread out a bit. Plus I could plug in my phone while listening to Saturday morning radio (via Internet, which ate my data rather, but I couldn't get a signal on the FM bands). Nobody checked my ticket at all - good thing I'm honest - although the guard did say there was an inspector on the train and First Class Tickets Would Be Checked. They weren't. On the whole I was not very impressed.
I was, however, very impressed with the facilities at Crewe station, which were both clean and free to use, not a common combination.
My time in Crewe was lovely, apart from being severely hailed on just before I arrived - I had gone to attend a friend's husband's induction to the Pastorate of a Baptist church, and there were other friends there, too, which was great. After a lovely tea, some kind people let me share their taxi to the station - it had stopped raining and I would happily have walked, but it was nice not to have to.
Then the First Class really kicked in. I was able to go to the First Class lounge which was very comfortable and had free Wifi and was warm and clean. I made myself a cup of Earl Grey to drink while I waited. I was going home with Virgin Trains, and as the train was non-stop the waitress suggested I sat where I pleased, so I had a lovely four-seat bay all to myself. I didn't want any tea or coffee, but did have an orange juice, although I passed on the snack box, having had a huge tea. Really, I should have had one and eaten it another time....
Virgin trains were blissfully comfortable and had free WiFi, and plugs, so I turned on my phone's maps and had great fun watching the train careering through the countryside. Well, while I was awake, that is. I did sleep between Stafford and Milton Keynes! The only blight on the journey was that the train was rather late, the earlier storms had caused some damage to the overhead lines. But when you are sitting snug and warm and it is dark outside, this doesn't really matter!
Virgin Trains did cost about twice as much as London Midland, and you can quite see why. I am not sure whether I would travel First Class again - certainly not on Southern or South-Eastern, it really isn't worth it. If I could get a decent bargain on Virgin, though... well, their First Class is worth it!
16 January 2014
A visit to the Museum of London Docklands
I had always wanted to go to the Museum of London Docklands, and finally had the opportunity to take my elder grandson, the Boy, now 3½ . We met up at Westfield Stratford City, and after coffee and Babycinos we left the Daughter and Boy Too with her friends and their babies of roughly the same age as Boy Too, while the Boy and I made ourselves comfortable (he loved, as I knew he would, the loos in the parent/child room there, which have a big one and a little one in the same space so you can pee comfortably together, and then two wash-basins at varying heights so you can wash your hands together, too. But there was no way to dry them ("We'll have to shake!" said the Boy) until you got out and there were some paper towels in the nappy-changing area.
We set off on the DLR to West India Quay and then walked to the Museum. I thought at first we had gone the wrong way, but Google navigation soon confirmed we were right. However, when we arrived it was about 11:30 am and we were told that the children's play area - which is very, very well-reviewed - did not open until 2:00. We hired an activity backpack, but much of the stuff was too young for him - a couple of very easy puzzles, and a book that he dismissed, scornfully, as suitable for his baby brother. There were some binoculars, though, which he loved, a friendly dolphin finger puppet, ditto, and some shapes which you were supposed to match, but he didn't fancy that.
I think I would have enjoyed the museum better without him. It wasn't very suitable for young children, as there was an awful lot of reading, and I think you had to know about things coming in big ships and how they used to come to London. However, he liked the mock-up of Old London Bridge, and showed me which house he would like to live in! And he liked a lot of the model ships, and was very, very brave when it came to Sailortown, a reconstruction of how the sailors would have lived back in the day, which was very dark and gloomy and spooky, and he hated it, so we came out - and then he insisted on going back in for another go, even though it was scary. He also loved - so did I - the boxes of spices, tea, coffee and sugar that were there to be looked at and sniffed and identified. The cloves smelt gorgeous!
