Lunch in Saint Omer by Annie Philpott
It was a stifling hot day in late July. My mum had waken me up at around six o’clock in the morning and now the five of us were crammed into the car in a traffic jam on the motorway, sticky and exhausted, with the air conditioning on full blast.
Our destination was the English port where we would cross the English Channel and arrive in Calais, France. My grandparents had booked the ticket ages ago and all we needed to do now was turn up. I was really excited.
I’d never been to France before. In my head I imagined tanned men with massive moustaches and garlic around their necks, sitting at the top of the Eiffel Tower and eating croissants.
We queued in the long line of traffic and finally we were ready to depart. As we began to move through the tunnel there was a swishing noise of wheels on the rails. On either side were lights which appeared to flash as we passed them quickly. The Channel Tunnel was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
At the time, I remember I was wearing my pyjamas. In the shop I’d bought them in I had told my mum they were pyjamas, but had she believed me? No. So here I was in Calais wearing an outfit which we later realised said “Nightwear” on the label.
The place we had arrived in was France however it was totally unlike the France I had envisaged. Where was the Eiffel Tower? This road was no Champs Elysees. And that wasn’t all; Grandpa had started driving on the wrong side of the road. How strange! On we drove through the country. The scenery was beautiful: green fields on each side, blue sky up above us and a bright yellow sun shining over it all.
Finally, we arrived in Saint Omer, a beautiful place in North France with magnificent buildings and lovely restaurants. We had a look around, being proper tourists and seeing all the sights.
It was a glorious day and sun’s rays were beating down us all. The light glanced off the windows and twinkles in the eyes of passers by, both tourists and residents. The may not be the France I had imagined or expected, but it was however, very beautiful.
The buildings were great and the people depicted were fantastically sculpted. The hand of every woman delicately detailed and every man’s face excellently intricate. It was awesome. And they were massive! There were huge churches everywhere.
We entered the cathedral. It was large and made of pale grey stone with flying buttresses. It looked like it belonged to a place more important than Saint Omer. We spent ages looking for its famous clock before we found it in a dark corner. It was amazing, with lots of dials and figures but unfortunately we weren’t there at a time to hear it strike.
We settled ourselves in a restaurant to have lunch. It was a quaint little place. I can’t actually remember what I had, probably something French such as onion soup, and authentic favourite of mine, I did have an Orangina though, and loved it. The five of us just watched the world pass us by.
After a final wander and probably an ice cream or two we got back in my grandparent’s faithful purple Mondeo, more affectionately named Aubergine. We began to make our way back to Calais to go back to England. The sun was still high in the sky but as it was later in the day there was no need for the air conditioning.
I think we took a different but equally as scenic route back to Calais stopping at a huge wine warehouse on the way. The million foot high ceiling looked over aisles and aisles of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. I was in awe. I’d never seen so much wine, not even at one of my best friend’s parent’s dinner parties!
A few hours and about sixty boxes of bottles later we were back in the car again. I was beginning to get sleepy and it was very tempting just to doze in the car. Suddenly, the catalytic converter (not that I knew what it was at the time) started to get temperamental sending everyone into a panic. Somehow we made it back to Calais.
We crossed the Channel and got back into England, completely exhausted but thoroughly satisfied with our day. Even now people don’t believe that I went to France for lunch … but I did.
