Off to France

Pat and I are taking Zac and Christopher to France to visit Emma on her Junior year abroad in Dunkerque. Both the guys have Spring break on the same week and are keen on getting out of their respective college towns.

We have tentative plans to:
swim in the English Channel,
stay in a beachside pension while the guys stay at Emma's,
cross the channel by ferry to see the cliffs of Dover,
go to Brussels,
go to Cologne,
go down the coast to visit more northern France beaches,
go to Lille, etc.

Dunkerque was only found in 1 of 5 France guidebooks I researched and most relevant paragraph, roughly paraphrased, went something like this -
"Dunkerque, an industrial port, was completely flattened in WW2 and was then built back up quickly with really ugly 1950's style buildings. If you find yourself there in the evening by mistake, plan to spend the night to rest up, then move on early the next day"
- not very encouraging.

Some highlights -
the Flanders area is the one part of France where more beer than wine is consumed.
Dunkerque is known for several excellent Carnival celebrations, both pre and during Lent, that Emma tells us are a good time.

I'll write more when we return and hopefully have some good pictures to share.