Well the last six weeks have seen little in the way of motorcycle riding. With Storm awaiting repairs, the only riding has been done by Anne. A quick Eurostar to Lille, “moules and frites” with a glass of wine in the “La Grand’Place” square and the following day a swift dash from Lille to Calais to catch a ferry back to the UK. This is about the first time that we have ridden separately.
Lille is where I went to University and Anthony would visit every other week end from London. Funny how sights and smells and music can trigger strong memories. Approaching Lille Flandres main station from the Eurostar brought back those butterflies of arriving with my brother at night to meet Anthony off the train.
Rue Faidherbe is a surprise with its current interactive art installation, Golden Monoliths. One could identify different fauna sounds, identify flora smells, answer the artist’s questions, look through different periscopes. Fun!
The centre of Lille has been beautifully renovated and has been turned into a large pedestrian area. Great for walking but proved tricky to find somewhere for me to meet the delivery van and for him to unload Streak. I used ThruEurope InterTrans – details at the end of this blog.
No Storm/Anthony = no GPS. So roadside improvisation is called for…
I was looking forward to seeing the white cliffs of Dover…
Our time since returning from Italy has mostly been spent sorting my mother’s place, originally with the aim of preparing her home for her return from respite following her recent surgery and resulting delirium. It turned out to be a much bigger exercise than originally thought – a reminder to clean up/get rid of one’s own paperwork which has accumulated over the years/decades! Sadly this focus meant we could not catch up with all those we wanted to or see any exhibition or new museum we’d planned to visit. Next time… We did get to find all sorts of new routes from my mum’s place to the station.
– Anne
PS: For anyone needing shipping within Europe/UK, I used and am happy to recommend:
ThruEurope InterTrans Kft.
Krisztián Gulyás
H-7629,Pécs Komlói út 69. 3/2, Hungary
e-mail: thrueurope@gmail.com
tel.: +44(0)7788105659 +36707563124
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