The first day of the month, we celebrated our first year anniversary of renting an apartment in France. This month we also celebrated our 45th anniversary. We are completely settled in, all things are running smoothly and our expected visitors have come and gone. This next year should be just as interesting.
On the first of June week, Lille’s Gay Pride Parade took place starting at 7pm, winding down our street and around the corner. Load of colorful costumes, dancers, floats and music. We purchased small confetti and glitter cannons, shooting them off to add to the chaos of the parade as the huge crowd passed our balcony. It was a terrific spectacle and great fun.
The next morning we awoke to cheerleaders and dancers for a bicycle race. A beautiful morning for it too.
And in the first week of June, we hosted two very dear friends, B&B from Colorado. One had never been to Europe and was really enjoying the trip. In advance of their arrival, we managed to get up all of the window screening as well as the balcony door screening. We went to greet them at the train but somehow missed them on their disembarking. So, G set out in one direction on the main floor and I set out in the opposite, hoping to find them in the crowds. I texted G that I’d had no luck spotting them. He texted back that he also had not found them but would call their cell phone. As I threaded my way back to G, I really wish I’d had a video of what I saw. G was standing back to back with them, asking where they were, while they were looking up at the signage to give him some direction on where to find them. I really had to laugh and when I asked them both to turn around, they had to laugh too.
We had set out the wine and cheese tasting we had done for Las Chicas last month, since it seems to be an enjoyable treat. After they dropped their bags in their bedroom, we relaxed tasting and talking about their journey. They had no desire to dash around seeing everything possible every day and we were happy to accommodate. They have an easy sense of humor and were thoroughly enjoyable company to host. We covered all of their questions regarding Lille, our routines and our life here. They caught us up on all of their family news as well. The day had climbed to 89 degrees but with all the windows open (and screened), it was fairly pleasant. They woke each morning without mosquito bites, which was absolutely the goal.
We walked Lille the next day, giving them what information we could on the buildings and statues. At the apartment, I had also left out a few books we’ve acquired on the history of Lille and even one on French cheeses to add to our scant knowledge. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant that we are fond of and did a good amount of window shopping.
The following day we all took a bus to Ghent, which is an hour’s bus ride. Walking the street there, snapping photos, window shopping and of course, tasting Belgium Beer. It is a beautiful town with lovely Flemish architecture.
We toured the 942-built Saint Baafskathedraal church, which is breathtaking.
My foot and ankle has not yet returned to normal, so when they decided to take the audio tour of the Gravensteen castle, I opted to sit at a nearby cafe for a cup of tea, where I could see the entrance. While they were inside, I watched as a group of about a dozen children were standing at the entrance, listening to an adult lecturing on the castle. They were all dressed in medieval style tunics and were receiving instructions to stand in two perpendicular lines, all facing the castle. Then to my amusement, they all began to chant some words while they swung their arms back and forth to the lecturers dictation. I realized that they were being taught to batter down the door with (imaginary) logs, as it was once done long ago. It was really a clever way to engage them in the history of the times and they were clearly enjoying themselves. Once they finished with that activity, the adult shouted, “WE’RE THROUGH !!” and all the kids ran in, “storming the castle,” yelling as they did it. Such great fun to watch.
Long day but back home in time for dinner, more stories of course accompanied with wine.
During their stay, we would relax in the mornings over coffee and the breakfast buffet we repeated which Las Chicas enjoyed. Each of us reading the news on our laptops and discussing the articles we encountered. I worked on May’s blog, which was woefully behind in being posted. It was great that they felt comfortable enough to go out on their own to shop. Armed with a set of keys, they headed out to peruse the perfumeries, chocolatiers and hunt for a ‘Blues’ French soccer team T-shirt.
On their last evening, we walked across the street to the Opera House and enjoyed a concert program of several different pieces which included a chorale, accompanied by piano, guitar or an accordion. We were on the third floor in a balcony box, with a good view of the stage.
G and I were so impressed, that we returned the following week to purchase season tickets for 2019-2020 of all eleven shows. It was a great finish to their trip and we bid them goodbye at the train station the next day. We returned to our regular routine, getting haircuts, resetting all our electronic charges back in the 2nd room, doing laundry, replacing a broken toilet seat, replacing a broken ceiling light socket in the kitchen and noting that we were totally set for the week with leftover meals, we did not need to go to the grocery store. And throw in watching the World Cup as the French women’s team won the first round against Korea, 4-0. Unfortunately, they lost to the US team later… Oh and lastly, finished the May blog.
Lille experienced a good amount of rain this month, which we find refreshing. One night we woke up to a huge deluge of rain, thunderstorm and lightening. The odd thing about it was that there was blue sky surrounding the area.
