Destination Lille

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Today our extremely brief journey through Germany comes to an end as we head for France, our final European destination and where the adventure began nearly four months ago. Germany put on a perfect day for our departure. Perhaps this was a special message inviting us back in the not too distant future.
Once again we resorted to our friendly GPS unit to guide us through what seemed to be a very complicated network of roads. We were surprised to see the name Eindhoven appear as a destination but who are we to argue with such an intelligent force as Miss GPS. We have become accustomed to seeing wind turbines on our drive through Germany, but today the sight of a coal fired power station belching smoke into the atmosphere was not pleasant at all.
Soon we were crossing the border into the Netherlands near Aachen (we didn’t get to Eindhoven). The myth that all roads in the Netherlands are flat was truly broken when we drove down a 5% gradient hill that had a special warning. Just so we could say we had really been in the country we stopped at a small town for a coffee and to buy some water. The water appeared to be quite cheap and we were assured it was water without gas. Once outside we had surprise number one. They seem to add 25 cents per bottle of water to the shelf price. Perhaps it is a plastic tax. Surprise number two, the water had gas. We have six bottles of the stuff so we will have to grin and bear it until it has all gone.
Leaving the Netherlands we crossed into Belgium and it wasn’t long before we were on the ring road around Brussels. We haven’t planned to tour Belgium on this trip but we can add another country to the long list of countries visited. Near Brussels we passed close to the Waterloo Battlefield and had a great view of Lion Hill but it passed too quickly for a photo.
Lille, our destination today, is close to the French-Belgium border. We did not choose this city for its sights (and there are some), but for the surrounding area we wish to visit. By chance we did drive into the middle of the city looking for a Peugeot dealership because our car is due for its 20,000 kilometre service and must be done before we return it in ten days. The dealership was closed but the drive was interesting. One tree-lined street we drove along had some incredible old brick homes that must have belonged to the rich and famous at some stage but are now converted into professional rooms, health service providers, or apartments. One house had a miniature farmyard in the front garden.
And so ends our day where we spent time in four countries. One country not blessed by our presence was Luxembourg. It will have to wait until next time.

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