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1991-2007 16th Anniversary

This year sees a brand new destination for this now traditional November trip. On Thursday morning we will take the Euro-tunnel and then ride for about 30 minutes to the old fortress town of Bergues for lunch and our first taste of Beaujolais Nouveau 2008.

We’ll then travel on for an hour and arrive in Lille, Europe’s City of Culture 2004, well before dark.    
On the Friday we will visit the famous Lille Christmas market with its lights, crowns of garlands, the sounds of Christmas songs, the Big Wheel, Merry-go round and shopping for arts, crafts and delicious local food like beer based stew.  The drinkers among us can also visit the Wambrechies juniper berry distillery while the sober and

more cultured and Francophile members may wish to see Charles DeGaulle’s birth place and museum.  

In the old town, the famous names of haute couture, fashion and decoration are waiting for some of us to discover in their superb old style Flemish houses. There are also pedestrian zones with  less expensive yet up-to-the minute fashionable clothes, latest toys etc.

Euralille is a vast shopping centre containing more than 140 boutiques and has a hypermarket on two floors for those necessary cheeses, wine etc. There are also many discount shops and cut-price stores or you can hang out in the brasseries and try the famous waffles made in Chez Méert since 1761 or the ever popular Moules and Frites.  

Our hotel is in the centre of Lille and room prices are between €80 and €100 per night. Buffet breakfast and secure parking are available but extra. Dinner will be taken in a suitable restaurant close to the hotel. The Eurotunnel fare will be around £50 depending on how soon you book.

On the Saturday morning we’ll leave early enough to have a coffee stop on the way back to the tunnel and plan to arrive in Surrey around 3.00, well before it gets dark.

The weather can be unpredictable in November sometimes sunny, windy, wet, dry, cold or quite warm all in the same day! As we are a Harley club you should only sign up for this ride if you intend to come on your Harley. However, if some pillion riders wish to travel to Lille by train or band together and travel separately by car then that’s ok provided they bring back some purchases for those on the bikes and don’t go on about their heaters!