As this was the train route to return via France again to get to Calais. I stayed on the train having bought food to last me the next thirty-six hours - cheese, bread and water - lots of it. They say that you can last without food for a while but you must have water every hour or so.
Next connection was Dusseldorf and I bundled off the train to find the destinations board for Belgium. As I waited and waited for Brussels it was getting colder & colder and there at last the train arrived. I bundled into the
warmest compartment, sat down and slept for half an hour.
The final connection to Calais was via a small town north-east of France named
Lille. Quite ironically, Irvine's twin town is Saint-Amand-les-Eaux in northern France just outside Lille.
It happened on a Tuesday! I stepped off the train to a dry, crisp morning. Under a blood red sky
the panoramic view was purples and oranges all rolled into one. I had enough for a coffee before spending some time visiting the sights of Lille. Wrong move!
I strolled into a park; sat down in the sunshine and fell asleep to waken to the sound of five men (aged < 30) talking in the bushes at the other end of the park. My instincts were, 'If your enemy is superior - evade them.' I quickly got up and
moved to return to the station, and as I left the park an old geezer wearing an old blue pin stripe jacket pulls a gun on me
........ he pointed it straight into my face. Of any of the fortunate circumstances in my life - this was one of them - I had nae hands in pockets! My hands were up in the air stepping back, stumbling onto the road. Of all of the training I had it all came to the fore - 'stay calm,' I said to myself,'self reliance and self belief'.
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