We drove down to Folkestone through the pouring rain to Le Shuttle terminal. Sam was very excited by the enormous train and was very interested as we drove the car right into the train. Once the train started, Sam got out of the car and we explored our carriage around all the cars. The crossing takes 45 minutes and then we were in France!
Once we filled the car with petrol at Calais, we made our way eastwards along the northern coast of France, through Dunkirk, past Bruges and Gent and down to Mechelen. We found our hotel quite easily (after an unplanned detour driving down the steps of the cathedral -- oops!) and Sam was delighted to discover that there was a lift from the car park AND a lift in the hotel to our room.
The next morning we had breakfast at a cafe on the main square in Mechelen. We checked out of the hotel and went to meet Ilse and Patrick and we all made our way to the campsite in Zeeland.
Once we got the tent set up it was time for a cup of tea made on our brand new camping stove. Unfortunately our brand new Campingaz cylinder was completely empty and the campsite shop had just closed for the day. There was nothing for it but to go up to the campsite restaurant and have some kebab and chips!
The first night in the tent was a bit cramped with three of us in one sleeping bag, but it was certainly warm enough! The rain came down during the night and was not seen again throughout our whole holiday. Good timing eh?
The next day we got to the shop to exchange our empty cylinder with a full one and then the beans on toast started flowing. Angela even made the famous super noodles and frankfurters for dinner that evening. During the day we walked to the beach on the north side of the island. It was a very wide beach and quite a long trek to the water's edge. Sam had a lovely time paddling and jumping in the waves and we all had wet turn-ups when we left.
The next day we drove to another beach at Westerschouwen which was also very sunny and warm. Sam had a great time building sand castles and trying to fill the moat with sea water, but it kept draining away. Perhaps we should have built it closer to the water.
The folowing day we returned to Mechelen and back to the Novotel again. Sam was delighted to get back to the car park lift and the hotel lift and we were delighted to have a room upgrade to 'executive class' (you get a free pair of fluffy slippers). In the evening we headed to the park to meet Ilse and Patrick for a barbecue. What we didn't realise is that Mechelen has more than one park! Of course we went to the wrong park and couldn't find our friends. We contacted Ilse and re-arranged the venue to her house and all was well in the end. Thank goodness for mobile phones.
Our last full day was spent in the lovely city of Antwerp. We took the train from Mechelen to Antwerp which is only three stops (plus a short wait because our train broke down). We found a tram to go from the central station to Groenplaatz where we found a place to have some lunch.
We really liked Antwerp and wanted to see more, so we took a guided tour on a tourist bus which took around 40 mins (including a pit-stop for Sam) and we saw many lovely squares and old markets.
After a long walk back to the central station we caught the first train back to Mechelen. It just happens that the first train was a DOUBLE-DECKER train. Imagine Sam's surprise and delight at going upstairs on a train!
At Mechelen we just had time for one more ice cream...
On the last day we had to leave early to catch Le Shuttle. It rained heavily on the way back through France but we arrived in time to grab half a sandwich before boarding the train. It was a tight squeeze because I went through the wrong gate, designed for cars WITHOUT a roof box. We now know that the car with the roof box on is 183cm. The max height is 185cm...
We all loved our holiday and we will do it again some day.
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