Thursday November 1, Le Quesnoy

It was a beautiful morning in Bruges, and the temperature was 15 degrees when we left. As we trundled back down the motorway the sky changed and the temperatures dropped a little. Wanted to stock up to last us until we got back to UK and set Jilly for a supermarket just across the border in France. Massive frustration arriving at Leclerc to find that all entrances had height barriers that wouldn’t allow us in. Found another 10 minutes away only to find that it was closed for a remodel and reopening in a weeks time! By this stage we were getting a bit peckish and I had been looking out for a boulangerie without success. Next stop was a nearby Lidl store….and that was closed. Then the penny dropped, googled public holidays and discovered that today is All Saints Day! Finally found a boulangerie that was open, picked up some bread and stopped on the side of the road for a rather late lunch.

Continued on to Le Quesnoy and surprised to find a huge Supermarche open just on the outskirts of town. Round the roundabout again and zipped in and parked up. The sky looked a bit threatening and by the time we had finished the heaven’s had opened, it was a hurried wet run back to the van.

By now it was late afternoon and our plan was to visit the campground that is very close to the memorial where the commemoration is to take place to see if there was any chance to stay. I had emailed them but had no response so wasn’t holding my breath. Surprised to find that it wasn’t booked out and that we could stay for the next 3 days. Had really not planned to come here until tomorrow night, but as it was wet and miserable decided to stay the night here as well. We may use this as a base and go for a drive tomorrow. Spotted big marquees up and the road just past the campground is already barricaded off. It was getting dark and too wet to explore tonight but will check it all out tomorrow.

I didn’t take one photo tonight, so had a wee play with photoshop and made a composite!!!