Wandering in Lille, part one

The other day - Thursday, more precisely - I decided to go downtown and explore a few streets, see what kinds of shops were around and that sort of thing. It worked out that I was able to meet up with Colleen at the metro stop at the center and we had the evening to check out the places I wanted to see before getting drinks with the other ISEP students and our student ambassador. 

We found a discount bookstore and a restaurant, which specialized in bubble tea and crêpes, on Rue Pont de Comines that we decided called for a return trip. We then stopped by the ticket office at the opera house, where I found out that I had misunderstood the youth pass. I won't be getting a pass, but I'm still certainly going to see Orlando in October. Handel - need I say more? More than that, though, I'm excited for the Wednesday evening recitals. Every Wednesday there is a small ensemble performance in the foyer and almost all of them sound great to me. And hey, I found out today that I don't have classes on Wednesdays. If you're reading this, then you probably know what my next words will be. 

Cool. Beans.

After a challenging exchange with the woman in the ticket office, who was exceedingly patient - merci, Madame - we went into the courtyard of a mustard-colored building Colleen pointed out. It wasn't what we were expecting. We spent a long time there, nonetheless, because what we found were vendors. Lots of used books and comics, old coins and post cards, and other junky nick-nacks that are fun to look through because you occasionally find something great. Colleen found a French Harry Potter movie poster. A little jealous? So am I. And I actually found a great little souvenir for one Allyson Brown. 

We found the high-end chocolaterie and confectionerie that I heard about in class. Meert is in a very pretty building, and I think there's a restaurant, but it's expensive enough that buying something small there would be a novelty. http://www.meert.fr/default.php

Continuing along Rue Esquermoise we found a bookstore that will be receiving some of my money in the near future. Librairie Tirloy had a whole section of books on Lille and Nord-Pas de Calais where I found ch'ti and other regional cookbooks. They are essentially guaranteed my patronage because if I only get a couple of souvenirs while I'm in France, those things will definitely be in book form. And full of local recipes.

We doubled back and took a couple of small side streets...

...before arriving at St. Maurice. The church is a gothic cathedral situated with lovely trees and benches at the main entrance, but which doesn't seem to be appreciated much by the people who walk around it throwing trash on the ground. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Église_Saint-Maurice_de_Lille

We walked around to see whether there was an open entrance. After reading a sign about guided tours for les journées du patrimoines on a side door, an old man who looked like he came out of a cartoon - one tooth in the front and a big ring of keys - started speaking to us and offered to let us in to look around. 

So we spent some time in an empty cathedral that people were building something like 300 years before the United States... existed. It was pretty amazing. Clearly, we're planning to go back for a guided tour.

We got to Place de la République early and decided to settle down next to the fountain in front of the Palais des Beaux Arts and wait for everyone to arrive. Luckily the rain didn't start while we were sitting there.

Today the last of the course schedules I was waiting for were posted, so I now officially have a schedule laid out. With any luck, I won't have to change it. I'll be taking language, translation, literature, dance, and history classes and I'm looking forward to them all. Also, they fall on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, which will be so strange. Although, if I'm on the ball, that should make traveling on the weekends much easier. For now, the search for books begins.