A few words about Dunkirk and my first experience with the city

Memorial  table 

Dunkirk. This city was proceed from Flemish piscatorial hamlet about a year 800. For a good while it belonged to Spanish. 25.06.1658 ("la folle journée" from French “the day of folly”)Dunkerque passed through Spanish, English and French hands. The city is known from history. Here had a place popular "Dynamo" military action.

Operation" Dynamo"

Here had a place evacuation of british expeditionary force from 26th may to 3rd July 1940. Evacuation took 338 226 british and French soldiers. About this fact tells the flm titled “Atonement”, where plays one of my favorite actress- Keira Kinghtley. One day we watched this film in Isa’s apartment and we discovered that the main character was in our buker from the beach, not far away from the place where we leaved and worked, in Bray Dune. Atonemet it is a film about love in time of the war. This film is worthy to watch.

After war bunkers

Dunkirk (in French Dunkerque) it is an industrial Town. It has the third-largest harbour in France. In the outskirts there is a factory of aluminium( Alcan-Aluminium Dunkerque) and the factory of polymers, particularly of polyethylenes (Polimeri Europe France). This fact of existence so many industrial places so close to each other induces big risk of explosion, which could provoke a “domino reaction”. Dunkirk is also exposes to a nuclear explosion, cause not far away in the town called Gravline there is an atomic power station. Shortly, we live on some kind of a “bomb”, when some link will go wrong, it can cause the giant catastrophe with a very high extent with ejection of many harmful chemical substances. What is more despite of the fact that the industry depends heavily on the steel, food processing, oil-refining chemical industries, town has constantly the problem of atmospheric pollution.

 

Polimeri Europa

   We were walking about 1,5 hours when the big beach called “Malo de Bains” emerged. Along, there was a very long, about few of kilometers, pavement. The place, where most of the citizens and tourists were rambling.

Those second ones nowise, weren’t here much many. Mostly there were a citizens of Lille or Nord- Pas de Calais. Dunkirk wasn’t the touristic town and what more I’ve read ones in the polish guide that the city can be a little bit “putrid”. My first experiences weren’t very nice. When finally we reached the city very hungry and the lady in the restaurant was trying to explain us that we could have eaten nothing. It was after 3 o’clock p.m. when "madame" declared that we can only order some drinks and for eating it's “trop tot”( in French means “to early”). I went haywire. I didn’t trust about my skills in French and the way of approporiate appreciation of it. How it can be “trop tot”- I asked ones again cause I wanted to be sure that I understood in the good way. “Either trop tot, or trop tard”( “trop tard” in French means “to late”)- answered lady. “The kitchen is close between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m."- again I couldn’t have trusted myself. I made a beady eyes. “How it can be close when I am so hungry and it is the time for dinner?”. I felt like an idiot, my boyfriend who was Slovac also couldn’t believe in my polish traduction. We were visiting the city. It was windy and woefully. “The English publish of ferries which I had seen in Poland on youtube showed in different way this city”- I said to myself in my mind. There was a picture of a presenter in my memory with English accent . He was standing in the middle of the giant wonderful beach. Background I saw the guys making some watersports. The man with the triumph in his voice spread his arms in gesture of the presentation and he enunciated the most famous beach in the English history-“ this is Dukirk”- sounded his voice in my head. I set my teeth “ I will survive”- I thought. 

Malo de Bains

 Malo de Bains-beach

Beach- Malo de Bains

Belgian beer

    My first experience with the public transport wasn’t very good as well. Complicated timetable, bus one day goes to hospital another not. Ones he goes to the border town in France, other day to the Belgian town near the border and incompetent bus drivers! One of them decided to make a chat with his mate suddenly at the bus stop and don’t respect the hours on the timetable  or he forgot to change the information at the screen- in result I will go to Belgium instead to Dunkirk or I will be late at the train station in Belgium and I will take a risk that I won’t get on  time to  the airport in Brussels. So many strange situation I found in the bus. From very unkind youth smoking cigarettes and listening the music very loud to the human alien creatures who make the impression of absconder from rathouse. 

- Look, this guy has a coin in his ear!

- You are kidding- I answered to my polish friend in the bus. But Julliette had the right. The weedy and dressed in the old suit man had a dime in his ear. After while he turned his head and I added:

-What more in the other ear he has the second one- now we watched ourselves with disbelieve.

My experience in the public buses caused that buying a car became a priority for me.

Public transport- connection between France and Belgium

„ I will survive somehow!” – I repeated In my mind with anger. But the true was that every time me and my two polish friends- we tried to find myself in the new circumstances in Nord Pas de Calais we found ourselves disappointed.  I didn’t suit to this city, I didn’t feel comfortable. Even the fact that I like to wear a dress or short skirt caused that I was different than others woman  here. Every time I passed through the city someone was calling me, accosting, fallowing. ..When I came back to Poland I was one of the many, here I felt like  an extraterrestrial.

 


 


 

     One day I suggested for my girls that maybe we should move out to the city, not live near the hospital. Maybe than we could find some interesting places and get know some interesting people.

-And what’s the different?!- asked Isa with some reproach in her voice.- We have the car, for me there is no difference. You are really like “Princess de Varsovie”( in French means “princess of Warsaw)- she called me emphatically. But since that time my nickname of the warsaw princess has clung to me indispensably. I didn’t protest cause it was the true that I like to grizzle and I am pretty moody.

Streets of the city