When we arrived in Wambrechies late on Saturday morning the main Port de Plaisance was full, but we found a really good spot just through the bridge. For 18E a night inclusive of water and electric it was perfect for us. We were so low on water that it took 2 hours to refill the tank and while we had unlimited water & electric I caught up on the laundry, washing everything in sight and getting it all dried outside in the sunshine.
Wambrechies is a lovely town with 6 restaurants, 3 bakeries, 2 bars and 3 supermarkets. Roger and David walked to the Match Supermarket and bought gas but I'll tell you more about that in a separate post.
This is the "Tram Touristique" which runs on the opposite bank and was really busy all Sunday afternoon.
Just beside where we're moored there is a distillery with this beautiful fountain made from a still. The distillery was closed for the weekend but we're hoping to visit on Monday.
We went out for dinner last night to the restaurant La Guinguette beside the Port just expecting a basic meal and then an early night but we were wrong on both counts. The food was wonderful with HUGE portions. Roger and I both had confit de canard with roast potatoes and David had half a cow
It would have been enough for both of us but he managed to pick the bone clean AND eat all the frites and salad 😲 No doggy bag for Chico there then.........
We hadn't booked a table and were extremely lucky to get the only one that hadn't been reserved as there was entertainment on. We groaned a bit when a woman started setting up her accordion and backing equipment and then went round all the tables distributing song books. What on earth had we let ourselves in for and could we finish our meal and escape before she started? There was no need to worry though as we had a fantastic evening. When she realised we were English she started her set dedicating the first 2 songs to us - "Dirty Old Town" and "Roll Out The Barrel" which of course we knew all the words to and which went down a bomb with the French. After that we joined in with all the French songs and although we could follow the words, we didn't have a clue about any of the tunes, but after a few glasses of wine and with the general volume of everyone else singing it didn't matter. We really enjoyed ourselves as the photos show
Today has been glorious sunshine and there's been a craft market on all day, right beside our mooring. The french certainly know how to spend their weekend. From 8am there was a constant queue at the Boulangerie and the cakes were flying out the door. By 12 o'clock they had sold out of bread and cakes and were turning people (me included) away.
A rotisserie van had set up beside the church and did a roaring trade. I bought a spit-roast chicken and a tray of cooked potatoes for a nice easy lunch. There was also a fish stall and another selling local honey and apple juice.
The craft market went on until gone 6 o'clock and all the bars and restaurants have been busy all day. It's been a real holiday atmosphere and we've been sat out on deck for most of the afternoon soaking up both the atmosphere and the sunshine.
As tempting as it is to stay here for another few days we're heading back to Lille tomorrow. There's still plenty to see and do there before David has to return to the UK.
Bye for now 😃
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