We had a very disappointing lunch in the café - expensive and my salad was incredibly dry and nasty, and my tomato quiche was very odd, although not unpleasant. I wish I'd chosen a sandwich that looked nice, but it didn't happen. The Boy had a "kiddies' sandwich" - cheese in white bread - and a pirate chocolate (we thought it was cheese) which was disappointing by being merely a lump of chocolate, not printed like the chocolate coins he got for Christmas and has been enjoying.
Then we went back home via the DLR, the Central Line and the W16 bus, and arrived home a good 45 minutes before the others. "I expect Mummy's doing boring shopping!" said the Boy. So we made ourselves drinks and another cheese sandwich as we were still hungry. Not the most satisfactory day out ever, alas, but not the worst.
We set off on the DLR to West India Quay and then walked to the Museum. I thought at first we had gone the wrong way, but Google navigation soon confirmed we were right. However, when we arrived it was about 11:30 am and we were told that the children's play area - which is very, very well-reviewed - did not open until 2:00. We hired an activity backpack, but much of the stuff was too young for him - a couple of very easy puzzles, and a book that he dismissed, scornfully, as suitable for his baby brother. There were some binoculars, though, which he loved, a friendly dolphin finger puppet, ditto, and some shapes which you were supposed to match, but he didn't fancy that.
I think I would have enjoyed the museum better without him. It wasn't very suitable for young children, as there was an awful lot of reading, and I think you had to know about things coming in big ships and how they used to come to London. However, he liked the mock-up of Old London Bridge, and showed me which house he would like to live in! And he liked a lot of the model ships, and was very, very brave when it came to Sailortown, a reconstruction of how the sailors would have lived back in the day, which was very dark and gloomy and spooky, and he hated it, so we came out - and then he insisted on going back in for another go, even though it was scary. He also loved - so did I - the boxes of spices, tea, coffee and sugar that were there to be looked at and sniffed and identified. The cloves smelt gorgeous!
We had a very disappointing lunch in the café - expensive and my salad was incredibly dry and nasty, and my tomato quiche was very odd, although not unpleasant. I wish I'd chosen a sandwich that looked nice, but it didn't happen. The Boy had a "kiddies' sandwich" - cheese in white bread - and a pirate chocolate (we thought it was cheese) which was disappointing by being merely a lump of chocolate, not printed like the chocolate coins he got for Christmas and has been enjoying.
Then we went back home via the DLR, the Central Line and the W16 bus, and arrived home a good 45 minutes before the others. "I expect Mummy's doing boring shopping!" said the Boy. So we made ourselves drinks and another cheese sandwich as we were still hungry. Not the most satisfactory day out ever, alas, but not the worst.
19 December 2013
Bussing round the town
A young cousin is visiting from South Africa and has been staying with us for a couple of days. December is not the nicest time to be visiting London, and it can be a bit daunting if you don't know where to start, so I suggested we do a round trip on the buses, so he could see some of the main sights.
We started off on a 35, which you can catch from outside my block of flats. This took us via Camberwell and Walworth to the Elephant, and then to London Bridge station, crossing London Bridge and then up Bishopsgate, passing the Monument and the far side of the Bank of England, to Liverpool Street Station, where we got off. We walked through the station to the bus station at the other side, and got on a no 11 - now a Boris-bus - at the start of its route.
I have to say, I wasn't very impressed by the Boris bus. The interior is all dark red, mimicking the original Routemasters before they were refurbished, and the lights pretend to be like them, too, only of course they are modern halogen bulbs, not the incandescent bulbs of days gone by. If you get on at the front, it just feels like an ordinary bus, only it is less comfortable, I thought. The ride quality was good, but the seats were hard and not nearly as comfortable as the 35 we had just left. Of course, when you want to get off you can do so at the back, or you can, I believe, get on that way, too. But that doesn't impinge - it's not an obvious thing to do with it, although I suppose it is different if you are catching it along the course of its route.
