La Grande Place, the big square in centre of Lille was our next intended destination.
However, Google Maps let us down – badly 😞
It kept telling us to turn right down side-roads that all had dirty, great, big No Entry ⛔️ signs…
I would have quite happily gone back to the campsite 🏕️ (as long as it was non-motorway) but (bless him) Dave wouldn’t give up – and including another short stint on a motorway 😳 – we did eventually get there…
The square was filled with shops, bars, restaurants & grand-looking buildings so we had a quick reccy but Dave was taken with Brasserie Le Metropole offering his favourite cocktail 🍹 – a Pina Colada.
I ordered my favourite (a Pornstar Martini) along with a chicken Caesar Salad whilst Dave opted for the House Burger 🍔
Dave said it was the best burger he’d ever had but my salad was a let-down. When the description said it said “oeuf” 🥚 – I assumed that it would be topped with a lovely runny poached egg (as is the norm in France 🇫🇷) but sadly was presented with a couple of slices of hard-boiled egg, a few chunks of processed chicken, a couple of slices of tomato, a tiny amount of dressing, a fair amount of Parmesan slices and a LOT of lettuce (including brown bits)😞
MY cocktail was also super-sweet, contained ICE (WTF), was probably dispensed from a machine thus resulting in being the worst Pornstar Martini I’ve EVER tasted (Sol & Wes – where WERE you ???)
So suffice to say – not the best.
I also worried – the whole time that we sat there eating, drinking & people-watching – that as the non-motorway route home was only 2 minutes longer than the way there (and still seemed to use “M” roads) that it would be the same awful experience…
This I wanted all my faculties so although Dave ordered another 2 small Leffe’s, I abstained (which REALLY isn’t like me !!!)
However I was pleasantly surprised & it was a single-track road all the way back (including a quick stop at a Carrefour City to pick up snacks for the evening (but we had to bend the baguette 🥖 in half so it would fit in the top box 😂)
And once safely back, I promptly poured myself a wine & sat in (what was left of) the sunshine 😎