Clever 
Be been on different comparison sites (eg Rome to Rio) and seems they can’t work it out very well . Looks like I’ll train it to Brussels then bus to Lille, stay with my friend and visit Lille for the first time then train next day to Calais. Almost 1/2 the price of one trip I saw doing it that way and get to have a lovely girly catch up 
I quite enjoyed Lille, although my last time there was for a conference around 2011ish.
Lille is lovely.
Last went slightly more recently than AM, but only just (during gilet jaune protests, so perhaps 2019?). Keen to go back some time.
Probably fine on trains, but be careful if you try that trick with airlines - it’s called “hidden city ticketing” and is technically against the terms of carriage of the airline, and in worst case scenarios can get you banned from flying with that airline. Also your luggage may be checked through to the “final” destination, so won’t come off the plane with you at your first stop.
Use with caution! 
Lille is really fun and surprisingly pretty, very Flemish looking obviously but lively and nice. Very studenty so lots of nice bars and restaurants but also lots of buildings converted into galleries etc from textile mills, there are still some of the biggest French textile companies there.
On a previous visit with work I’d first travelled to Paris and the pa to the head of the French office put me up in a horrible Ibis. Next day we travelled on to Lille together and had rooms in the opera house hotel. That was a bit more like it!
Did you sing for your supper?
They don’t make it easy to work out options! Turns out I can get on a blabla buss from Maastricht direct to Lille so saves me faffing in Belgium with 2 train changes! All booked!
Scammers get their come-uppance! As the item was not signed for they inevitably, in the end, have had to agree with my assertion that it has not been delivered.
I received an email today that the full amount I paid will be refunded to my card. €64 
The thing about this seller is that every email I sent was replied to ‘by return’. At one point they agreed that as the item was not as advertised - ‘plastic’, not hand-stitched leather - I was entitled to send it back - to China, at my expense. But the ‘non-delivery’ ploy has worked.
Ironically, tho’ it is indeed ‘plastic’ it’s actually a functional/practical improvement on the bag it is replacing.
However, the scam of the non-existent coffee merchant remains a €46 loss.
Hurrah. I love it when scammers get hoisted by their own petard.
Well I must say I’ve had a ball! A week at my sons place, mainly on my own. Done some (not all 
) of my marking, planned my flower garden, watched loads of YouTube, crocheted 3/4 of s rabbit. Spent last night and today in Lille with a friend, had a lovely lunch and now on the TGV for Calais to meet the family off the tunnel! I think I’ll have passport issues more often
That’s me on the TGV waiting to pull out of Lille in my new avatar photo!
So pleased for you. Meant to be.
And awesome timing they are 15 minutes from the tunnel and I 10 from Calais so I won’t have to wait too long!
Well done for making an otherwise bad situation good, and not just wallowing in disappointment. 
That’s not the Aussie way from those I have met
Absolutely, very pleased for you @toryroo . Not sure about crochetting a rabbit though. 
Where did you meet up, toryroo?
I hope you’ve found each other now. Can we see the rabbit when he’s done?
Not much fun to drive through if I remember correctly.
Not so sure about this one - would much prefer the photo of you in the hairdressers ! 
I thought that was @vero