Really, I suppose, we should have gone home today, and we would have done except that it is the Swan Whisperer's 73rd birthday and it seemed a shame not to stay one last night and eat out!
We started the day (after breakfast) with a leg-stretch along the canal and back, but we didn't have far to drive, only about 2 hours, so we didn't stop en route, except to buy birthday patisseries and half a baguette.
We parked up at the Cité Europe and had lunch, only I forgot that I'd bought the French equivalent of gala pie slices, which is annoying, but they will keep until Sunday, I hope. Then after a rest, we both went to Carrefour to do a Last Shop in France. I was annoyed - I could see that I hadn't spent quite €50, which is the contactless limit in France, so I thought I'd call it a shop, even though I hadn't got tinned peas or Comté cheese (which one can get at home) but I discovered, as soon as the shopping had all loaded on to the computer, that I had forgotten something vitally important. The woman who was checking my shopping was so nice - she told me to run and get it, and she'd add it to my bill when I got back. So I did, but, of course, it tipped it just over the €50 limit! I could have got other things while I was at it, but there won't be time in the morning.
We drove round Calais, enjoying their Christmas lights, which, okay, are not Strasbourg standard (but then, what is?), but are extremely enjoyable in their own right, and then headed up to the motorhome aire for the night, and then out to the nearby restaurant, which was really well reviewed. But, alas, although it is supposed to open on a Friday evening, there were no signs of life anywhere, and they didn't answer their phone. I suppose they've gone bust....
So, anyway, we went a little further to see if a nearby hotel-restaurant was open and would do us a meal and it was and it did and it was delicious. Including champagne (because it was his birthday), foie gras (I know, but once a year!), steak for him and "ris de veau" (calf sweetbreads) for me. Delicious, but rather too much and rather too rich! Himself had a glass of wine, too, and we shared a bottle of fizzy water.
And so back to the WoMo for the last night this year. I was so cross when I put my coat back on - I realised it did have an inside pocket, after all, where our passports and my credit cards could have lived, so I have been carrying my handbag round quite unnecessarily all holiday! Grrrmph! Oh well... I don't have to carry it once I'm home.
No comments:
Post a Comment