Weather this month remained cold and for the most part with clear skies. It started in the 45°-54° range then, the high dropped to 50°, nights to 40°. With winds, it feels colder. It became cold enough to switch out our fall comforter for our winter duvet. With the weather turning, we have been reading that people in Western Europe are having a terrible time dealing with the high oil costs. Stories are about hard living, without heat as long as they can stand it so that their oil tanks are able to last longer. Still they already know and say that they won’t be able to afford to buy enough to get through the winter. We watch the US news and are seeing similar stories. In France, President Macron has asked people, under the “Plan de Sobriété Énergétique” to keep their thermostats at 66 degrees (19°C) and we’re able to do that. Our apartment is surrounded on both sides and above us by other units, which insulates. We also have heavy curtains and in the front and back, double-glazed windows and leaded glass doors/shutters in the front. With sweaters, extra socks and so-forth, it is very workable but for the top floors, stand-alone homes, ranch houses and such, they don’t have those advantages. It’s going to be a very hard winter for a whole lot of people.
We came back from Limoges on the 1st, earlier than planned, since the Halloween fair did not exist and I managed to catch what I initially thought was a cold. In our trip, I did what I always do – masking when out, double masking on the train. I had run out of the antiseptic wipes which I always use to wipe hard surfaces on the train seat and table but also always carry hand sanitizer in my pocket, putting it on when exiting a shop or the metro or the train. No one was more surprised than me. Since we had friends coming on the 11th, for three nights, we began to get ready for that. Laundry and bills were caught up, guest linens washed, the dining room table that I’d stuck in the office for my studying, came back out and was ready for duty.
On G’s birthday we went to a favorite, very good French restaurant here called Le Pot Beaujolias and decided to take our friends to it for dinner while they were visiting. Family run for years, the food and service is delightful. In the evening, I gave him a few practical gifts revolving around the subject of wine and one very impractical gift of a miniature theatre that he has no use for, which he loved as much as I. Sometimes when the artistry of an item is admirable and affordable, it’s hard to pass up.
OK, Now this is going to become about health and I’m sorry. You can jump a few paragraphs and skip all of my whining. Turning in that night, I knew what I had was worse than a cold and sure enough, the next morning I woke up feeling like garbage. We quickly did online in-depth research on Colds, Flu, Omicron/Covid and found a lot of charts on the differences. The good news is we could definitely eliminate a cold from the list. The bad news is that the common person can’t distinguish between a flu and the virus because the symptoms are identical. AND according to the symptom charts, I had one or the other. I’d had the vaccine for both, so as bad as I felt, I would have felt much worse if I hadn’t taken care of making sure we got them. It was Thursday, our new class session was to start the following Monday and our friends were due in 8 days. I was determined to get rid of this thing by Monday. I made a big batch of chicken soup, stuck myself in bed with tissues, cough drops, chicken broth and water. Slept a lot and read but couldn’t absorb any of the French I was trying to study. We did cast our US ballots, which was a relief to have done.
G spent the weekend taking care of one very sick puppy (yep, that’d be me), stuck in Caregiver gear. He did all the meals, laundered the linens, did cheerleading and got me some flowers to keep my spirits up. I alternated between the couch and the bed, trying to cough up my internal organs to donate to science – a very painful and fruitless exercise. Nothing alleviated the cough, which brought blinding headaches, constant fatigue and a low grade fever. Because I was unable to study, G put on the French radio news station to have the language going in the background. My nights contained very little sleep and a lot of horrific coughing that left nothing in my stomach. On Saturday afternoon, we needed to be certain of exactly what I’d caught and G went to the pharmacy for home Covid tests. If I had caught it, he’d also be in quarantine, missing French class too.
