Back from Lille!

[dawn_felagund]

About six months ago, Bobby and I decided we wanted to visit my sister and sister-in-law in England for the holidays. We haven't been able to make that happen in the eight-or-so years that Sharon has been here. So Tuesday night, we made the onerous overnight flight to London, then the short flight north to Newcastle. (Including a layover in

Comments

[pandemonium_213]

I LOVE your travelogues, and this one did not disappoint! What a beautiful little city, and that Christmas market is charming. I love the cherub holding the skull! :^D

Looking forward to hearing more from you. Oh, and the Green Knight is rockin' that beard!

Uh, sorry about the Ravens.

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks. That was painful, and I didn't even watch the game but sat in the corner where I didn't have to see the TV as the others watched it. ;_;

I should have known that you would also appreciate the cherub-skull combo! :D It's one of the few pictures we took in the hospital museum (mostly because flash photography was not allowed, so much would not have turned out).

Bobby's winter beard is in full effect! It got cool early this fall, so he got a good start on it. He's the envy of several male coworkers. Apparently, it keeps him quite cozy while doing his on-mountain ski patrol training.

[dreamflower02]

WOW! What an awesome cool trip, and what awesome cool pics!

Did I mention I think this is awesome?

BTW, I also have The Father Christmas Letters, and I love them. Sheds a whole new light on JRRT!

[dawn_felagund]

Bobby is really enjoying the Father Christmas Letters! I am looking forward to reading them, likely nowhere around Christmas, as I am saddled with much school reading right now. D:

It was a great trip, and Bobby takes lovely pictures. (Most of them are his.)

[dreamflower02]

Like Roverandom it sheds a light on what a loving father JRRT was. I mean he kept this up until his children were far past the age of believing.

The little illustrations are adorable; and you can see peeks and glimpses of things that made it into the Legendarium as well. Fascinating and delightful, I thought.

[engarian]

What a wonderful side trip, I've heard the market is fabulous and it looks like it is even more wonderful than I had thought. It seems like you and Bobby are having a fantastic time sharing the holidays with your sister and her partner. Enjoy your time off and your continued travels. Post more if you can - I always adore seeing your travel-logues.

- Erulisse (one L)

[dawn_felagund]

I will! We are taking some smaller excursions throughout the area. Today, though, we have been sitting in this same semi-dark room for like four hours now. (It's the first day we haven't been away or traveling in almost a week ...)

[huinare]

That all looks/sounds amazing. I'm particularly enamoured of the theme of the art exhibit. And that ferris wheel! 8)

[dawn_felagund]

The art exhibit was really great, and I've been to my share of illumination exhibits. :D I felt like the combination with Fabre's work really drew out some of the aspects of medieval illumination that often don't get a lot of attention, like the grotesques or inclusion of gruesome and scary images. It really was a thought-provoking exhibit.

[indy1776]

Sounds and looks like you had a much better time in France than I did. (I'm determined to never go back.) Your museum stops sound like a lot of fun.

I'm glad you're with your sister and sister-in-law!

[dawn_felagund]

I really liked Lille. I'd heard bad things about France, but everyone in Lille was wonderful--including accommodating our bad French! :D It was also not expensive at all (a complaint I've heard especially of Paris). My theory is that Lille is still small and out-of-the-way enough that the businesses have a strong interest in making it a place that people will want to visit or return to. It's not Paris, where anyone who visits Europe is likely to end up at some point. I would go back in a heartbeat.

[indy1776]

That explains it-- I was only in Paris. (It didn't help that our tour company booked us for dinner one night in the Hard Rock Cafe and we barely had time to see Notre Dame because of it; I'm guessing they did so because we were a high school group.)