Belgium and France

It is a bit spooky that Mum and Dad were in Belgium on Bethany's birthday, some years ago, and now we find ourselves in both Belgium and France when those countries face each other in the World Cup semi-final.

We were very sorry to leave our fabulous, spacious, apartment in Ypres (if you are planning on going there as a family, or group, let me know so you can stay there), and after we had packed the car van, we walked back into the main square and bought some Belgian chocolate.

Everyone we spoke to, or who served us, spoke English, which is very lucky as the main language in that part of Belgium is Dutch. The only Dutch word I can think of it poffertjes, and I don't really have any idea how to pronounce it. I also don't eat them, so that is useless. Not being able to make even a tiny effort to speak the local language makes me feel stressed, but I learned to let that go, as there isn't anything I can do about it, now!

Having done French at school is some help, mainly in understanding things the written word. It was all so long ago, and superseded by Japanese, which my brain continues to offer me when I am searching for words in French. Left to my own devices, I would probably stick to English speaking countries, where I only have to worry about how things work, but then I would miss out on some wonderful things.....

Pont de Normandie

The countryside changed when we left Belgium, which was very flat, at least where we were. They grow a lot of crops, and that hasn't changed, but at least there are no hideous Belgian Blue cattle in France, that I have seen, anyway! The north of France undulates gently, and you can see church spires and villages from the motorway, really looking like Tour de France country!

It was about a four-hour drive until we went over the very impressive Normandy Bridge and arrived at the wondrous town of Honfleur, our home for three nights. It's a harbour town, totally ancient to Australians! This is our house:

It has heavy beams, stone, and twisty, uneven staircases. I love it.

This house is two doors up and says '1627' in the stone.

There are bells ringing as I write, perhaps just down the road at St Catherine's.

There are lots of art shops, and shops that sell one type of food. Ths shop sells nougat.

The narrow streets, in our area, are cobbled, and though we did find metered parking just up from our house, it was a significant effort to squeeze the van into a spot, and it would be very expensive and hair-raising to park there permanently, so we drove the car down to the beach, where there is a free car park. After getting the car out of the narrow, cobbled area, we had another scare when, while ogling the amazing houses on the hill, we only realised we were driving on the left-hand side of the road when someone was coming straight at us!

Today, we are letting the kids sleep as long as they want, and we'll leave the car to rest while we explore this gorgeous town.