As it was, I tested negative which meant I had a flu but also was no longer contagious, no matter how badly I felt. Our friends could still come to visit and I’d be able to start class as soon as I felt up to it. Monday morning, I woke up- a repeat of the previous 6 days. Yuck and more yuck. Stumbled out for a 20 minute walk to the Biolab to get an official Virus test – they’re more accurate and we had to be absolutely sure for the class. G couldn’t go if we needed to be quarantined. Went home to wait. The result came in at 2pm – no virus. But that meant G missed the first class, which was a shame. I decided I would give this crud another week before I resorted to biting somebody.
By Monday night it was clear I couldn’t go Tuesday and after another poor night’s sleep, waking up feeling worse, it was obvious that I would not make the entire first week of class. So, on Tuesday he went alone but he took his IPad so we could try to include me via FaceTime to watch and hear from the couch, in my pj’s and with coffee – more comfortable for sure. I could switch off my side of the sound and video so no one would have to hear me coughing incessantly. Then FT wouldn’t work, so we switched to WhatsApp. When G put me on his phone to set up the angle for me to see the board, he swung the phone around to scan the class and they all shouted BONJOUR and GET WELL at me as I waved back. That was really nice, seeing the group again which made me miss being in the class even more. There is a comfort to be working with the same people again. The teacher was a different one from the previous session and I really enjoyed her style of teaching too, as the session continued. Unfortunately, sound was pretty much the only thing that worked because I couldn’t read the board – even with a magnifying glass. It was a glossy white board, reflecting the ceiling lights which made it impossible to read what she was writing. But hearing it was better than nothing. Still, it was very unsatisfactory and made me itch to be there in person. And so the week dragged on and I was getting to the point that I could talk without choking.
J & M arrived Friday, early evening and we walked from the station, to our apartment, giving them a bit of town introduction on the way. As an aside, the 4 of us tried the elevator together and, of course, for the first time, it indicated “surcharge “ meaning “overloaded.” We went up 2 by 2. We settled them into their room, shared some wine and talked of their visit to Paris before coming to Lille. We went to another favorite restaurant, an Italian one called In Bocca Al Lupo and had a wonderful meal, with a lot of stories and laughter. Back home for coffee and picked up dessert on the way. An entire night filled with laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Then another terrible night’s sleep but I wasn’t contagious, I wasn’t dying and fortunately didn’t keep them awake – it was all good.
On Saturday we planned to take them through new and old Lille. G got out early to pick up fresh croissants and I put together a collection of the regular breakfast things: ham, cheese, hardboiled eggs, yogurt and blueberries – on our sideboard. After breakfast we went out and rounding the corner, came across the most amazing sight. Between the time that G was out getting croissants at 8am and we were walking around the corner at 10am, two buildings on Rue Pierre Mauroy had completely collapsed. We hadn’t even felt so much as a shudder in the apartment and it was on the block behind us. Few details were known and didn’t unfold completely until after the weekend.
A young man, working late to get ready for a university test, arrived at his apartment at 3am and saw an interior wall that had buckled, showing the outside, adjoining building wall. He called the authorities, who arrived with firefighters and police. Once they viewed the crumbling wall, they immediately evacuated the whole building. They understood the neighboring connected building to be completely empty, so everyone they knew of was evacuated by 5am and the street was cleared, cordoned off from any traffic and the business’s had not been allowed to open. At 9am to everyone’s shock, the building completely collapsed onto the street, taking down the adjoining building along with it. No one was hurt in the vacated apartments as a result of all of the precautions.
They found out later that morning that a doctor, visiting from out of town for a conference, had been lent an apartment in the adjoining building and had not been reached with the evacuation directive. He was the one fatality from the collapse, whose body they found later in the rubble. Further reports indicate that the first building was going through renovations and it is surmised that a supporting wall was removed, creating the collapse. The investigation is ongoing and no doubtedly will unfold more details.
As an aside, although Le Pot Beaujolias, where we had planned to take them for dinner, had not been involved, it is on the same block, and was blocked by police and clearly going to be closed. As we all stood there in utter disbelief, we saw many of the staff from the stores we’ve come to know and expressed our heartfelt sympathies. They would not be working until this was cleared. But with the exception of the one unlucky visiting physician, that one young man who came home at 3am had certainly saved a lot of lives.