Which, of course, is ideal for tourists. The bus goes back down to Bank, this time passing the front of the Bank of England, and then along past St Paul's Cathedral, down Ludgate Hill, along Fleet Street and the Strand passing King's College and Somerset House. I kept expecting it to turn left over Waterloo Bridge, but of course it was not a 59 so it didn't! It went straight on, past Charing Cross Station with its eponymous cross, to Trafalgar Square, and then down Whitehall, passing Horse Guards, Downing Street, the Banqueting House, the Cenotaph and so on, to Parliament Square, where you can see the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St Margaret's Westminster and so on (including Central Hall and the Middlesex Guildhall which is now Westminster Crown Court). The bus then goes up Victoria Street on its way to Chelsea and Fulham, but we got off at Victoria, and caught a no 2 back to Brixton.
The 2 goes over Vauxhall Bridge, and then down South Lambeth Road to Stockwell and thence to Brixton, but it was dark by then, and one couldn't see a great deal. And then it was raining, so we got a P5 home.
We started off on a 35, which you can catch from outside my block of flats. This took us via Camberwell and Walworth to the Elephant, and then to London Bridge station, crossing London Bridge and then up Bishopsgate, passing the Monument and the far side of the Bank of England, to Liverpool Street Station, where we got off. We walked through the station to the bus station at the other side, and got on a no 11 - now a Boris-bus - at the start of its route.
I have to say, I wasn't very impressed by the Boris bus. The interior is all dark red, mimicking the original Routemasters before they were refurbished, and the lights pretend to be like them, too, only of course they are modern halogen bulbs, not the incandescent bulbs of days gone by. If you get on at the front, it just feels like an ordinary bus, only it is less comfortable, I thought. The ride quality was good, but the seats were hard and not nearly as comfortable as the 35 we had just left. Of course, when you want to get off you can do so at the back, or you can, I believe, get on that way, too. But that doesn't impinge - it's not an obvious thing to do with it, although I suppose it is different if you are catching it along the course of its route.
Which, of course, is ideal for tourists. The bus goes back down to Bank, this time passing the front of the Bank of England, and then along past St Paul's Cathedral, down Ludgate Hill, along Fleet Street and the Strand passing King's College and Somerset House. I kept expecting it to turn left over Waterloo Bridge, but of course it was not a 59 so it didn't! It went straight on, past Charing Cross Station with its eponymous cross, to Trafalgar Square, and then down Whitehall, passing Horse Guards, Downing Street, the Banqueting House, the Cenotaph and so on, to Parliament Square, where you can see the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St Margaret's Westminster and so on (including Central Hall and the Middlesex Guildhall which is now Westminster Crown Court). The bus then goes up Victoria Street on its way to Chelsea and Fulham, but we got off at Victoria, and caught a no 2 back to Brixton.
The 2 goes over Vauxhall Bridge, and then down South Lambeth Road to Stockwell and thence to Brixton, but it was dark by then, and one couldn't see a great deal. And then it was raining, so we got a P5 home.
10 November 2013
Inter-faith evening
This evening, instead of a Fellowship meeting, some of us went to a local Mosque, the Hyderi Islamic Centre, who were staging a play about Wahab, a Christian who had been killed while fighting on behalf of Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala. I had never been to a Mosque before while it was "in use", and never to one in this country.
It was interesting. We went with another couple from Church, and I remembered to wear a hijab (I do have several scarves that can be worn that way) - it was a bit brightly-coloured, as most people wore black, but nobody minded that. My friend had also brought a scarf, but we noticed they had a tactful supply of spares out in the lobby in case anybody hadn't one. We were made very welcome, and given doughnuts and tea, and there was also a bright pink lassi type of drink being served. Then the menfolk went off in one direction, and we went in another, to a large cloakroom where one could leave one's coat and shoes, and then into the "women's hall".
As we were there to watch a play, we were led into the main "men's hall", where 1/3 had been coned off for the women by a divider made of low benches, and everybody crowded together. It wasn't as stuffy as you might think, because there were fans and some were switched on. Chairs were provided for us visitors, so we had a good view. It took forever for everybody to get settled and ready to start, but eventually it did.
