The third week of the month we finished our latest Alliance Française session group. It was excruciating but I like to think that we’ve made some noticible progress. What helps us to endure our torturous self-inflicted drama, are the ½ hour walks to and from the school. That plus the reward of stopping on the way home at an outdoor café. We have taken to using Merlin, a bird identifying app and Google to identify the plants which we pass.
If you are at all interested in what bird songs you are hearing, I highly recommend Merlin. Lille is a cross roads in bird migration patterns and we’ve been delighted to identify many we hear. The ones identified for us so far; the Great Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Eurasian Bluebird, Eurasian Blackbird, Eurasian Magpie, Eurasian Wren, Common Chiffchaff, House Sparrow and Black Redstart- all have been heard on different days during our walks. They are such a treasure to hear.
Google has helped identify the plants we’ve enjoyed; Actinidia, Creeping Buttercup, Poppy, Oxeye Daisy, Japanese Maple, Meadow Buttercup, Dogwood, Bellis, Cutleaf Geraniums, Red Valerian and of course scads of Clover fields.
All to say that this may give you a more complete picture of our weekly treks. We also get to enjoy seeing a Harley or two on our school treks. G loves the Harleys.
A braderie was held this month in Lille (not the Grande Braderie with 3 million visitors in Sept) with 500 exhibitors in the Saint-André district.
The event was held from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on a Saturday, having nearly 500 exhibitors (dressed up in vintage costumes) offering plenty of bargains, with entertainment and concerts throughout the neighborhood as well as various games/competitions.
For the occasion, the restaurant La Luck organized its annual race for waiters. Servers, room managers and maîtres d’hôtel were invited to participate. With a tray and 4 glasses filled with tinted water, they had to walk/run as fast as possible without spilling the glasses.
In between our study and class attendance, we celebrated our 49th year anniversary. It fell on the last class day of the week, a Thursday, and like life itself was not without mishap. After the class ended, we stopped with our friends and American classmates, C & B, for a pint at a favorite outdoor café. We all toasted to the occasion before heading separate ways. G and I decided to check out a gastronomic festival happening about a 30 min walk from Lille central for dinner, instead of having a formal dinner at a restaurant.
Unfortunately the festival ran on tickets to be used at each booth and the lines to purchase the tickets were horrendously long. Plan B became to find a cafe that wasn’t involved in the festival but that became problematic as all the tables were filled wherever we went. Finally we found ONE outside table at a place and G parked me at it while he went to procure food and drink.
While I waited, ‘cheek to jowl’ as they say which is common seating here in Europe, it was nice that there was a cool breeze to enjoy. On one side of us were a couple of students, chatting away and on the other side of us sat a rather rough-looking couple, not talking to each other. Tattoo’s have never been offensive to me but I have to comment on the fact that the man’s tattoo work was extensive (head to foot) with his facial artwork a bit extreme. His companion was also heavily tattooed but mainly on her limbs. What mattered was not their lack of conversation or their body artwork but the number of people who stopped by at their table (and therefore close at my side as well). They were a run of characters out of Dicken’s Oliver Twist novel – shady to downright scary, none too sober and some missing a good amount of teeth. One woman with matted hair and swaying on her feet, was arguing with the guy – I quote, “You KNOW me! You KNOW I’m good for it !!”
As I continued to wait for G, I began to wonder exactly how rough his clientele could be, as it was clearly a dealer sitting next to us and I wasn’t really interested in witnessing much more of them. He rolled a joint, lit it and got up to lean against an opposing wall – which I appreciated because our table was also downwind. Then G shows up with our pints and I try to convey the situation we are in. Unfortunately he was having trouble with one of his hearing aids and couldn’t understand what I was saying to him. The dealer sat back down – his chair was next to mine – and I didn’t think it was prudent to yell to G, “HE’S DEALING HARD DRUGS AND I DON’T LIKE HIS CLIENTS”. The food arrived and it was terrible. That finalized my decision. Without G consultation, I stood up and said, “We’re leaving.” And proceeded to head to the metro.
G followed, quite angry and upset, fuming all the way to train. On the train I explained exactly what I had seen and heard. He finally understood and agreed that it was not a place for us to enjoy our 49th anniversary dinner. Off of the metro, we walked to a favorite outdoor Italian restaurant and proceeded to enjoy a wonderful meal. The drug cafe experience is now referred to with hilarity, although he is quick to point out, with a mournful expression, that he only got TWO SIPS of his beer before having to abandon it. Just to be clear about his priorities.
Every year, on the 21st of June, summer solstice, all of France holds an all-day music festival – Fête de la Musique. It originated in France in 1982 when the Minister of Culture discovered that one young person out of two played a musical instrument. This was a way to give musicians an opportunity to showcase their music and for the public to get out on the streets. It’s all free! The festival is now held in 120 countries.
After the class session block completed in June, C & B had asked us to join them on a trip to Disneyland Paris on the last Wednesday of the month. We’d been fans of the Anaheim park decades ago and it sounded like a great way to relax after classes ended. We were pleased to see the layout of the park mimic’d the Anaheim one and there was a nostalgic feel to it. We spent the day walking through the lands and rode a few attractions.
Personally I felt a keen loss of the flavor Walt Disney had installed in the original Anaheim park, which frankly had eroded steadily after his passing. Whole families could afford the entrance, where now we are sure many can not. There were at signs of wear at Paris Disney (peeling paint and wood rot), when in early years the upkeep was impeccable. Gone too, were the personalization of the shops in each land. Main Street’s turn of the 20th-century hosted hat shops, a silhouette portrait artist, fine china sets, fine artisan Disney collectables, an old-fashioned candy shop with a multitude of choices, watch repair shop and camera shop to name just the top remembrances. The largest building on the street was a large arcade which had mechanical items indicative of the early 1900’s; Esmeralda the fortune teller mannequin, an Orchestrion, view scopes with early black/white motion pictures and old school games. Further in the old Anaheim park, Frontierland had a Pendleton shop with quality blankets and clothing, Fantasyland had artisan glass blowers, Adventureland had the best items for jungle explorers in the outdoor bazaar from beautiful printed cloths to rubber snakes, New Orleans Square had a milliner, a perfumer, a beignet café and a one-of-a-kind vintage home decor/furnishing shop. In absolutely every land, you could buy a felt Mickey Mouse cap with stapled on plastic ears that you could have the clerk stitch your name on the back – an absolute must-have for keepsakes.
Things change of course but it was a deep flavor to the park, which is gone forever. The rides are not that different but any artisan touches have disappeared. The same costumes, trinkets and mass produced tchotchke’s reflecting the Disney studio films are repeated in every shop regardless of the shop names. The clothing is geared toward children as adult wear was hard to find. All that aside, we enjoyed the day and spent it leisurely, amused at the fact that you couldn’t swing a light saber without hitting a little princess or a peter pan – all wearing the same amazed smile at the park’s attractions.
And that was the month, which heralded summer, bringing the warm weather and cool breezes we love.
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