Wednesday 14th May Paris - Brussels

Naomi had a rotten sleep. As we left the park yesterday, Naomi ran back for a bit and as she caught up to the others she was approached by two women and a boy asking for tickets to get into Disneyland. We said a fond farewell to Disneyland. She really wanted to keep the tickets for the kids to stick into their journals so she initially resisted.

“But the park is closed. You can’t get in.” Isaac arrived, his sharp eyes having caught sight of Mum before the others.

“We just need it for a few minutes – to get in.”

“What about just two tickets?”said Naomi, not really sure what this was all about.

”No,” they insisted, we need all three.”

Naomi still didn’t get it. “But they aren’t valid for tomorrow.”

They laughed and said they really needed all three tickets so Naomi opened up her bag and took them out.

They took them without really saying thankyou. They just said, “Not valid for tomorrow,” and then laughed raucously.

The whole thing seemed a bit odd and in the middle of the night Naomi woke up worrying that they had been gypsies (remember Andrew being conned in the middle of Paris) and that while she was trying to figure out what they were on about they had taken something from her bag. She was reassured by the fact that Isaac had arrived very quickly and also that the tickets were in the outside pocket and to get at them she had to hold the rest of her bag firmly shut. It wasn’t enough. She had to get up and check her bag. Everything was there.

When she talked to Isaac about it the next day, he agreed that there was something odd about it and that the women might have been trying to distract her while the boy took something but Isaac said he was looking at the boy the whole time – they looked about the same age. Weird.

Anyway, today we drove from Disneyland to Brussels. Lush green hills dotted with canola fields. Past Chantilly – the centre of horse breeding and racing for France. Found an internet spot at lunchtime and did a last bit of grocery shopping in France. Into Brussels – the capital not only of Belgium but of Europe.

Stayed at a nice campground in the oddly named Grimbergen – and we were right next door to the cemetery. There was a thunder storm lurking and it did seem a little spooky.