After navigating around the blocked streets in the “Nouvelle” Lille, we began to hunt for a raincoat and a hat that J was in need of. With much poking and no luck, we headed over to Vieux (old) Lille. At this point I was running out of steam but hung on. It was my thought that we would take a break, which never happened. J finally found a suitable hat that she was looking for. We all got testy from not having eaten in the afternoon. Many restaurants had closed their kitchens – they serve from 12-2. What was available, wasn’t going to work, So we stopped at a quick mart – picked up nuts, a cold cheese sandwich for me and we all had a drink at a cafe while eating both. It was close to a well known guitar shop, which was the last stop because M was looking for a compressed acoustic guitar. We stayed at the café while he shopped which allowed me to catch my breath and recoup.
Since dinner was now up for grabs, we went to one we knew had good food, that was continuous service, without reservations. Had another great time, laughing and eating and drinking. Turning in at the end of the day was heartily welcome. G and I talked extensively in the evening before sleeping, about our class. G could still go the next day after seeing J&M on the train but it was clear I didn’t have the energy to make it. Having missed the first week, knowing we are going out of town on the last week, we’d be missing too much – 2 weeks of a 6 week class. G won’t go without me so that we advance at the same rate and the WhatsApp isn’t good enough to benefit me watching. We made the sad decision to drop out. I just don’t have the skill to skip that much class time.
Up the next morning, G went out for fresh croissants. We put out the regular breakfast items. Talk at the table ranged over current affairs, global & US, people we both know and the odd little stories of parts of our lives. We’ve known each other for over 20 years but most of it has been long distance, in separate states. It’s so odd that after all that time, we both ended up so close, overseas, after retiring.
We walked J&M to the train station. It was hard to say goodbye. Big American style hugs all around. They love Lille, they love our apt, they loved their time with us. Then back in the apartment we reorganized the second bedroom and it was quiet. All that crazy laughter and bustle left with them. Another set of folks that I would love to have living in the same town so we could meet for meals and fun times. Once back home, I crept into bed and slept for four hours.
The rest of the month was putting things in our lives back together. Slowly recovering my energy I began to do a few things that I’d set aside because of our classes. I made a Nordic bread that I wanted to try. It has 8 different nuts and seeds and is held together with olive oil and four eggs. Very interesting and flavorful – like a cracker and not difficult to chew. Not soft, not brittle, not hard either. Kind of like a granola bar but not sweet. J & M brought us a variety of canned sardines – Porto is famous for it – and it went great on this bread.
I also finally pulled out the fish carcass I’d stuck in the freezer some time back. I only had the carcass because I couldn’t communicate with the fish monger that I wanted it filleted. Doing it myself was a failure and I vowed to learn the vocabulary to avoid that situation in the future. In the meantime, I kept the carcass in the freezer because I’d never made fish stock and read that it added good flavors to a number of dishes. I followed a fish stock recipe I found online. After I made the stock, letting it simmer down to get the most of the flavors, it wasn’t as enjoyable a smell as cooking a chicken stock is. At least not to me, anyway. I froze about a third of it in cubes – which seemed quite a bit for someone who doesn’t use it and I discarded the remaining. After double bagging the cubes in Ziplock freezer bags, I found that the freezer developed a slight fish odor and it affected our ice cube trays. I sure hope using the stock really knocks my socks off or the frozen cubes will also be discarded. I’m not a picky eater by any means but if the smell is unattractive, I’m not going to thoroughly embrace it and I really am not enjoying the fishy smell in the freezer now. I popped the doubled bagged fish stock cubes into a sealed plastic container and so far that has helped contain the odor. Discarded the ice cubes, washed the trays thoroughly and refilled with fresh water.
