I’ve admitted before that I’m not an adventurous cove.

Exhibit 1 – domicile.  Ten minutes walk from childhood home; five minutes from Aged P’s; two streets from previous house.

Exhibit 2 – employment. Teacher for twenty five years, twenty one of those in same school and, had PD not intervened, would probably be there still.

Exhibit 3 – holidays. Adverse to flying – conventional in extreme. Never been outside Europe, unless you count Yorkshire.

So this blog is being written at the start of what is, for me anyway, something of an adventure.  I’m sitting in the dark on a balcony outside an apartment in Lille. ActorLaddie and I are inter-railing round Europe for nearly three weeks. Tomorrow we’re going to take the train to Cologne, then head off South to become RhineMaidens.

Tapping a blog out on mobile + added interest of tremor = bitesized, I’m afraid. So three things that have struck me about Lille:

1. Many scary looking police officers, particularly around the station, carrying bloody enormous machine guns.

2. The Bourse has become a market for second hand books, art, music and is utterly beautiful.

3. They still have a C&A’s, bringing back memories of my aunt taking me to the one in Clapham Junction to buy me a bikini for my twelfth birthday, which I insisted on trying on over my vest. Ah, those swinging Sixties.

And, in case you were worried, with the help of TunnelBear making my mobile think it’s still in Britain. I can still listen to the Archers. So that’s all good.