A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.
11/05/2025
So, we were off to Lille, which seems an odd choice but there were two reasons for that, or perhaps one reason with a strong supporting argument. The reason was there was another Paraboot shop in Lille and I really needed and fancied a new pair of shoes. The strong supporting reason was that, against all hope, the only sunny area in the whole of France for the next two days was in, your guessed it, Lille.
The gods were in agreement, Lille it was. We hadn't heard good things about Lille but it turned out to be fantastic.
We stayed, not in Lille but in a satellite town called Lens, where there was a satellite of the Louvre Museum. Almost nothing else but there was a nice hotel. Lens reminded me strongly of Howden, near Newcastle.
The photo of Pips and Pooch is taken at a motorway service station, looks nothing like service stations in England it has to be said. Should you ever want to go it's: Esso, Aire De Bolleville, A29, 76210 Bolleville, France 😎
12/05/2025
We went into Lille, not expecting much and were surprised at how beautiful the old centre of the town was. We gazed at buildings, had coffee and pastries, bought some shoes whey hey, and found an amazing knife shop. So amazing that even Pippa enjoyed herself, so much so we ended up buying two steak knives.