So a short while ago I was away on holiday.. it was very nice to have a change of scene and to learn how to fall off while attempting to windsurf.
Seems like so very long ago now.
Tag Archives: holiday
[Happy] Home again..
So as excellent as my mini break has been it is good to be home. Although returning to the daily routine will be a bit of a jolt..
So what has made me happy over the last couple of days..
1) Being the first time that several people have ever encountered a chap in a kilt.. I’ve learned that kilt wearing is really very rare in Lille.. Which has surprised me. And got me giggled at by several groups of young people, we will gloss over that.
2) Attending the wedding of G and V, who had a delightful celebration, even if I really didn’t understand many (read any) of the actual words the emotional was multi linguistic.. I’m flattered to have been invited. They will make a great couple, and are clearly delighted (and possibly relieved) that each other answered qui at the appropriate times..
3) Watching H dance.. I tried to join in, but I have both halfs of the self conscious gene, so couldn’t participate for very long..
4) Some really great food..
5) Getting back in my own bed, with rectangular pillows that you don’t fall off. (Square pillows, that shouldn’t be a thing, that is a cushion and well given that I’m a bloke you should already know what I think about them..)
6) A conversation with H, about the winner of van of the year.. and the brief moment after she had read that sticker were she thought that it had been won by that particular van, and therefore how lucky we were to see it, and not by the generic make / model.
[Happy] Another day in Lille..
Had a very nice relaxing day walking around Lille, mostly not heading exactly where we thought we were going (in one case completely the wrong direction), but that has also been interesting.
So I have wandered, something that I am generally bad at. I have real problems if I am heading somewhere not to use the optimal route.
But I have been looking in shop windows, at architecture and generally getting the feel of the place.
I have to admit that I am quite liking Lille, it has a relaxing vibe, and many cobblestone streets.
Today I visited the zoo, which is quite tiny, but still excellent, wandered around parts of the citadel fortifications, which is a great place to escape from the city and go for a run. Been slightly lost a few times, and in completely the wrong place once.
I also had crêpes for lunch, including one with cream and ice cream, so that has helped make me a contented Darkpoint.
Dinner was down by the cathedral watching the skateboarders practice their tricks, on one of the few un-cobbled areas of town.
All of which is making me think that I would be happy to visit again, although I might spend longer sat enjoying the cafe lifestyle watching the world go by rather than walking around..
It seems a popular place to cycle, (even with the cobblestones) so it would be fun to hire a bike and explore that way.
[Happy] Escaping from the city..
Currently away on a mini break visiting Lille, so these will all be uploaded late, so you can’t use this information to burgle us.. It isn’t that I don’t trust you, but this is after all the internet.
1) Getting a compliment about my car. I accept that I do actually have a nice car, so that shouldn’t be surprising or something that made me happy. It is somewhat shallow and consumerism of me.. Today’s car compliment came from the nice lass who was checking tickets to board le Chunnel, so I would have guessed gets to see rather a lot of cars, and statistical some that are far nicer than mine.
2) The awesome power of the internet, which gave us printed maps and directions which led us neatly to the hotel, with the minimum of fuss.. It wasn’t just the internet it was also H being an awesome navigator, and interpreting said instructions as I tried to drive.
3) Finding a parking space in central Lille, which is a very tricky thing, on our second loop around the hotel a space was available directly outside, which was a huge win. I mostly managed to keep my cool when handing over my car keys so that the hotel could re-park it for me in their private car park. So that was very brave of me too.
4) Listening to a brass band who are playing in one of the town squares. What makes this particularly brilliant is they started their set with “Rasputin” then went on to “Toxic”. (It also included that other pop clasic “In the jungle..”)
What made this even better was that I could do this from the comfort of the hotel room.
5) Really not sure how to explain this, so you may have to bear with me if this gets overly wordy. So we were heading out to meet friends for dinner, and pushed the button for the lift.. it stopped with someone getting out as it went up, so we got in anyway.. At the top floor the other person got out, an a new gentleman got in, after a brief bit of confusion if the lift was going up further or was now going down. He got in, and I proceeded to press the wrong button for reception, instead selecting the breakfast room level.. I apologised, and he said that it might be an interesting place to visit, the lift then stopped at the 3rd floor where we had originally called for it, but now no one was there, so the doors opened and closed again without anyone yo get in or out, then the same thing happened at the breakfast room level, with the doors opening and closing very quickly..
This how slightly awkward set of infractions was all conducted in shrugs, bemused looks and the odd words in French.. it had me giggling to myself for some time afterwards.. alas doesn’t translate into blog post well.