The play itself was put on by a youth group from Leicester, and it was presented as a very radical way of presenting the story. It wasn't desperately well done, as you would expect from an amateur group, and the play itself was interspersed with scenes of a film from the same story. However, it was very interesting, as the story was new to us.
When it was over, there was a "rubbing-in" sermon, basically saying that Husayn-ibn-Ali stood for justice and equality for all, and this standard was something that people of all faiths and none should aspire to.
I suppose we Christians have always had our tradition of Mystery plays and so on - probably because we were a LOT less literate than the Muslims ever were! So we slightly take for granted that our stories can be presented in this sort of way, whereas it's new to them. In the film, it was noticeable that the face of Husayne ibn Ali was blanked out as Muslims don't "do" representations of their holy saints.
After it was over, we were led back to the women's hall and fed chicken and rice, and then we decided we had to go, and went out to the lobby where our menfolk - who had NOT eaten - were waiting for us!
Apparently the Mosque also does inter-faith meetings during Ramadan, when Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders all get together and talk about their faith and its practices. This sounds as though it would be very interesting indeed, and I hope we get asked.
It was interesting. We went with another couple from Church, and I remembered to wear a hijab (I do have several scarves that can be worn that way) - it was a bit brightly-coloured, as most people wore black, but nobody minded that. My friend had also brought a scarf, but we noticed they had a tactful supply of spares out in the lobby in case anybody hadn't one. We were made very welcome, and given doughnuts and tea, and there was also a bright pink lassi type of drink being served. Then the menfolk went off in one direction, and we went in another, to a large cloakroom where one could leave one's coat and shoes, and then into the "women's hall".
As we were there to watch a play, we were led into the main "men's hall", where 1/3 had been coned off for the women by a divider made of low benches, and everybody crowded together. It wasn't as stuffy as you might think, because there were fans and some were switched on. Chairs were provided for us visitors, so we had a good view. It took forever for everybody to get settled and ready to start, but eventually it did.
The play itself was put on by a youth group from Leicester, and it was presented as a very radical way of presenting the story. It wasn't desperately well done, as you would expect from an amateur group, and the play itself was interspersed with scenes of a film from the same story. However, it was very interesting, as the story was new to us.
When it was over, there was a "rubbing-in" sermon, basically saying that Husayn-ibn-Ali stood for justice and equality for all, and this standard was something that people of all faiths and none should aspire to.
I suppose we Christians have always had our tradition of Mystery plays and so on - probably because we were a LOT less literate than the Muslims ever were! So we slightly take for granted that our stories can be presented in this sort of way, whereas it's new to them. In the film, it was noticeable that the face of Husayne ibn Ali was blanked out as Muslims don't "do" representations of their holy saints.
After it was over, we were led back to the women's hall and fed chicken and rice, and then we decided we had to go, and went out to the lobby where our menfolk - who had NOT eaten - were waiting for us!
Apparently the Mosque also does inter-faith meetings during Ramadan, when Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders all get together and talk about their faith and its practices. This sounds as though it would be very interesting indeed, and I hope we get asked.
01 November 2013
The Brixton Chocolate Museum
Yesterday afternoon, my daughter, her sons and I visited the Brixton chocolate museum in Ferndale Road.
First of all, Google maps is misleading - when you ask it where it is, it says it's about where St Paul's Church is, but in fact it's right down practically next door to the Bon Marché offices, so only a few minutes walk from Brixton Tube.
The upper part is a shop and café, with the museum downstairs. Not desperately interesting; there is a short video about the production of chocolate playing on a continuous loop, some posters, and some display cases containing things like miniature cars with chocolate themes, chocolate drinking cups from the ages, a "Poulain" school lunchbox and so on. Worth ten minutes, but I wouldn't go there again unless I were going for a chocolate tasting or a workshop. I rather wish I'd booked in for the special event tomorrow!
