Kortrijk; Sunday, 07 June, 2026

I had a relatively early breakfast so that I could head out of the hotel and visit the Abby without needing to take all my luggage with me, so I was there just as the doors opened, reconning that 90 minutes should be OK to see everything before I needed to head back to the hotel, turned out 90 minutes was overly optimistic, the whole space is a gallery displaying modern art and special exhibitions, so there’s very little to show that it was once an abbey. If I’d paid the €14 yesterday, I would have felt a bit ripped off, but the free entry made the visit worthwhile if quite quick.

It did though mean that I didn’t need to worry about dashing back to the hotel to pack as I had ample time to wander back slowly and pack my bag in a leisurely fashion before checking out of the hotel and heading back into town.

I had a wander through the old town, diverting via the impressive St Michaels church, which was closed, and the City Hall, most of which was also closed, but one of the courtyards was open so I could have a look around that. From the City Hall I headed down to the river and across Buda island to the far side of the Leie river to visit the Texture museum.

The museum is housed in an old flax mill and tells the history of flax production in Flanders, and the role it had in making the region so wealthy as flax and the linen produced from flax prepared in the River Leie was considered the best in the world. I had gone into the museum with just the idea of having a quick look round as I didn’t think it would detain me that long, but the very well-presented exhibition draws you into a relatively dry subject and I ended up spending almost two hours looking around the full exhibition.

As I didn’t know if I’d be able to get any food in Lille, I decided to head to a café on the Grote Markt for a bit to eat and a drink to help tide me over and fill up the last remaining time in the city. Just as I was finishing and getting ready to leave the first of about half a dozen text messages came through from Eurostar, initially saying my train was delayed, then that it was on time, then that it had been delayed again and then kept changing the estimated arrival time back into London. I decided it was probably best just to ignore the messages and catch the train I was always intending on catching back to Lille and work it out from there.

The journey to Lille was uneventful and a little while later after walking between the two stations I was at Lille Europe, where my train was now displaying a full 30-minute delay, but the earlier train was still open for check-in.

Chancing my arm I popped into the ticket office and spoke to the very nice lady there, who, given the delay to my booked train, was able to bump me straight onto the earlier train at no cost, which as it had only started in Brussels was running on time and due in about 25 minutes.

I quickly cleared immigration, security and headed into the lounge to wait for the arrival of my now significantly earlier train back to London.