The Davis Expeditionary Force back from France

Hello folks,
Our five day excursion across the Channel to France was another amazing episode in our holiday. Rachel & Kevin got up early last Sunday morning to get us to Victoria Coach Station. There we boarded the Eurolines coach, destination Antwerp, with Lille as a stop off. On a sunny and very hazy day we drove through Kent to the white cliffs of Dover, then a one hour ferry crossing on dead calm seas. From Calais it was a one hour drive on the autoroute through the northern French countryside to the sprawling metropolis of Lille.
We had checked in to the modern All Seasons Hotel in the middle of the Lille centre for one night but ended up there for the four nights. The very small bedroom was more than compensated for with comfortable beds, spacious lounge & dining area and sumptuous continental breakfast. The location was also very convenient.
From the centre of town a vast network of buses, trams and metro stretches out across the Lille conurbation, right to the Belgian border, where we visited Armentieres. Our plans to cross the border to visit Ypres in Belgium did not eventuate, but as always we took a path of lesser resistance and opted for a day trip to Dunkerque. In a howling gale we at least saw the edge of the beaches from which the famous evacuation took place in World War Two.
Lille is a bustling young city; there is a huge university population. Immigrants of various complexions crowd the street, the latest and very obvious arrivals are the swarthy Romanian gypsies living in broken down caravan campsites on various industrial wasteland sites.
The Moslems in town, mostly Moroccan, Tunisian & Senegalese celebrated the end of Ramadan. The city is dirty, smelly, broken down and decaying; at every step you are plagued by smokers and cigarette butts. There are very obvious beggers and homeless derelicts.
For all that a great visit and my French worked wonders.
Back now in a cold and grey Manchester before our return on Monday. News from our son Jeremy is that he and Claire are expecting a child, and that will make us first time grandparents in the new year!!!!

See you all soon back in Oz.