By Erik Skye

4 Jul 2011

Since Amaury was so kind as to let me smoke with him yesterday, I decided to bring him out running with me today. Five minutes into our run I exclaimed “I feel great!” (I had finally gotten my first full night of good sleep since being here.) Amaury quickly countered “I think I’m going to die today”. “Oh, we can go whatever pace you want” I responded. To this, Amaury slowed us to the speed of a small child on a tricycle. He expressed that he wanted to stop smoking and get back in shape, like when he was younger and played basketball. So I made Amaury a deal. The next time I come to visit him, I will speak in French and he will be in great physical condition. We shook on it.

Part of our run was in Parc de la Citadelle, which contained a zoo. I ran along the gravel paths, dodging little children and couples as I peered into exhibits containing creatures such as rhinos, monkeys, and tortoises. I ran along some of streets of Lille also, but had to be careful not to take any turns for it all looked the same and I could have gotten terribly lost. We later returned to the parc and zoo. Here are the exciting videos: 

Ceren blows on dandelion video link; Looking at a meerkat video link

We stopped at La Regalade Creperie for salted (non-sweet) crepes, folded at the edges and topped with items such as cheeses, eggs, and vegetables – delicious!  They were also served with a small salad.

We spent most of the afternoon walking along the cobblestone streets. The architecture was always grand and the direction seldom straight. Large open squares would funnel off to winding side roads that seemed to meander aimlessly. Then Amaury would escort us through a breezeway and on to another set of streets leading to yet another large square. I made sure not to let Amaury out of my sight.

Sandrine took me inside a cathedral called Notre Dame de la Treille. I asked about the name “Notre Dame”, wondering about the famous name. “Notre Dame” means “Our Lady” and “Treille” is a reference to this region. So there must be a number of Nortre Dame’s in France. Anyway, there was a section in the back of this one that was particularly colorful.

A bakery is called a boulangerie, and they’re filled with beautiful breads and pastries. I used my feeble French skills to purchase a few items in one.

In Francais, you say “Etets Unis” for United States and “d’Australie” for Australia. I guess I always (incorrectly) assumed that proper names would be the same between languages.

The streets here are filled with a fleet of small cars. There are no trucks and SUV’s like back home. We stopped in a small shop selling bicycles and motorcycles, and on display was a fully electric car. Amaury said they’re working on putting charging stations around the city for future electric car use and that gas is very expensive (i.e. 1.50 to 2.00 Euros per liter).

So the name of today’s blog article is “Ch’te Blonde”. I had one of those today. It’s a great Belgian beer. “Ch’te” is a term used for things that come from this region.

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