We could have had a cup of tea there, but as the Boy is at the age where you never know what he will say next, and the place only had a couple of people in there and was very quiet, we thought better of it and went to Costa instead, which was noisier! But we did buy a bar of very expensive raw chocolate with salt and cocoa nibs, which is absolutely delicious, not sweet at all.... sadly, you get what you pay for when it's chocolate and theirs, though utterly delicious, is very expensive!
First of all, Google maps is misleading - when you ask it where it is, it says it's about where St Paul's Church is, but in fact it's right down practically next door to the Bon Marché offices, so only a few minutes walk from Brixton Tube.
The upper part is a shop and café, with the museum downstairs. Not desperately interesting; there is a short video about the production of chocolate playing on a continuous loop, some posters, and some display cases containing things like miniature cars with chocolate themes, chocolate drinking cups from the ages, a "Poulain" school lunchbox and so on. Worth ten minutes, but I wouldn't go there again unless I were going for a chocolate tasting or a workshop. I rather wish I'd booked in for the special event tomorrow!
We could have had a cup of tea there, but as the Boy is at the age where you never know what he will say next, and the place only had a couple of people in there and was very quiet, we thought better of it and went to Costa instead, which was noisier! But we did buy a bar of very expensive raw chocolate with salt and cocoa nibs, which is absolutely delicious, not sweet at all.... sadly, you get what you pay for when it's chocolate and theirs, though utterly delicious, is very expensive!
22 October 2013
Overnight booze-cruise
As we hadn't been to France yet this year, we had run out of all sorts of things that we normally buy there, either because they are cheaper (coffee, wine) or difficult/imposisble to get here. And when I discovered that I could use my Tesco vouchers to get up to £30 off a Shuttle crossing, it was a bit of a no-brainer. You can stay overnight for the same price as a day-return, so we decided to do that and have a mini-break.
Due entirely to my own innumeracy, we left slightly later than we meant. The drive was not very pleasant, as it had been raining, and then the sun came out, which was in exactly the wrong place as it dazzled up from the wet road, and cars and lorries were sending up clouds of spray and the sun was catching them, too. We were thankful when it went behind a cloud again! We just made it to the crossing we were booked on - no time to go into the terminal, or even to stop in the loading queue! The train left earlier than we expected and we arrived in France at about 11:45 local time.
First stop was at the garage just off the exit, as we wanted to buy yet another holder for our satnav, the one that the Swan Whisperer bought to replace the broken original had, in its turn, broken on our way to Folkestone (yes, we do know the way; the satnav in this instance is mainly for traffic purposes - it knows when there is a mega hold-up and will send you round a quicker way, if possible). That duly bought, plus coffee, we set off cross-country to St-Omer, where we found a random restaurant to have lunch in. The SW had pork, chips and salad, and I had an omelette with chips and salad - massive amounts of chips and almost no salad, but never mind!
We drove to Arras and parked in the town square, which was very beautiful. It was, I think, rebuilt after the first war, but not sure what was destroyed in the 2nd. We were beginning to need petrol, so I cleverly programmed the Satnav to take us to a petrol station in a shopping centre en route to our hotel - last time I'd asked it where the nearest petrol station was, it had taken us to one in the opposite direction to where we had wanted to go, which was totally my fault, not its. But I thought there must be a way, and there is - you click on "Browse maps", and then "Find" and one of the options is POI en route, so you click on that to find petrol or hotels or whatever that you want. It also cleverly tells you how much of a detour, if any, it is, and then you click on "Navigate to" and it takes you there!
The hotel, however, turned out to have been a mistake. It was a Campanile - we had so loved the one we stayed at in Luxembourg last year, we thought it would be nice to stay in one again, and given the price I was able to get, it was just about worth it. But we were greeted by a very unfriendly young man at the check-in, who grunted something in French - I can usually follow well enough, but he mumbled! Eventually realised that the reception and restaurant were in a separate building from the rest of the hotel, which was a kind of barrack-block across the car park.
