Emily, being somewhat of a feminist, has been keen for some time to show that it’s not only young men that should undertake ‘le grand tour’ to broaden their horizons. She has always been somewhat eager in the world, and very keen to get started on seeing the rest of Europe. With this in mind we decided our summer holiday would indulge the supreme being’s wishes with a trip to France, home of all things trés chic, to get her a headstart in her cultural development. Either that or Daddy might just possibly have a penchant for all that France can offer his tastebuds.
In the planning of the trip the first problem we encountered
was how to transport a minor deity and all her accoutrements to the continent
from Glasgow. The simple answer would have been to travel light and jump on a
plane. But, never being a lover of the straightforward, we opted to drive instead,
heading straight through the night to get the 4am ferry from Dover. This option
taught us a valuable lesson, in that what seems good in theory isn’t always so
in practice. The idea was that Emi would just crash out not long after we set
off and not awake again till the sun was happily rising over Dunkerque. In
hindsight however, this might have been a little overly optimistic. Nonetheless,
arrive in France we did, if somewhat bleary eyed and a little bit more fatigued
and stressed than anticipated.
First stop was a week with our friends Sam and Julie and
their twin boys, Max and Charlie. They stay in Béthune – a smallish town in the
Nord-Pas de Calais. Arriving at just after 8am isn’t always regarded as a
respectable time for calling on friends, but despite this they gave us a royal
welcome with fresh croissant and pain au chocolat, which gave us a little more
va va voom and gave the supreme being her first real taste of France.
Béthune – the land
where it seems the Thinnifers must live
A lovely week was had with Sam, Julie, Max and Charlie (massive thank you to them for hosting us so wonderfully). Abridged highlights
being fine home cooking by Sam, playparks and picnics, markets, bike rides,
Lille, du vin, du bière et du fromage, the French countryside, good company, story time in
French and English, paddling pools, fun in the garden and much more. The
highlight for me has to be Emily’s first trip on a bike – which being the great
adventurer she is, she took to like she was born in the saddle. All this gave the supreme being a great
introduction to France…ready for her to be let loose in the Baie de Somme in
week two.
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Le Playground
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Two teeth = Trés
chic
Videoclip: The weeks highlights...
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