It also made us turn our attention to the balcony and stone bannister. It was built with water run-off spacers along the bottom of the bannister, but they appeared not to be draining. On a day clear of rain, we inspected the slots and discovered they were completely clogged. A century of dirt filled the spaces with weeds that clung to all of the crevices. We needed to clear the spaces and it was going to have to take some planning. With all of the pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk as well as the ground floor cafe’s outside tables and chairs, we could not attempt this during the day. The pedestrian traffic dwindled after 9 pm but the cafe doesn’t bring in it’s furniture until 11 pm. So, one late night, G was the look out, while I, on my hands and knees, slid a ruler under the soil, slicing through the bond. In between his frantic whispers of, “NO, NOT YET. THERE ARE PEOPLE COMING!” I would hack away at the dirt and stubborn weeds, most of which were falling below on the pavement. Once the deed was done, we washed up and went to bed, half fearing the police would be banging on the door for defacing public walkways. Luckily not, and the balcony is good for another century, I think. BTW, Lille has truck street sweepers that come along Rue Faidherbe every morning around 7 am (8 am Sundays) that take care of the street and sidewalks.
The next project was planning the Eurail trip. We’d purchased tickets a year ago, with the idea to use the 30 day travel allowance on the 28 countries to it’s fullest. Sitting down, we did a travel arc on a northern route with a return southern arc. The final picture included Belgium, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia. Slovenia. Austria and Switzerland. 15 Countries in 30 days. The math stopped us in our tracks. We’d be racing around like crazy people. We’ve actually run into some of those here. It isn’t pretty. So, we scratched that plan and whittled it down. Then whittled it down some more and then even more until we came to the realization that this kind of package doesn’t suit us personally. If we travel too quickly, we lose the ability to process what we are seeing and truly don’t get a good feel for the people or the country. We had to either renew the tickets, which cost an additional fee or return them for refund, which cost an additional fee. We decided to return the tickets. It was an important lesson that even at a bargain, a good deal doesn’t translate into a good fit. We’re close enough, in Lille, to travel often, slower and more thoroughly. Which suits us far better.
That project out of the way, we looked at the proverbial ‘elephant in the room.’ Signing up for language classes. We pulled out our notes and flash cards from our lessons with wonderful Christelle, our French tutor. We had tried to bribe her to come out to France with us but she is settled in the US and wouldn’t go for it. Dang. So we are starting again, having learned no more than we did then and having lost a good piece of the scarce amount we had . To answer your question, no. We have not signed up for classes yet. Wouldn’t mind taking one of the cooking classes they give in town, too.
A few more home projects took center stage for us. Our fabulous landlord sent some great shots of his trip to the UK (he cracks me up) AND also sent a plumber to fix a knob on a radiator, which would not turn off. And it can’t come too soon, as France is experiencing a record heat wave.
Speaking of which, on a trip to the hardware store, G started eyeing their air conditioners. We’d just read that the coming week was anticipating a day or two above 100 degrees. G does not do well in high heat. Yes, we came home with one, plus a tenting kit that is made to fit the inward opening French windows. If anyone thought we were crazy for putting up screens, I’m sure they’re convinced of it now that we have an air conditioner. But 100 degree heat in June, with July and August ahead? It just had to happen.
Oh and we’ve also started making a list of the restaurants in Lille that make great salads. Can’t think of anything else we can do in preparation for summer. Except maybe a list of bars that make great gin and tonics ! We did go out to hear all of the music that was being played everywhere on Summer Soltice. The streets were filled with music groups and several eateries had their own musicians performing. We had a pint out at a corner outdoor cafe and bought our friend, Flo, some flowers to celebrate the occasion. He seemed slightly offended and said men don’t get flowers unless they are gay. G pointed out to him that both men and women get flowers in the US. We hope he put them in water. It’d be a wasteful shame if he didn’t.
I’ve talked about the restrictions of sales in France but without having a clear understanding of what they truly were. In ‘The Local,’ a newsletter which covers events, they had an article this month on the sales, with more of an explanation that we found interesting:
Sales in France are highly regulated… twice a year – in the summer and in January. And the government sets the days for when shops are allowed to offer discounts on their goods….during the six weeks of summer when sales are allowed. And this year…the government has announced that from 2020, the summer sales period will be cut to four weeks. Online shoppers can also bag a bargain, but internet retailers must also abide by the dates and the strict rules that accompany sales. Among these are that goods must have been on display for at least a month at normal prices before being discounted, all items must be clearly labelled with the pre-sale price and the sale price, and shops are forbidden from hiking the prices of items before the sales, in order to make discounts seem more attractive. France is one of the very few countries that has such highly regulated sales…. The idea behind the French system is to protect smaller retailers who cannot compete with big chains and multinationals that are able to buy in bulk and sell some items as a loss-leader.
We still struggle to find dates on events and were fortunate to find out from our friend, Flo, that all the Lille stores were having a big sale the 26th. So OF COURSE we went!
And, a final note. Every morning, as I said earlier, G and I read the news in the living room and discuss the day’s headlines. We daily hear children passing by downstairs on their way to an event, tour or day in the city. We went outside and the teacher pointed us out to the children who were thrilled as we waved to one another. Another reason we love living here, in Lille!
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