Debbie came to visit from Birmingham, UK while living there for her annual 6 months. She came bearing lots of gifts!
Here's a blurry picture of Méme Honeybee and Colin hanging out.
Thursday, we took a bike ride around our town and played at the park. She loved the zip lines there.
We decided on Friday to go to France and within 24 hours we had a car rented, a motel, an itinerary with maps, snacks, packed bags, and a taste for exploring!
On Saturday we headed to Schiphol airport to pick up our Fiat car rental. We drove 2 1/2 hours to Gent, Belgium and wandered around the middle of town. We heard a live jazz band in the busy square next to a free market where people give their stuff away. Debbie of course couldn't resist spending some time there. We ate sandwiches in front of the famous St. Baafs cathedral while Colin charmed a bachelorette party crew on the grass.
We went into St. Baafs which is where the famous Van Eyck altarpiece is housed (oh man, did I study that thing with my French professors). There was a cool crypt where we saw old papal crowns, robes, septers, chalices, etc.
I loved Gent even more than Brugge. I would have loved to have stayed for more than a couple of hours. Alas.
In heading to France, Debbie didn't want the Paris experience but rather the countryside/village experience. I hadn't done much of that myself so I was totally game. We chose the region of The North because it is closest to us. The Ch'tis people of the north are stereotyped as rednecks who drink and speak an incomprehensible dialect and live in the sticks. I was excited to check them out. Watch "Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis" if you want an up close, cinema look. I found everyone to be extremely helpful and hospitable. People stopped and asked if we needed them to take pictures and since Debbie wanted to know everything, she often had me ask people for restaurant recommendations, directions, and site info. We struck up conversations with a lady named Madame Hau and took a picture of her cute dog Vicky just to name one person we met. I really loved it there.
So we continued an 1 1/2 hours on to Dunkirk, a habor city that was invaded in World War 2. I finally felt more comfortable with language, being in France. Andrew felt more comfortable too because even though his French is pretty basic, he was able to help my mom when I wasnt around and he used his French as much as possible. He could finally understand what was going on around him. I was proud of him. When we went to Paris, they just switched to English with him but here, they really didn't speak English so he got a lot more opportunities to try to communicate. He loved hearing the little old ladies say "Coo, coo" to Colin just like I do with him at home. We asked the locals for directions everywhere and wandered some more. This being Europe, you are asking for the toilet a lot. I ended up peeing outside a couple of times, but no biggy. We finally reached our cheap motel and had just missed the circus right in front of it that afternoon.
We ate pizza and watched a world cup game, in French this time instead of the regular Dutch we hear. I put Colin to sleep while Andrew and Debbie wandered and picked Lavender.
Sunday we hit the beach for a bit before trying to get to church. We really felt like we were in France now. Malo Les Bains was a beautiful beach with a lighthouse at the end and adorable changing cabins right out of the movies! The homes near the beach were just perfect.
Enjoy these photos of the beach and surrounding streets!
Debbie ran into this man sucking up worms in the sand for fishing bait.
We attempted to get to church but had strayed too many times from my pre-prepared maps and ended up getting extremely frustrated so emotions were high! We learned from this trip that a GPS is crucial to traveling in a car. I thought I could figure things out with a map but being the driver and not having good map readers to help navigate was an overlooked, crucial step. We never found church and decided to venture toward the countryside to St. Omer.
I watch Petit Ours Brun (a French children's show) and I have this dream of living in their exact home. A quaint home in the countryside that is just a short bike ride from a village. The countryside looked exactly like this picture below and I got extremely giddy when I saw it. I have dreamed of driving through these exact places. Tensions were still high on our drive through here so I stopped a couple of times to get out and get some fresh air. It was one of those moments where you have this huge juxtaposition in your life. I had these negative emotions at a time when I was about to journey through something I had been waiting a long time to see. Once I did get into the countryside, I was rejuvenated and able to be calmer and carry forth. Bad timing indeed though.
Isn't it gorgeous?!
We got to another lovely town called St. Omer and wandered some more before eating a wonderful lunch of crepes, seafood pasta, and belgian waffles.
We have given Colin ice cream a couple of times and every time he cringes and doesn't like the cold. He has refused to eat it off of a cone.
Colin was a doll the whole trip. He had the power to make the stressful navigating part even more like hell and he didn't. I prayed so many times in gratitude.
This is the Abbey of St. Bertin which was erected in the 7th century and slowly demolished until bombardments in World War 2.
Enjoy some of our photos from St. Omer
Andrew made some street art with the dirt on the doors.
This Boucherie sign was authentic! It was not made as a set for a movie or play! Is this real life?
It was a memorable 2 days and we saw a lot amidst many rough patches ( some of which could have been avoided with a GPS). I wouldn't recommend a two day trip from Amsterdam to France but we made it work and I'm glad we went even though I prefer traveling slower. Debbie has been wanting to go to France with me as a guide ever since we met. If we were ever going to do this trip, it was now. You cannot comprehend how complete I feel when I visit France. It makes my heart happy!
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