Nord Pas De Calais

---

Geo: 50.7697, 1.6116

France is definitely one of those countries I love going back to. I love the food, the culture and the landscape. I am here again in Wimereux for a couple of weeks, with the intention of visiting Lille and Normandy.
We arrived on the weekend to some nice sunny weather. We took a walk around the back of the town with great views of Wimereux town with the backdrop of the English Channel. Flowers and trees are in full bloom for the spring with the occasional yellow flower field used to make oil and with the unflattering name of "Rape seed" but visually stunning.
We departed early for Lille the following day, a few hours on the train and we were greeted by a friend of whom we were staying with. Lille is a beautiful city, lovely architecture and vibrant atmosphere.
We walked to the park to enjoy the sun with a brief view of the monkey enclosure at the zoo.
Afterwards we walked through the Vieux Lille (Old Lille) and through the city center and enjoying a little atmosphere with dancers, skaters and people relaxing in one of the squares that houses an art museum. We headed back towards Old Lille again and enjoyed the amazing warm weather in a small grassy area. It's nice to see a European spring with green trees and colourful plants after quite a few months following winter around.
We headed back for some home cooked dinner before attacking the Lille fun fair back at the big park.
On the way we tried our hand at being eco friendly by turning off shop lights on the outside from sometimes accessible switches.

The Lille fun fair was small but in Summer can be twice the size. With an almost unlimited source of skill testers and rides, it's enough to keep you busy for a good couple of hours. It reminded me of the final destination movie at the amusement park. I tried my hand at the skill testers 39 times to try win Anna a soft toy; turns out I have no skill at all, but I always claim it's the thought that counts, much to my girlfriend's embarrassment at an unskilled boyfriend.
Feeling un-masculine we headed back home being eco friendly superheroes once more.
Day two started off slow, but we eventually made it out to visit more of the city and of course sit in another park in the beautiful sunny weather. We had a nice slushy to enjoy while Simon and I had a small competition of photographing a begger in the church doors, but she was on to Simons not so subtle attempt. Before we knew it we were on the train back after having a great few days in Lille.

The following week was amazing. The sun was out everyday with warm weather that I later learned was a record for the that time of the year for some time. The locals and tourists flocked to Wimereux beach and enjoyed any water sports and tanning. I enjoyed playing soccer with Anna's brother Ben; Watching their cat jump high while trying to attack butterflies and playing table tennis while having a BBQ.
Two particular events I really enjoyed was being able to see where Anna's dad worked and Wakeboarding.
Anna's dad is a director at the global, non profit organization called L'Arche. L'Arche is a program that houses and provides care and work for disabled adults with learning difficulties. We took a walk around the Ambleteuse complex in which I was surprised at how big it was. With 7 houses that house around 75 people including volunteers. The company has contracts with factories to provide work for some people and they produce their own Christmas pudding.
They also have an area where they produce plants and vegetables for sale to the community which is very popular and done by these amazing people with learning difficulties. I was really touched and thankful for the opportunity to be able to shown around.

Another great event and amazing opportunity was to go Wakeboarding. We were lucky with the smooth conditions on the English channel and the sunny weather. We were also lucky to be able to join Lucie who is Anna's best friend and her family on their boat.
It was my first time trying my hand at wakeboarding. Everyone had a go, I was second in line, and with a tight squeeze in to the boots and a rude shock at the freezing water temperature I was cruising in no time. The first go I was useless but the second I managed to stand and by the third attempt I was almost a natural.
It was such a great experience and so much fun. I was on a high for a while afterwards.

The present week was Easter and myself and Anna's family attended a small dawn gathering at one of the small town beaches followed by an Easter Egg hunt back at the house.
So again I have had a great time in this area, I love going back and it's sad to think that I won't be back for a while, and yet it is only a small area of France that I have seen. I cannot wait for the rest. A thanks to Anna as well for contributing to some of the photos.

---

Comments

[Lucie]

Love this one ;)