Sunday, September 30, 2007

Lille, France

As I only had a few days left in the western part of Germany, I traveled to France because it is close and I hadn't been there yet on this trip. I went with my friend Paige to Lille, France where we stayed with some friends we know through couch surfing. It was an amazing time with some great people who quickly became good friends. Speaking English, German and me butchering French, we got along great. My French, in which I have no experience, got a little better, since with nothing to start with other than wee, as I now know several words.

It was raining most of the time we were there, but we got a good tour by Antoine and Fred, from Paris came along as well. Pretty cool place with awesome buildings, lots of people shopping and a hilarious fitness demonstation put on by one man on a stage in the rain. Just working out and doing aerobics by himself with everyone laughing at him. Quite entertaining.

Back at the apartment after a stop at a great microbrewery, Fred, the master chef, chef number one as he called himself, cooked up a tasty omlette and pasta. It took quite a while, but was well worth it as we watched the Simpsons in French before going out to the student area where the bars were. The French in this area love their French and Belgish beers. A nice change from the great German beer which can only have wheat, water, hops and barley due to a purity law.
It was a late, fun night, ending with Beatles songs back at the aparment.

The next mornign after a great French breakfast with lots of pastries, we got a ride back to the train station to go back after just a short trip. The GPS navigator in Fred's car used Yoda's voice: Bear right, you must after 300 meters. Hilarious and the best way to travel.
I have just another day left in Cologne, leaving Tuesday morning. Time's almost up. But I'll be going to Aachen tomorrow to see even more of the local area.

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