Fleurbaix

Mathilde met us at the gate at the airport and we hopped on a train to her village in the north of France called Fleurbaix. We ate a quick lunch of cheese, wine, and some type of meat dish then prepared some food for the New Years party with her village friends that night. Applying a melange of communication methods we all had a great time and made plans to meet up again to go to a restaurant in Belgium that served the best food and beer that one can imagine.





We spent the days in between with Mathildes family visiting war memorials and touring her farm which has as many war relics as any of the established memorials. The gun I am holding in the picture was found in her backyard along with bullets, helmets, mortar, and other items. When you see how many of the French died fighting the first war and how much they lost, it becomes very easy to comprehend the early surrender in WWII.
Ad and I borrowed the bicycles for a chilly bike ride across the countryside and then returned to have crepes of every kind served to us for lunch. mathild found an apartment in Paris so we went with her parents to help her move in and spent several days wandering the streets and seeing the sights. I finally got to visit Le Louvre which was closed due to striking last time I was in Paris so I couldnt be happier.
There is a lack of punctuation because I am not certain how this frnech keyboard works and we donùt have much internet time!
The three of us stayed in Mathildes 15 m2 apartment and ate salmon and cheese and bread and soup
each night for dinner. We were spoiled by her parents who sent us on our way with tons of fresh vegetables from the farm and leftovers from the new years feast. It snowed in Paris which is rare but we still managed to see a lot of the city before our flight to Morocco.