Day trip to France!

Uncle Alex rapped on the door nice and early at 6:30am and after a quick cuppa tea, we were off on the motorway towards Folkestone! We had 6 ppl in the car - Uncle Alex, Aunty Clem, Paula, Cheng Yee, Di and I! It was surprisingly not too cramped in the back!

We checked in at Eurotunnel and then had a quick look at the duty free shops before queuing up to board our train! Soon we had driven onto the train and were zooming under the English Channel!

We arrived in France around 9:15am or so and after putting our clocks forward an hour, we headed south towards the seaside town of Bologne! The drive didn’t take long but there was sufficient time to get a bit of shuteye in the backseat!

It was sunny and reasonably warm as we pulled into Bologne! After parking near the old part of town, we walked downhill to the markets which was bustling with locals! We had a look around at the stalls selling everything from fruit and veges to flowers to clothes! Next we headed down to the docks to check out the fishermen’s catch! They were mostly selling sole but we also saw some huge lobsters too!

We headed back to the car and grabbed our pre-made lunch of turkey rolls that Paula had made. We enjoyed the warm sun in the garden near the carpark as we gobbled down lunch. Then it was time to explore the old part of town surrounded by an ancient wall! We found the gate into town and walked up cobblestone streets to the main street lined with craft shops and cafes! There was this annoying African man who came up to us asking us where we were from and a few other questions. Uncle Alex pretended not to understand what he was asking and after a while just walked by. He presumably wanted money but we noticed him hassling every other tourist walking by! We found a nice café to sit at and grab a drink before deciding it was time to move on!

Back in the car, we headed north to the town of Dunkirk! Again I fell asleep but soon enough we were there! We parked near the pier and then walked into the town centre where we found a hub of activity going on! It turned out to be some sort of agricultural fair and there were animal exhibits and stores promoting organic foods. After checking it out briefly, we escaped the crowds and continued walking around town. It was nearing 5pm and we were feeling hungry so we started to keep an eye out for places to eat! I had my stomach set on moules fritte (mussels and fries!).

Eventually we found a few cafes by the sea and picked one advertising moules fritte! They didn’t really have much of a selection and it took a bit of guesswork to figure out what the other dishes on the menu were! Our French waitress was friendly enough but could not speak a word of English! In the end Uncle Alex, Di and I got the moules fritte, Aunty Clem got steak, Cheng Yee got this local specialty of cold chicken/pork, whilst Paula decided to just have cheese on toast with fries! The mussels were great! Uncle Alex’s provencal sauce was probably the best though!

Filled up, we left Dunkirk and drove to Calais to do some shopping before catching our 9:50pm train back to the UK. We managed to find the outlet centre near Cite Europe but it had just closed as we pulled into the parking lot at 7pm! Disappointed we headed over to Cite Europe and Uncle Alex, Aunty Clem, and Paula went crazy at Carrefour and Tesco buying a whole trolley full of booze! They got even more at the duty free store after we had checked in!

Our 9:50pm train ended up being full and we were first on the 10:10pm train. We finally reached UK soil around 9:30pm after putting back our clocks! The drive back to Paula’s place was about 30mins and Beng Kiet koko welcomed us back around 10pm! Paula reheated some of last night’s Indian food and mmm was it good! We also enjoyed some of the wine we had bought! The perfect end to a nice day out! Nite!