Drew's dream

The one thing Drew wanted to do more than anything else while we were in Europe was to take a ride on one of the fast trains, the TGV. On Saturday his wish came true. We set out first thing in the morning and drove the car, to the tram, to a regular train, until finally we boarded the TGV. The TGV did not disappoint. "It was cookin'", according to Drew. We arrived in France at lunch time. The only dissappointing part of the TGV ride was that we were only on it for 40 minutes. Within five minutes of us arriving in Lille, France Drew wanted to know when we would get back on the train. We had seven hours and 45 minutes to kill. Not the answer Drew wanted to hear.

We looked out the window from the train station. The day that started out clear and sunny had turned on us. It was pouring! Rick and I had no more of a plan than to just explore the city by foot. The day suddenly seemed to get longer. We headed to the huge shopping mall next door to the train station to get lunch. After some yummy french bread sandwiches, waffles drenched in chocolate sauce and donuts everything seemed a bit cheerier. We headed to the tourist office for some advice on how to fill up our day.

Despite the weather, which we weren't prepared for at all - 1 umbrella for the five of us, we managed to enjoy ourselves. We found a tiny zoo that had great exhibits, a kiddie train, and a small shelter to get out of the bursts of rain. The old part of Lille is beautiful. The buildings are so ornate and interesting. (The pictures are minimal since the camera didn't come out too much due to the rain.) The town was alive with people too. We spent our last few hours drying out in a restaurant with a great menu. After our mouths were drooling over our choices we found out the kitchen didn't open for another two hours. Yes, of course we're in France! They eat late. Oh well we ordered 5 croque monsieurs (French version of grilled ham and cheese) and a lot of wine. It was warm and dry at least. The kids were happy coloring and and we were happy sipping our wine.

After "dinner" we took the fast train, to the regular train, to the tram, to our car, to our home. We poured ourselves into bed exhausted. It was a good day.