Wow Lorchen, sounds like you had a nice trip and made the best of a sad situation. My son took german in his first year of High school, loved it, then found out the teacher was retiring and he had to take french in his second year. We spent a week in Garmisch one year and it was one of our best trips. THe food, people, and fall foliage. Cheryl

I recently had to drive from the North East of England to the North East of Germany (via France, Belgium, and The Netherlands) for a family funeral. When I looked at the route (about 680 miles each way), I decided not just to stop at motorway service stations, but also to try and find a couple of treats for me. And I did find two wonderful treats that needed hardly any detour.

In Belgium, in the town of Lokeren, is a shop called "De Potterije" (http://www.depotterije.be). It's right in the middle of town, but with a lovely walled garden. Downstairs is a very posh florist, and upstairs is a quiltshop. It's airy and light, with plenty of space to move around and a charming guy in charge who was friendly and helpful without being pushy. I loved the choice of fabrics, lots of small scale prints and tone-on-tones. I also found out that there is an antiques market right outside their door on Sunday mornings, so they are open then. Very unusual. All I can say: If you are in that part of Belgium, go and have a look. It's worth it.

I then stopped in the German town of Bünde and visited 'Das Flickenschiffchen'. It's in part of the home of the owner, Eike Rittelmeyer. The lady in charge looked after me really well, answering lots of questions patiently (I'm very inquisitive ) That place is a paradise if you like your quilted bags. Eike Rittelmeyer has written instructions (for sale) for all sorts of bags, and it's nice to be able to see them made up. She has also recently written a lovely book (how is your German?) called "Weihnachtliches Flickwerk" (published by the Bergtor Verlag). I had bought the book only about a week before I found out that I had to make that trip to Germany, and it was great to be able to see all the Christmas projects from the book in real life.

Bünde is also a very attractive small town where you can easily spend a few hours. I parked my English car in a car park in the centre of town and went in search of a bite to eat. It was one of these places where you can park for free for a couple of hours but have to display a large blue plastic thingy in the window that shows the time you parked. If you don't live in Germany you don't have one of these things. I couldn't see a traffice warden, so just parked. When I got back I had a wad of papers under my windscreen wipers, telling me off for not displaying that blue thingy, and fining me 5 Euros. Typical! My car has the steering wheel on the other side and an English number plate, so you'd think they'd put two and two together..... Ah well..... I have since sent a letter to the townhall expressing my disappointment at Bünde being so unkind to foreign visitors, and included a 5 Euro note. So, even though Bünde is lovely, watch out where you park. No such problems out the 'Flickenschiffchen' shop. Plenty of space, and it's free.

Lorchen