We are making our way back to Paris for our flight on Sunday, so on Toot and Karen’s recommendation, we decide to visit Bruges for the afternoon. Bruges, a small city of Belgium was once a seaport and although the coast has shifted, it remains a waterborne city with its many canals part of a network that links it to the North Sea. Bruges is also sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North because of its multiple canals and bridges, but having been to Venice, I’m not convinced it comes that close. However, it is a really pretty city – picture postcard stuff – and definitely worth a stop.
Mussels and fries – a Belgian speciality dish, and Belgian beer- (all good except the mussels don’t really compare to NZ mussels)
We carried on to Dunkirk, just 10kms over the Belgium border into France where we stayed for the night. The next day, we headed out to explore the town and beach. Most would know the story of Dunkirk, where thousands of trapped soldiers were evacuated to Britain. The memorial at the end of the beach commemorates those who lost their lives at the Battle of Dunkirk in May/June 1940.
Today is 30 September, and my sweethearts’ 60th birthday. We’ve been finding ways and means to celebrate for some time (our Italian lunch in the hills was the first of several mini celebrations) so coffee and croissant to kick start the morning, then salmon and avocado baguette while walking on the beach, then we headed to Beauvais, a town approximately 1 hour from Paris so found ourselves a nice hotel for the night and headed out for an Indian meal.
In the morning, its raining – maybe a sign that it was time to leave – so we repacked our bags, gave the car a final wipedown (since we’d done the big clean when we were at my friend Francoise’s place) and headed toward Charles de Gaulle airport and the drop off point for the Eurolease car just next to the airport. We had a slight hiccup as we’d put the address in under Paris, but in fact, it was a different town so ended up going through Paris on a day of ‘no cars!’…. you can imagine the rigmorole. But we got there in the end, the handover of the car went smoothly and we were wisked away in the shuttle to the Terminal.
Still to come – Final thoughts in our last blog
Safe trip home guys – have really enjoyed following your travels and look forward to catching up once you’ve settled back home. F&K
3am in Doha airport, on the last long leg back! Yes, will be good to catch up. See you guys soon!