Summer was not yet done with us and we endured some high temperatures before the month closed. It started, of course, with the annual Grande Braderie de Lille. Those of you who have followed this journal from its inception, know that it has been around since the 12th century (the first written record of a fair dates from 1127) and is the biggest flea market in Western Europe. The entire city of Lille has every street lined with vendors and tables of new and used or discounted items of all categories. And 3 million people. With 3 million times as much trash. And the mussels and fries – Lille serves thousands, if not millions, of moules et frites over these three days, Friday eve to Sunday eve. An epidemic in poultry in advance of WW1 introduced mussels as an alternative, which has become a tradition. Restaurants compete for the most discarded shells in front of their establishments.
Our first days in Lille, we loved Braderie but this year, our fifth, we have come to appreciate the benefits to the commerce of Lille, more than the event itself. Aside from that, in reality for me, this is a personal hell. As those who know me, I’m really not that fond of people and I’m somewhat claustrophobic. I can take them in two’s or three’s but I do get worn out pretty quickly. This is 3 million. And garbage? Also not my thing. So, if there is a hell personally tailored to me, it’s 3 million people crammed into the city with the amount of garbage that comes with them. There aren’t enough drugs available for me to enjoy that many people and that much garbage. Fortunately, unlike Cologne on Nov 11th’s Carnival, most of the crowd are sober. My only solace is that it’s for just one weekend.
It’s still quirky, amazing and vibrant. And, the public works employees of Lille do a quick, and incredible job of cleaning the city overnight on Sunday to prepare it for a working Monday!. And when they finish, with the last of the street sweepers soaking down the surfaces, we are once again acquainted with the serenity of where we live. It’s all good. I know people made a good penny out of the event. They deserve it.
Then, in the second week, it was time for French lessons. This session, I chose to repeat the last course we took for a few reasons. Reason 1: I’m slow with language and retention is not in my arsenal. Reason 2: We wouldn’t be able to attend an entire course session since we are traveling in October. It didn’t matter to us that we were not taking an entire course if I was repeating what I’d already had. I signed up for 4 of the 8 weeks, just so I could review. Reason 3: G wouldn’t retake the four weeks of the same level (and he didn’t need to, like I do) but he would take 4 weeks with a private tutor, to keep his hand in and keep advancing. I could do that at the same time as I did the course review that I was taking. Done and done – we were in for a four week French language journey.
Other than our classes, we spent time getting ready for October’s trip to Dublin and Edinburgh. We’d been once before and hit the highlights recommended but this time we would be approaching the way we personally prefer to in our travels. We would be walking neighborhoods and poking in places not on most peoples lists. Having gone through this process innumerable times, I can tell you that a cursory look on the internet regarding a place you are going to travel to, is going to be filled with some great links; How to Spend ONE day in (fill in the blank here), How to Spend Three days on $10 a day in (fill in the blank here), How to find ALL the hidden gems in (fill in the blank here). You can certainly follow someone else’s itinerary for one, two, three days or however many you have, but you will discover that your pace, your interests and your approach to travel may not fit this ‘one size fits all’ shoe. You will also find out that it may be possible to spend as little as they say but times, locations and circumstances will bend that financial figure. Lastly, if there are truly ‘hidden gems’, they sure as hell aren’t listed on the internet.
That should never deter you. Pack your bag, throw in the internet itinerary anyway and go SEE the place. LISTEN to the conversations around you, the dialect, the energy – without being all stalker creepy. And no, you don’t have to spend a lot of money once you’re there and your lodgings are secure. You can eat at posh, sit-down, multi-starred restaurants or grab great stuff off food trucks. The point is to absorb where you are. How you do that is intrinsic to you and you alone.
Enough proselytizing. Travel if you want. Know you are going to be uncomfortable sometimes. The more you travel the more you can avoid the circumstances that make you personally uncomfortable. Advice will overwhelm you online and things won’t work for you. If we pass on anything to people concerning travel it is: Keep it simple and that includes your list of expectations. If you go and expect to see one amazing thing but end up seeing more – win, win!
The Rugby World Cup games are being currently hosted in France and in addition to Paris, there are nine cities throughout France with events and games, including Lille. The games run September 9 – October 28 and are being played with much fanfare and city participation. Five games are being played at the Stade Pierre Mauroy de Lille with the last between Tonga and Romania on October 8. France won its game vs Uruguay on September 14 and there was much celebration that night. All of the games are shown throughout the city in bars, cafes and restaurants that are filled to capacity.
But back to our personally, quite boring month. French, French and more of the same. But we signed up for it so we have no right to complain. That said, by the end of the second week, my personal intake on white wine had increased to alarming levels. After months of sobriety, to fall so mightily. G has promised to keep me off the streets and out of the gutters. I’m going to hold him to that. And, two early morning photos from our balcony that G wanted to make sure that we share with you. Happy Fall everyone !
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