Lille began to put up its Christmas market, which started November 18th. In the square closest to us, they have a ride that takes a string of two seater buckets – like a centipede – which runs along a circular track, which changes in height as it goes. As it travels up and down in the circle, it gains speed and a long canopy flips on top of the ride. It’s intriguing but not enough to lure us in. We watch it, wondering how often the canopy is cleaned – which we are sure that kids never think about. We certainly wouldn’t have thought about it as kids.
In the other square, they put up a Ferris Wheel which we tried our first Christmas here. The weather was a strapping 34 degrees and we took pictures of each other all bundled up and looking as frozen as we felt. It was enjoyable but we specifically went at night to see holiday lights. It was a surprise that the holiday lights did not extend far beyond the city center. Still a lovely view. If we do it again, I’d go at dusk where you can see all of Lille at it’s best. Dark of night, scant lighting outside of the center – you get less of it. I’d be more cavalier about trying it again, if I hadn’t just gotten over this bug.
Speaking of cavalier, feeling pretty jaunty, I texted the Canadians we’d met in the summer to meet for a couple of drinks on my first venturing out, sans bug, in the evening. They’ve just found that they’ll be staying in Lille for three more years, which they love. We thoroughly enjoy their company and have similar humors, sharing many reference points despite them being about 20 years younger (and from Canada). It was a wonderful evening and we are excited that we have them for three more years.
In reviewing our language stall, we talked about how to retain what we’ve learned for the next session in January. We will sign up for the class we missed but in the mean time it is imperative to keep what we have. A couple of guys in our last class were talking Pimsleur. It’s a program that the military uses to fast track personnel for language learning. They, by necessity, have to learn as fast as possible and learn well. One of the guys works for a large retail corporation and has been posted in a few countries so he recommended it. He used the school class along with Pimsleur and by the end of the last session, he was speaking much better than the rest of the class. His grasp of sentence structure in verbal exercises was also heads and shoulders above the rest of us. He spoke English, Taiwanese and some Spanish – so regardless of his personal intentions, his choice of work had turned him into a polyglot.
So, that is our new plan. Not giving up, but adapting. We’ve tried other online programs with little success and are willing to give this one a chance. I really hated that we were dropping out but frankly, it’s the best decision. We are still committed and hoping this program makes a difference – if nothing else, keeps us from losing ground. We’ll have a good idea by the first of the year, before we sign up for another class.
Visitors gone, flu effects mostly gone, we used the next week to catch up with family and friends via video chats. Cleaned up paperwork, attended to doctor appointments, watched the temperatures drop and studied French.
As Thanksgiving approached, we had a friend ask if there was an equivalent in France for a ‘giving thanks’ holiday. After researching it online, we found a link identifying 15 countries with a giving thanks holiday:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/thanksgiving-in-other-countries
For ourselves, for a Thanksgiving meal, we chose to return to the Le Pot Beaujoulias but for lunch instead of dinner. The third Thursday of every month, they make a veal soup that is popular which we decided to try. It arrived in individual cast iron pots, hot and fragrant. Identified as a veal head’s soup, it contained leeks, carrots, cabbage, potatoes and turnip slices. Of the veal, it contained slices of cheek, tongue and surprising to us, brains. A very flavorful, savory soup but I have to admit that the brains did not contain much of a flavor and what little it did, did not win me over. Still a very hearty, comforting soup which was perfect for the cold day. We toasted to family, friends and the health of all. Later at home, our ‘dinner’ was more of a snack of baguette, ham and cheeses, in our pajamas watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – in great comfort.
The last event of the month is a trip to Bath, England which is about a 20 minute train ride from Bristol and a 2 hour Underground and train ride from London. A small English town, its Christmas market boasts of all hand-crafted goods. We are staying at a historic hotel next to the Sally Lund cake shop, in the center of the area which holds the market. After getting over the flu bug, we are really ready for a nice adventure.
However, as we’ll be traveling during the last few days of the month, returning the first of December, we will be closing this month’s blog early. You will have to wait until next month’s blog to see what we find in Bath. So, happy November and beginning of winter to you all !!
twokiddosoverseas.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.