Issue No. 25

Road trip to northern France film... We were
followed by a film crew!
The guides who work here offer free tours
and they share anecdotes and stories of
those whose names are forever remembered.
As the guide told me about a man whose
bravery at trying to save the lives of his
comrades ended in his own death, I looked
up on the wall and saw those names so
familiar to us all, Davis, Smith, Roberts – and
Cedric Dickens, great-grandson of Charles
Dickens who’d loved the north of France so
much. The absolute tragedy of the sacrifices
made, the terrible losses, completely
overwhelmed me and I burst into tears and
thought how very grateful I am for all that I
have.
inn. We went to a microbrewery and Mark
fell in love with a beer called YuZu. We
visited museums and art galleries and fell
under the spell of this vibrant city that’s
crammed with cultural highlights and full of
friendly folk, so that we could hardly bear to
leave.
And like, Amiens, this city gets an article to
itself – see page 80.
Nord: Bucket loads of culture and
fabulous markets…
Photo: Lauren Ghesquiere, OT Lille
Parking the bike up in a street right near the
centre of Lille, the capital of Hauts-de-
France, we strolled down cobbled streets
under colourful bunting, past boulangeries
and cake shops where people waited
patiently in queues – a small price to pay for
the lushest of dishes. We dined at an
authentic estaminet, the Flemish word for an