(Cue violin music)
So... a few weeks ago, I had just kind of had it with what the latest in British summer weather had to offer. Temps rarely getting above 70 degrees (21C); rain, then sun, then rain, then su..no - rai.. no, yes - rain, then hail. And this is all within a 15 minute time span on any given day. Enough to drive an otherwise happy-go-lucky person like me (ahem... yes - me) batty. So... I decided that for our next weekend excursion, we would get outta Dodge. What's close and easy to get to? France. Paris? Well, we'll be going again in July when company comes, so what about Lyon? Sounds great. The Eurostar goes there. But you have to switch trains in Lille. Well.... what about Lille, then? Only an hour by train and I've heard it's a lovely place. Lille it is.
Checked the Lille 5-day forecast (does that actually say 80 degrees on Sunday??), checked the London 5-day (60's with sun & rain. Yup.), found a nice hotel, booked the tickets a few days ahead, and when I looked out the window at the crappy London weather I thought "Heh heh heh. In a few short days, we'll be in warm, sunny Lille. Heh heh heh."
So... Lille, in the very north of France, is a nice little town, and a nice little place to visit - but not for an entire weekend and not when it's rainy and cool (as it was meant to be in London); and London - where you normally live except this weekend when you chose to go away - is sunny and 80 (as it was meant to be in Lille.) We did finally see blue sky and feel some warmth midday Sunday, and arriving back home were still able to enjoy the evening in Hampstead. And the warm temps and sunny skies were forecast for Monday as well, and how wonderful, as we were right in the middle of the Wimbledon fortnight and anyone lucky enough to have tickets to Wimbledon - as we did (for Tuesday) - knows how spectacular a place Wimbledon is in the warm sunshine. When it's raining, however... not so much.
And did it ever rain at Wimbledon on Tuesday. It wasn't even one of those fickle rain-sun-rain-sun kind of days. And when it was raining, it was RAINING - apparently the poor folks under the roof in Centre Court could barely hear the umpire shout her calls due to the heavy rain pelting the roof. We in the uncovered Court 1 didn't have to deal with that nonsense. Not us. We could hear the cheers just fine over the walls from Centre Court while that match played and ours... well, didn't. Around 4 pm (3 hours after our first match was due to begin) the big yellow thing in the sky seemed to be making an effort, and we actually saw some patches of blue. So off the cover came and the match started, and it was actually a very good ladies quarter-final match (Kvitova def. Pironkova 6-3,6-7,6-2)... but then the sky brightening ended and it got dark and ominous again. The 2nd match (Azarenka vs. Paszek) was barely begun before one of the players - not sure if it was Azarenka or Paszek - complained about the court being slippery, so the umpire came down, and a woman with a walkie talkie came out, and they all conferred and decided that the court was indeed too wet and play would... be... suspended. And thus ended our once-in-a-lifetime Wimbledon experience. Alack, alas, and woe is me. Just one more piece of bad timing: we found out the next morning that the match that got suspended ended up finishing on Centre Court - so we missed that experience as well. But frankly, by the time play was called we really had had enough and it was time to go home. In case you're wondering, Azarenka beat Paszek in straight sets. And no, I am not making these names up. Remember the easy last names, like King? Evert? Navratilova?
By the way, we did manage to relax with some Wimbledon traditional treats, like Champagne and strawberries & cream. And even though it didn't turn out anything like we were anticipating, I am still happy to have had the Wimbledon experience. We also made the most of Lille - they have a very nice fine art museum, the Palais de Beaux Arts, and we had a really great dinner on Saturday night at a Michelin-starred restaurant that one of Chris's colleagues recommended (which we'll be paying for in easy installments until 2012.) The old town area is really beautiful with some great shopping if you like that sort of thing. In retrospect, and even if the weather had been good, we really didn't need an entire weekend there and we wouldn't necessarily go back. But, hey - it's another stamp on the old passport.
We have plans to go back to the American Embassy for the 4th of July picnic on Sunday. Not sure what the forecast says but in my heart, I know it will be rain.
(End violin music)
View photos (such as they are):
https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Lille?authuser=0&feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Wimbledon?authuser=0&feat=directlink
01 July 2011
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