Summer arrived in Lille the morning after we did. Our journey was easy, how wonderful the channel tunnel is. Thirty five minutes from departure we drove onto French soil. The journey on the motorway from Calais to Lille was smooth, although getting into the car park proved too challenging, so we parked the car in a shopping centre car park and walked the short distance to our accommodation. We had booked into the 'Citadel' one of a chain. It was an excellent place to stay, clean and modern with a little kitchenette, what a bargain It was as well. Our first evening out was spent at a Creperie, the service was excellent and the Gallettes were delicious. The food we ate all weekend was superb, from the bread, croissants and coffee for petit dejenuer (my apologies to any language teachers reading this) taken at small cafe's to the wonderful Sunday lunch of fresh fish eaten at a little restaurant overlooking the wonderful market. The indoor food market was amazing with a colourful variety of fish, fruit, veg, pastries and cheese. The meat wasn't quite so attractive. Lille was a very attractive city, with lots of pretty squares and wonderful buildings. It felt a very safe place to be, everyone was very friendly, there were a small number of people begging on the street, but not as many as you'd see in London or other European cities.

We ended our weekend with a trip to Carreforre where we bought some French goodies, not too much, some wine, some raclette cheese and a few bottles of wine!