À l’aventure!

“Would you like an adventure now, or shall we have our tea first?” – Peter Pan

In this case we had tea first since our flight was delayed.

Settled into row 33 of this Boeing 777 with service to London Heathrow, I think I’m ready for the adventure!  But first, I’m hoping to sleep through most of the night…

Our carry on luggage is packed full of everything we think we will need for the next 13 days, books loaded on our Kindles, snacks… Did we forget something? I’m sure we’ll find out eventually if we did. À demain!

October 27 – A number of days have passed with little thought of writing any updates. We’ve kept ourselves quite occupied these last few days and there is little time to sit down and write, but I’ll take my chance now since I’m sitting anyway, aboard a TGV (high speed train) currently traveling at 292 km/h. We are on our way to Caen, Normandy after spending Sunday morning & dinner with the missionaries in Lille.

TGV – high speed trains

For those who are not aware, Jesse and I arrived in France on Thursday and met up with my brothers (Hugues & Amy and Louis, Thierry & Chandra and Jacques) in Tournai, Belgium. My grandma, Béatrice Ghilardi and her son, Robert live here.

So. We arrived in Tournai. But first, let’s backtrack a little to the day of travel. It was a long one! Late departure from Nashville, which got us to London Heathrow a little behind schedule, which in turn meant we were a little short on time to catch our connecting flight to Paris. Luckily that flight was a little delayed as well, so we did make it! We arrived in Paris and were a little surprised at the simplicity of customs. Not a single question, simply a “passeport s’il vous plaît”, a stamp and “à gauche”. Next step, un petit goûter (afternoon snack or light meal). We then found our way to the train station, where we boarded a TGV to Lille.

Lille train station

From there, a regional train took us into Belgium. We were met at the station by Hugues and Oncle Robert. Shortly thereafter, we arrived at Grand-maman’s apartment where she served us a delicious supper 🙂 Une bonne réunion! Last time I saw her was in 2016, I believe…

Our first day in Tournai some of us (mostly me) arise a little earlier than we may have desired, some sleep a little later than planned, but eventually we all get around to breakfast and then the 10 min trip is made to pick up Robert and Grand-maman, who will be joining us at our spacious Airbnb for the day.

The day is filled with good food and interesting conversations, a little walk into France before supper, a few games…

Menus du jour :

  • crêpes au jambon (ham), broccoli, mushrooms, sauce béchamel
  • moules frites (Belgium’s national dish of mussels and French fries)

Followed by a course of bread and cheese after each meal. Délicieux!

moules frites

Interesting tidbit about the Airbnb we stayed at: upon hearing where we were staying, Papa did a little digging and figured out that in bygone days it served as the customs building between France and Belgium.

Old customs building – now an Airbnb

Saturday’s plan: a tour of Tournai. Here’s Jesse’s report of it.

On Saturday, we all headed to Tournai, Belgium. Parking our cars in front of Grand-Maman and Uncle Robert’s apartments, we set off on foot for a tour with Uncle Robert as a guide.

Aerial view of Tournai

Tournai is a very interesting city, full of history and architecture. The reason of its importance is due to its straddling a river providing access to Paris. Conquer Tournai, and your way is mostly clear. Formerly a walled city, this wall has been torn down and replaced with a boulevard around the city. (The word boulevard comes from the tearing down of walls (bulwarks (bolwerk) to replace them with roads.)

City map

Among its prior occupants dating back to before 400, you have Romans, Francs, French, English, Dutch, Spanish, and German. In relatively recent history, it was conquered early on in both World Wars due to it being on the best route from Germany to France. It was badly damaged in WW2, and was rebuilt, with attention to its history in its architecture.

Thus you have Roman houses, a church in what was once a Roman Temple, a gate over the river, pieces of walls and fortresses still remaining, the oldest belfry in the world, cobblestone streets, etc. One bridge has a sign thanking the British for blowing it up, since doing so slowed the German advance in WW2.

Belfry Construction started in 1188 AD

We walked around, had lunch in the Grande Place, toured cathedrals, visited a chocolate shop, viewed the outdoor gallery at the Casterman building (original printers of Martine and TinTin) and ate galettes de Tournai.

Better than stroopwaffels…

All around, a good day!

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