Day 27 - Dunkirk - My Final Day.

So today I left Dunkirk for what could be my last time.  Overall it is a nice little town and probably when the sun is shining and the temperature is a little warmer,  some walks around the harbour area will be nice.  Pity I didn’t get to visit the beaches but if I come back maybe it will be one thing to do. 

The people of the town seemed nice and felt welcoming to someone who was from England and cannot speak more than a few words of French, even when I came across people who could speak no English it was taken in good spirit and with a smile. 

Driving around the northern part of France was also a pleasant surprise as previously to this I had only driven around the south and Paris of which the latter I would never do again as long as I live.  But in the North they seem to be overall quite courteous which made it easy. 

Some of the surprises I found, the shops close pretty early with only specialist supermarkets open beyond seven at night and some close even earlier than that.  Fresh milk seems to be in short supply, in the supermarkets they have plenty of the UHT kind but only a few bottles of Fresh and probably cause the locals just don’t seem to buy it.  The cheese counters are to die for and the amount of cheese is phenomenal but you would expect that as it is France.  The beer is ridiculously cheap in the supermarkets at six bottles of stella for two and a bit euros but in the pubs quite expensive at  four euros fifty for a bit less than a pint, so I am told, no time to drink when I am there for work.

And finally the handshaking and kissing got a little out of hand for me, everytime someone seems to walk in and out of a room it is another bout of handwringing and god forbid if three couples come into a room there is more kissing than the average triple X film, or so I’m told.

So it is Genk next week, flight done, hire car booked, hotel organised, route found  and airport parking sorted.  If I ever leave my job I could apply for a travel agent with all the planning that has to go into a week away.  So that is all for this week until 05:00 when I shall hit the M62 again on the way to Manchester Airport.