Monday 31st October – Licques, France

When we walked around the Hondshoote yesterday, we found a tourist information board that showed the surrounding area and we realised that an interesting town, Berques, would be on our route today. The map showed it as a walled and moated town but we didn't know anything about it.

At the edge of the town we stumbled on an aire that was not in our 'All the Aires of France' book. There were no motorhome facilities other that the ability to park for up to 48 hours but the parking area is next to the moat and walls, an excellent position to investigate the town. When we walked in we discovered that we had timed our visit for the day of the large Monday market. It was mostly clothes, household goods and fruit and veg stalls but there were a number of cheese and meat stalls, most of which had long queues. There were at least three stalls dedicated to horse meat and associated products. We saw some French parents slicing off some horse sausage and feeding it to their young daughter – can you imagine the reaction of a British child? We bought some excellent local cheeses from a cheese shop and then moved on to see the ruins of the 17^th century Abbey of Saint Winoc. At 11:00 the Berques bell tower started ringing a tune. At ten past eleven it was still playing and we thought that anyone who lived near the tower must curse if they played the bells like this every hour. When we arrived at the bell tower, which also housed the tourist information office, the bells were still playing and I had to ask for more information about it. Apparently it chimes on every quarter but only a simple chime. On Mondays at 11:00 a bell-ringer comes and plays a series of well-known tunes for an hour and we just happened to be there at that time. So, if you are in the area on a Monday morning, pay a visit to Berques.

The rest of the day was spent in shopping, first at Majestic Wine in Calais and then on to Carrefour in the Cite d'Europe. Lots of wine, beer and French delicacies are now stored in Henrietta.

We drove on to Licques and the Pommiers des Trois Pays campsite and settled in for the night.

Photos: The walls of Berques; The bell tower rises above the market.