There was a kettle, which was nice, but no tea-bags, only sachets of instant coffee and tisanes of various kinds, and disposable cups so you could only use them once. Fortunately I had brought my own stash of teabags and our travel cups! In the bathroom there were no hand-towels, and nowhere to put your used towels - there was one hook, but it was obscured by the notice telling you to hang up your towels if you wanted to re-use them. There was no hair-dryer, either. There were no heavy curtains, only net ones and shutters (I hate shutters), and although we were not overlooked, people probably walked past. And being on the ground floor your couldn't have the window open overnight, either, and I couldn't see if there was air-conditioning or how to make it work. Not doing that again!
We ate in the hotel restaurant; the starter buffet looked a bit meh, so we ordered the plat du jour, which was blanquette de veau. Quite nice. Then we had the dessert buffet, which was lovely, and the SW had coffee.
Breakfast next morning was good, although I could have wished for a hard-boiled egg with mine. Still, bread and cheese and ham and stuff like that.... not bad!
We set off at about 09:00 and first went into the centre of Douai, being amused by how very quiet everywhere was once people had gone to work or school or wherever. The centre was okay, but we didn't linger. Instead, we drove to Cambrai.
Now, that is a lovely town! I should have liked to have done more of the tourist-walk they provide (we picked up guides from the tourist-office), but my leg isn't up to much walking. We did see the old belfry, one of the city gates and the cathedral, though. The cathedral is not the original cathedral, not built as such, so it is as small as Southwark cathedral. Apparently the original was torn down during the French revolution! And the present building was all but destroyed in both wars. Sigh....
We discovered too late, too late that it is free parking on a Monday morning! Still, that came in handy when, just as we pulled away, we saw signs for a public loo, so we were able to park again and use it before heading off to Lens.
Lens was a very disappointing town after Cambrai, so we didn't bother to linger but headed to the nearest commercial centre for shopping purposes. And bought up most of Cora.... which didn't have any harissa or buckwheat flour, so we had to go to Carrefour in Cité Europe to get those, what a hardship!
We had a rather late lunch in the local Flunch (mistake, really, as lunch was obviously Over, and they had very few choices left, although we had a very nice steak), and then it was time to head back to the coast. As I said, we popped into Carrefour and bought the last few things (and some more wine!). We had wanted to go to the Tesco there to get some wine, but it had changed hands and is now a fairly posh wine place.
We had half an hour to spare in the Eurotunnel terminal before our shuttle, which we spent eating ice-cream and relaxing, and then home.
But, tragically (well, not really, but sad, anyway) when we got there we found that somehow the rhubarb tart the SW had bought for himself, and the strawberry tarts he'd bought for me, hadn't come with us! Nor, alas, had the cream cheese.... oh well, don't know what happened, they must have been left at the checkout. But what a waste, and what a sad ending to a pleasant weekend!
Due entirely to my own innumeracy, we left slightly later than we meant. The drive was not very pleasant, as it had been raining, and then the sun came out, which was in exactly the wrong place as it dazzled up from the wet road, and cars and lorries were sending up clouds of spray and the sun was catching them, too. We were thankful when it went behind a cloud again! We just made it to the crossing we were booked on - no time to go into the terminal, or even to stop in the loading queue! The train left earlier than we expected and we arrived in France at about 11:45 local time.
First stop was at the garage just off the exit, as we wanted to buy yet another holder for our satnav, the one that the Swan Whisperer bought to replace the broken original had, in its turn, broken on our way to Folkestone (yes, we do know the way; the satnav in this instance is mainly for traffic purposes - it knows when there is a mega hold-up and will send you round a quicker way, if possible). That duly bought, plus coffee, we set off cross-country to St-Omer, where we found a random restaurant to have lunch in. The SW had pork, chips and salad, and I had an omelette with chips and salad - massive amounts of chips and almost no salad, but never mind!
