When I booked the trip to Lille, France back in October I was thinking of a couple of things. One was how beautiful France was near Christmas and the appeal of a Christmas market to set the mood for the holidays was strong. Second was that field hockey would wind up for the holidays early-ish in December. So, with no further forsight, I booked the weekend of December 15-17 for a Christmas excursion with the family.
We woke up on at a leisurely 9am on Friday morning to head over to the train station, where the First Great Western train service calling at everywhere imagineable took us to Waterloo (we chose this long option because it meant avoiding the tube with Anna and a very full stroller). We grabbed a coffee and boarded the Eurostar which whisked us off to France. It was all very efficient. In fact, it was so efficient that we arrived in Lille before I had time to realise that I had no idea where the hotel was from the train station. And then we did something I should know never to do. We just started walking. It wasn't aimlessly per se. I phoned our friend, Dan, who had been there and recommended Hotel Ibis (a French chain akin to Best Western) who managed to sort me out with a very general direction. I eagerly asked people for directions, using the opportunity to practice my disasterous French. Something must have been lost in translation as we ended up at the wrong Hotel Ibis. Happily and yet strangely the wrong Hotel Ibis (the one without our reservation) was a mere 300 meters from the correct Hotel Ibis.
We settled into our room quickly after a good 6 hours on the road. Rest being for those smarter than ourselves, we turned the show around and headed right back out for a lovely dinner in the old town. A British family with three kids made for an excellent distraction from Anna's meagre protests at being couped up in a high chair having been in the buggy/stroller/chariot all day. We capped the night off with a speedy tear around the Christmas market and a mulled wine.
We woke up on at a leisurely 9am on Friday morning to head over to the train station, where the First Great Western train service calling at everywhere imagineable took us to Waterloo (we chose this long option because it meant avoiding the tube with Anna and a very full stroller). We grabbed a coffee and boarded the Eurostar which whisked us off to France. It was all very efficient. In fact, it was so efficient that we arrived in Lille before I had time to realise that I had no idea where the hotel was from the train station. And then we did something I should know never to do. We just started walking. It wasn't aimlessly per se. I phoned our friend, Dan, who had been there and recommended Hotel Ibis (a French chain akin to Best Western) who managed to sort me out with a very general direction. I eagerly asked people for directions, using the opportunity to practice my disasterous French. Something must have been lost in translation as we ended up at the wrong Hotel Ibis. Happily and yet strangely the wrong Hotel Ibis (the one without our reservation) was a mere 300 meters from the correct Hotel Ibis.
We settled into our room quickly after a good 6 hours on the road. Rest being for those smarter than ourselves, we turned the show around and headed right back out for a lovely dinner in the old town. A British family with three kids made for an excellent distraction from Anna's meagre protests at being couped up in a high chair having been in the buggy/stroller/chariot all day. We capped the night off with a speedy tear around the Christmas market and a mulled wine.
Emily (my sister) and Armando (brother-in-law) arrived the next morning to spend the weekend with us. Emily is well pregnant now, meaning her and Anna travel at about the same speed: both troopers with limits. There were coffees to be had, shops to be perused, and a market to be enjoyed. We did it all and had a wonderful visit with Emily and Armando along the way. Anna even got to try a merry-go-round, which she enjoyed immensely. Dad enjoyed it considerably less. I can't figure out why, given a speed setting for 2 year olds, I managed to feel as poorly as I did coming off that ride, but it was a good few hours later before I was ready for dinner!
We enjoyed a lovely dinner that night and a hotel breakfast the next morning, before more French coffee and a mid afternoon departure to London. Sunday tube service could not stand in our way this round as we boarded the train directly from Waterloo to Reading... we collapsed through our front door at about 9pm, having left Lille at 3:00. This is where some foresight back in October would have been ideal. We had to get up at 6am to catch the bus to Heathrow.
6:00am came early. We had packed ourselves into a backpack and a ice hockey bag... and two little "day" packs, a diaper bag, a stroller, and a car seat and base. The walk took a while, but we boarded the coach on time and found ourselves at Heathrow in plenty of time. The flight was uneventful and we landed in Calgary and passed through immigration with out a hitch. Damian kindly picked us up at the airport in his truck, which is only marginally smaller than the coach we took to Heathrow. We visited our house, which Erin has kept beautifully, and the Brakes had people by to visit with us. It was a grand evening of visiting good friends, only affected slightly by the shocking tiredness of the two days of travel. I drifted off to sleep as the Flames put on a poor show for my only hockey of the year. Erin kindly let us borrow her car the next day, allowing us to get countless chores done before she took us to the airport and another flight to Vancouver. We really could have used the little TV in the back of the seat that seems to be on nearly every WestJet plane except for the one we took to Abbotsford that night, but were able to hold oursleves and Anna together until my parents picked us up from the airport.
As we waited for our luggage to arrive, my mum briefly fretted about Anna crawling on the floor at Abbotsford Airport. As I thought of Anna crawling on the Eurostar, in the kids plays section at Heathrow International, and the floor of the plane in front of our seats, I couldn't help but chuckle. Somehow my perspective on Abbotsford grimy-ness didn't raise any red flags.
We enjoyed a lovely dinner that night and a hotel breakfast the next morning, before more French coffee and a mid afternoon departure to London. Sunday tube service could not stand in our way this round as we boarded the train directly from Waterloo to Reading... we collapsed through our front door at about 9pm, having left Lille at 3:00. This is where some foresight back in October would have been ideal. We had to get up at 6am to catch the bus to Heathrow.6:00am came early. We had packed ourselves into a backpack and a ice hockey bag... and two little "day" packs, a diaper bag, a stroller, and a car seat and base. The walk took a while, but we boarded the coach on time and found ourselves at Heathrow in plenty of time. The flight was uneventful and we landed in Calgary and passed through immigration with out a hitch. Damian kindly picked us up at the airport in his truck, which is only marginally smaller than the coach we took to Heathrow. We visited our house, which Erin has kept beautifully, and the Brakes had people by to visit with us. It was a grand evening of visiting good friends, only affected slightly by the shocking tiredness of the two days of travel. I drifted off to sleep as the Flames put on a poor show for my only hockey of the year. Erin kindly let us borrow her car the next day, allowing us to get countless chores done before she took us to the airport and another flight to Vancouver. We really could have used the little TV in the back of the seat that seems to be on nearly every WestJet plane except for the one we took to Abbotsford that night, but were able to hold oursleves and Anna together until my parents picked us up from the airport.
As we waited for our luggage to arrive, my mum briefly fretted about Anna crawling on the floor at Abbotsford Airport. As I thought of Anna crawling on the Eurostar, in the kids plays section at Heathrow International, and the floor of the plane in front of our seats, I couldn't help but chuckle. Somehow my perspective on Abbotsford grimy-ness didn't raise any red flags.
1 comment:
Hello Ben, Ange and Anna,
Sounds like your time in England (and all over) is going wonderfully. It would have been so nice to see you guys while you were here in Calgary, however, I understand that your stopover was brief and filled with much needed running around before Christmas.
We loved the Christmas card and hopefully you received ours.
Take care and Happy New Year!
Robyn
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