Comme un hamster mais plus grand
The family
start arriving, Son first, then daughter and family (including five-year-old
grandson) a couple of days later. It’s lovely to see them again and to be able
to show them the flat, Valenciennes and our favourite places. We tried a new
(to us) bistro for lunch on 5th (Son’s birthday) and immediately put
it on our “go again” list – lovely steak and chips!
With our small grandson
around, the favourite places tended to be the baker’s, the baker’s and the
baker’s but by Sunday we’d managed to persuade him to go for a walk around a
lake. He's not keen on walking far and was making his feelings felt by the time
we’d gone about one kilometre, with another three still to go. “Sticky bobs”
(burdocks) proved a good distraction for the last half and Son suggested
getting a pedometer as another trick.
Disappointment
at the lakeside bar being closed for holidays was assuaged by a trip to Tandem,
a relaxed bar, where I’m working my way through the place mats.
We went to
Decathlon the next day: a pedometer for GS and one for me, each one matching
the shoes we were wearing. His was in action before we left the store and he announced
the number of steps at every possible opportunity. The organic supermarket was
quiet so allowed plenty of scope for walking round in circles, though I was
told that jogging on the spot was only acceptable if you were under the age of
ten. Shame, really, and I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I will get
competitive with a five-year-old. I was also slightly disappointed that my son
wasn’t more used to this sort of thing by now. Must try harder.
Back at the
flat, GS circumnavigated Son a dozen or so times to raise the step count but
later reset the tally to zero and was upset to have to start again. I had to
zero mine as well, of course, and went into town while GS played board games. A
trip to play Frisbee in the park means there’s no chance of me winning today.
Tuesday was a trip to a park – woodland, a water-garden with stepping stones through tall reads, play equipment to raise water and lots of the usual playground things.
Wednesday was a
trip to Le Quesnoy, a fortified town with well-preserved walls and plenty to
see, if only the weather is good. Unfortunately we experienced the "Burkes on holiday" effect and it rained every time we set foot outside, but stopped when we were indoors. We ate, tried to have a walk around the walls, got very soggy feet, and came home.
Thursday was
“Make sure son gets the train so he doesn’t miss Eurostar connection” day, so
it was the usual late start, then a very late lunch in a restaurant, which we’d
though was just a wine merchant. We were too late for the menu of the day but
the adults went for steak frites,
while GS had fishandchips, made
following the method of a prize-winning fryer in Stonehaven, in Scotland. While
we waited, we were brought some salami-type sausage, cooked to the restaurant’s
recipe by our local butcher and had a wine-tasting. We (intentionally) weren’t
charged for GS’s meal and it was probably the best steak and chips I’ve ever
had. We are hoping to become regular-enough customers to be invited to the Beaujolais nouveau evening, which seemed
to involve remarkably little of said wine but rather a lot of others and
finished at 2am.
Friday: the
last day for GS and entourage. It had to be another visit to the park, another
picnic, with the addition of a ride on the pedalos. With a large fountain in the
middle of the lake, the boat being steered by the least-experienced tillerman got
wet but we all enjoyed the experience. It was a warm day so
it didn’t take long for the hair and trousers to dry.
Saturday: A 3.30am
wake-up call for the returnees and their taxi-driver. I was nominated to read
the next part of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory while the others loaded the
car. Grandson, I’m told, didn’t sleep at all on the way to the airport. I
suspect we all had a very quiet day.
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