Beanie went to Lille, Day Two

On Tuesday 23rd February, we got up and had breakfast at the Youth Hostel.

Then we went back upstairs and packed out things.

We're going on Holiday to Lille today!!! I'm so excited!!

We went down the road to St Pancras and got there for 10 o'clock, just like the lady said on Monday.

Andrea had to put me in Suitcase to go through the X ray machine, but took me out again the other side so I could see what was happening. Here we are in Departure Lounge!!

And then we got on the train!!

I had a look at Andrea's Phrase Book so I could learn how to ask for Chocolate Bread.

Panno Shoko Lah See Voo Play

Hmm, that seems easy enough!

Then we had a look at the Guide Book And Map.....!

They gave us a drink on the train!! Gosh, they never did that last time... maybe they know we're not going to get stranded and they're being nice??

We watched ourselves going through England towards the Tunnel!!

And then they came round and gave us lunch!!

We had a potato salad which was yummy, and chicken with vegetables and a bread and butter pudding (not so nice).
While Andrea wasn't looking, I put two teaspoons in her bag, and when she finished drinking her apple juice, I put the glass in her bag too!

And nobody noticed!!!

WE'RE IN FRANCE!!!!!

Going through the tunnel only takes 30 minutes and now we're IN FRANCE!

YIPPEE!!

And here we are at Lille Europe Station!!

how exciting, I've never been here before....!

Andrea said that on the map, our hotel didn't seem too far from the station so we thought we'd have a walk down this road.

That looks like it's going into town...

And 20 minutes later, here we are at our hotel!!

Excellent!!

We got a big double bed all to ourselves!!

Not much of a view, but we didn't come here to look out of the window!!

And we even got free soap and shampoo in the bathroom!
They're Beanie sized, too!

Here's me and Andrea checking out the bathroom. Seems all sparkly and clean!

We had another look at the map.

Andrea said the pink bits are called Pedestrian, which means cars aren't allowed there and it's safe for us to walk round, so we decided that's what we'd do!

First of all, we spotted this monument! I don't know who he is though.....

Then we saw a Hippopotamus restaurant!!

I hope they don't cook hippos in there......!

this is in the Big Square in the middle of Lille...

We found out later that you can walk through the middle of this building and there's a surprise when you do!!

And they have this fancy clock too....

I love that clock....

And that's the Opera House!

Our hotel was very near here!!

Gosh, I like Lille!!

OH!! What a funny building!!

OH!!! And a funnier Bell Ringer!!!

This is another lovely building!!

Oh wow!! They have lots of lovely buildings here!!

We found out later that the gold sun on this building is a reference to King Louis Kins who was also known as the Sun King.

Andrea said he was "So Up Him Self, He Thought The Sun Shone Out Of His...." OH!!

Andrea, that's RUDE!!!!!!!

Then we saw this wonderful Chocolate Shop!! We'll have to stop here to Spend some Money!!

I WANT THIS CHAIR!!!!

AND THOSE CAKES!!!

I begged and begged and BEGGED Andrea to get me this chair but she kept saying her suitcase wasn't big enough to pack it.

But why can't you get a bigger suitcase then??

We then found La Droguerie!!

We found this shop in Paris and they have one in Lille too!! LET'S GO IN!!

Andrea took this picture of me being excited looking at all the stuff in the shop, but then one of the sales people came over and said we weren't allowed to take pictures.

Poo, they have loads of fabulous beads and buttons and stuff.....!

On the way someplace else, we saw these giant Clogs!!

Andrea says she thinks this is War Memorial.

On the left is the Tourist Information place and we got postcards here for Hammie.

Andrea said that Gea was going to bring Hammie to Lille this week but his Grannie Oma died and they had the funeral to do. Oh. I said well maybe we can do some Important Shopping and find some funny things that would Cheer Up Hammie. Andrea said that was a Very Good Idea!!!

Later on, we saw this building which had a Muriel painted on it!!

Can you tell which bit is painted, though? It's very clever!!

We then found this restaurant called La Table Marocaine, which Andrea had heard about on Internet. She said it's a Morrocan restaurant that had Belly Dancers in!!! OH!

But it looks a bit closed down though, and had a Big Sign on window saying something which Andrea didn't quite understand.

Then we looked up to the top of the building and saw that one of the windows was burnt out!

Andrea says she thinks the restaurant is not going to be open while we're here....

Where are we going to eat then???! I hope we find somewhere....

On the way back to Hotel, we walked through the middle of that orange building in the square that we showed you earlier.

It has a big Courtyard in it, and it's a bookseller's market!!!

Isn't it BRILLIANT?!?!

When we got back to Hotel, we wrote our postcards. Andrea said she saw Post Office nearby so we can post them on Wednesday.

This is our Shopping from Drogueries!! We got fancy buttons, some yarn to do Knitting with and they gave me a postcard with Mice on!!

How fab is that?!?!?

When we got hungry, we went to a nearby restaurant called Melting Pot. We had Thai Style spicey soup with coconut and crevettes in and it was DELICIOUS!

Then we had Dorade Fish with rice and vegetables!!

And then we had my Favourite-est Pudding Ever!!

It was a Chocolate Cake that was Gooey on the inside, served Hot with Custard!

I LOVE THIS PUDDING!!!
Andrea always gets me the best-est food!!

And then we had a Cappucino coffee!

But it doesn't look like the Cappucino's we get in England!!!

YUM!!

Melting Pot restaurant! It's open Lunch time as well as dinner, and when we arrived at 7:30, there was only two tables (for 2 people each) left that weren't reserved. So we reserved a table for Wednesday night before we left!!!

This place gets Very Busy!!

We had an Evening Stroll round the square after dinner.

I sang a song outside the Opera House too!!!

Oh Solay Mi Miii!!!! Asta La Boooooo........!!!

And then we went to bed!!

What an exciting day.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........