We drove to Arras and parked in the town square, which was very beautiful. It was, I think, rebuilt after the first war, but not sure what was destroyed in the 2nd. We were beginning to need petrol, so I cleverly programmed the Satnav to take us to a petrol station in a shopping centre en route to our hotel - last time I'd asked it where the nearest petrol station was, it had taken us to one in the opposite direction to where we had wanted to go, which was totally my fault, not its. But I thought there must be a way, and there is - you click on "Browse maps", and then "Find" and one of the options is POI en route, so you click on that to find petrol or hotels or whatever that you want. It also cleverly tells you how much of a detour, if any, it is, and then you click on "Navigate to" and it takes you there!
The hotel, however, turned out to have been a mistake. It was a Campanile - we had so loved the one we stayed at in Luxembourg last year, we thought it would be nice to stay in one again, and given the price I was able to get, it was just about worth it. But we were greeted by a very unfriendly young man at the check-in, who grunted something in French - I can usually follow well enough, but he mumbled! Eventually realised that the reception and restaurant were in a separate building from the rest of the hotel, which was a kind of barrack-block across the car park.
There was a kettle, which was nice, but no tea-bags, only sachets of instant coffee and tisanes of various kinds, and disposable cups so you could only use them once. Fortunately I had brought my own stash of teabags and our travel cups! In the bathroom there were no hand-towels, and nowhere to put your used towels - there was one hook, but it was obscured by the notice telling you to hang up your towels if you wanted to re-use them. There was no hair-dryer, either. There were no heavy curtains, only net ones and shutters (I hate shutters), and although we were not overlooked, people probably walked past. And being on the ground floor your couldn't have the window open overnight, either, and I couldn't see if there was air-conditioning or how to make it work. Not doing that again!
We ate in the hotel restaurant; the starter buffet looked a bit meh, so we ordered the plat du jour, which was blanquette de veau. Quite nice. Then we had the dessert buffet, which was lovely, and the SW had coffee.
Breakfast next morning was good, although I could have wished for a hard-boiled egg with mine. Still, bread and cheese and ham and stuff like that.... not bad!
We set off at about 09:00 and first went into the centre of Douai, being amused by how very quiet everywhere was once people had gone to work or school or wherever. The centre was okay, but we didn't linger. Instead, we drove to Cambrai.
Now, that is a lovely town! I should have liked to have done more of the tourist-walk they provide (we picked up guides from the tourist-office), but my leg isn't up to much walking. We did see the old belfry, one of the city gates and the cathedral, though. The cathedral is not the original cathedral, not built as such, so it is as small as Southwark cathedral. Apparently the original was torn down during the French revolution! And the present building was all but destroyed in both wars. Sigh....
We discovered too late, too late that it is free parking on a Monday morning! Still, that came in handy when, just as we pulled away, we saw signs for a public loo, so we were able to park again and use it before heading off to Lens.
Lens was a very disappointing town after Cambrai, so we didn't bother to linger but headed to the nearest commercial centre for shopping purposes. And bought up most of Cora.... which didn't have any harissa or buckwheat flour, so we had to go to Carrefour in Cité Europe to get those, what a hardship!
We had a rather late lunch in the local Flunch (mistake, really, as lunch was obviously Over, and they had very few choices left, although we had a very nice steak), and then it was time to head back to the coast. As I said, we popped into Carrefour and bought the last few things (and some more wine!). We had wanted to go to the Tesco there to get some wine, but it had changed hands and is now a fairly posh wine place.
We had half an hour to spare in the Eurotunnel terminal before our shuttle, which we spent eating ice-cream and relaxing, and then home.
But, tragically (well, not really, but sad, anyway) when we got there we found that somehow the rhubarb tart the SW had bought for himself, and the strawberry tarts he'd bought for me, hadn't come with us! Nor, alas, had the cream cheese.... oh well, don't know what happened, they must have been left at the checkout. But what a waste, and what a sad ending to a pleasant weekend!
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