Bruges, Lille, London and Life. Part 1.
The last six weeks or so have been a heady mix ranging from relaxation and time being spent with friends to crazy productiveness and flying by the seat of my stomach sucking pants.
Relaxation first.
At the end of April I did something I have never done before. I rode the Eurostar! I am now deeply in love with the Eurostar. I boarded the super sonic beauty at St Pancras, London and 2 hours later I was in Brussels, Belgium, changing to another train to finish my journey in beautiful Bruges. Feeling confident as I strode through Brussels Station to get my connection, it suddenly dawned on me that I couldn't read any of the directional signs, as they were in Belgian. But with the help of some drawings and a station master with a cockney accent, I was on my way.
The reason for this quick hop to Europe was actually in Lille, France, My lovely friend Blake, who quite frankly is one hell of an innovative photographer, was exhibiting his wonderful 'Return to Twin Peaks' project at the Series Mania Festival. As Lille is super easy to get to from London and I found myself with some spare time, I thought I'd make the effort and support him. This one day trip turned into a three day trip, starting with visiting our friends Emilie and Mario in their fairy tale cottage in the woods (not to be confused with Cabin in the Woods),
just outside Bruges. For the next two days, we explored Bruges, explored the woods, explored a copious amount of chocolate and just.....relaxed. In fact we all agreed that just sitting in Emilie and Mario's cosy living room, chatting, eating , drinking, meditating with the most beautiful affectionate cat, was the highlight of our time in Belgium. Emilie and Mario welcomed us so warmly and it felt just like being with family. Day three, we drove to Lille.
Just an hour down the road we crossed into France and into the busy city of Lille. Blake's
exhibition was being held into an old postal factory turned art gallery and as we entered, there were recreation mini sets from TV shows such as 'Stranger Things' and 'Orange is the New Black'. Blake also pointed out that my 'Twin Peaks' inspired cookbook 'Damn Fine Cherry Pie' was also for sale in their bookshop, except the French edition is hilariously called 'Mysteres en Cuisine'. For anyone not up to scratch on their French, this translates into 'Mysteries in the Kitchen', which actually sounds more like an episode of Miss Marple than a TV cookbook!
Blake's exhibit was, well, stunning. The festival had really made sure they embraced the
ambience of 'Twin Peaks' and indeed 'Return to Twin Peaks' had a steady stream of appreciative visitors and we were all really proud of Blake as we knew the love and dedication he had put into this project. The boy did good.
That night I was back on a very empty Eurostar, and in a mere 90 minutes stepping onto a not so empty London St Pancras platform. I actually felt a pang of sadness as I watched a guy throw up in the street. Gone was the relaxation.
Part 2 to come.....
Lindsey x
Sadly Schizo our beautiful new feline friend fell asleep just after our trip. That head resting beautiful boy will be missed xx
