Lille to Bruges (or Brugge)

 

Lille to Bruges (or Brugge)

Well the time had come to hand the car back,  and there was no way this whole saga was going to go out with a whimper...

So I packed everything up and even checked with guys at the desk last night (with the help of Google Translate) how long it would take me to get into the centre of Lille to return the hire car. It was due at10am, so they suggested departure at 9 am would give me heaps of time....  Aaaah, but they didn't know my record. So I set my alarm for 6.30am to allow myself time to have brekky, repack my bags, check my emails and be on the road.

I was doing well -at the checkout desk at 8.50, paid my  bills, packed the car and on the road by 9am.

But....

Gaby Garmin and I have an  interesting relationship... most of the time I understand her, but somehow, yet again, I missed a vital turn off and virtually had to go back to where I started - lost about 20 mins. Anyway, you wouldn't believe the Lille peak hour traffic... think Freeway North in Perth at 5pm or Monash Freeway in Melbourne at virtually any time!!! It was bumper to bumper.... And I was conscious I had to have the car back in by 10am or they  would charge me for another day.

But what could I do...??? At least I was now on the right road, and the driving wasn't a problem, so I just had to tough it out.

Eventually I arrived at the right car park (luckily I had sussed all that out the day before) and after going around the car in the wrong direction(!!!) I eventually found the AVIS area and parked my car with a HUGE sigh of relief....

My next worry was that I had 3 hours to fill in with a very heavy case....  the power of prayer works again. The nice man in AVIS offered to mind my  case for me until 12.15 (my train left at 1.08)... Yessssss... !!! I was so relieved. The things that make me worry at times like that are... how will I get to the toilet with my cases.... what about any stairs... what will I do for 3 hours etc....

Anyway, I went for another walk around town, had a  cup of coffee and went to the Church to say thank you Jesus. I took a few more pics, because I didn't really get many yesterday... Here's a few more of Lille

Le Grande Place again

One for you Jane and Terry Foy

The bus I went on yesterday

Café area

Street scene



Better one of the Church of St Maurice

Had a lot to  say thankyou for at the Church. Lit my candle and said my prayers, but said a big thankyou one that I had survived driving in France!!!!

My last little worry was about getting my luggage on the train and where would I put it etc...

When I booked these tickets much earlier in the year I asked my travel agent to book the train first class, and today made that all worth while (it was only 4 Euro more). I had virtually the whole carriage to myself, even though 2nd class was quite full, so I was able to keep my luggage  beside me all the way..

My luggage on the train

My train at Bruges station

So, all the worries I had at the start of the day just disappeared, and I had to admit  the train trip was excellent, and so much less stressful than driving.... once I got on board.

And so I arrived in Bruges...

See the next post for what happens next...