Topsy Turvy

We took B's friend EJ with us today on an overnight jaunt to Lille, France.

The crossing was choppy to say the least, but given that we left home at dawn's crack in driving snow, we were glad to have got here.

Lille is one of our favourite Cities, a really interesting mixture of modern architecture and design and a maze of cobbled streets that are home to beautiful independant shops and restaurants. It was bitterly cold, but we were well wrapped up and popped in and out of everywhere that took our fancy....

They have that wonderful support of the truly individual and specialist retail that we are sadly losing in the UK; shops that sell one thing really well - fountain pens, light shades, stationery, cheese, shellfish, and of course mouth-watering pattisseries.