We said goodbye to B’s host family and made our way to Lille, France by train. The train system is mostly easy to use and we found friendly people to help us navigate buying tickets and finding our platforms everywhere we went.

After only a couple of hours of relaxed train travel we stepped out into Lille. This is a beautiful little city that is also a Eurostar stop. We really wanted to spend a little time in France on this trip but with the Olympics in Paris that did not seem like the place we wanted to be. So we choose to spend a day in Lille before catching the Eurostar to London.

We stayed at the Grand Lille Hotel for the night. It was an adorable small room but modern and perfect for our needs. We started our time in Lille with a short nap as mom was still adjusting to the time change. We then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring the town. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Bi Bin Bap before heading in for the night.

On our second day we enjoyed our own leisurely walking tour of Lille. we had breakfast at the hotel which was good although very bread heavy.

On our walk through Lille took us through many cobblestone streets with old and new buildings. We stoped at Saint Maurice Catholic Church, climbed to the top of Beffroi de Lille, walked through Porte de Paris, explored Parc de la Citadelle, and played at Aire de jeux du parc de la citadelle, admired the unique Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral, browsed all of the books at La Vieille Bourse Vieille Bourse, and watched the travelers at Grand Place. We stoped in shops along the way and ate lunch at Crêperie Beaurepaire for the most amazing and filling crepes.

By 5:00 or 27:00 we were tired, full, and ready to board our Eurostar to London.

B had already spent three weeks in Belgium but had also been to Germany, The Netherlands, and France before mom arrived. There was still plenty to see and do and we started with a day in Brussels and an evening in Liege.

Our day in Brussels was easy and simple. We took the train in from Liege, walked to the Menneken Pis, enjoyed strolling down the cobblestone streets and seeing all the old buildings juxtaposed with newer modern ones. We had a delicious lunch of dumplings and fried noodles and Wok Up, not Belgium food but after three weeks of bread B was begging for something else. We found fun little cartoons everywhere and just enjoyed being together again in a new city.

We found the Parc de Bruxelles and sat in the shade by the fountain to relax and talk. After a while we headed back to the city center to Laurent Gerbaud Chocolatier for chocolates and drinks. It was delicious! After that we headed back to Liege and had dinner with B’s host family.

This summer a family trip was not in the cards. Instead B got the opportunity to travel to Belgium and do a summer exchange through Rotary International. She was able to live for three weeks with a family in Belgium and then their daughter will come to live with us for three weeks. In between those weeks though there was the chance for a little more Europe exploration.

So after three weeks of missing B, mom flew across the US and the Atlantic to meet her and start their own adventure in Europe.