Second Installment: Lille

My how the time flies!  I've been in France for almost two weeks, and this past week has been pretty busy!  We went on our first excursion outside of Paris, had our first house guests, and are making some serious progress on the apartment!  Not bad for 7 days' work...

Since my husband and I had been on opposite sides of the Atlantic for two months prior to my arrival here, we thought it would be a nice idea to spend our first weekend together away from the cares and worries of everyday real life.  (The French seem to call this a "week-end en amoureux," which I think translates to a "Lover's weekend."  Ooh la la!)   

At the suggestion Paul's friend, we went to a city called Lille, which is close to the France-Belgium border.  It was absolutely lovely.  We only spent one night there, but walked around the main squares, did some window-shopping, and walked around what's called the Citadel (below).  The Citadel was a military fortress built around 1670 under Louis XIV by an architect named Vauban.  (Paul tells me he is really famous... note to self: learn about Vauban).  However, I found the structure's shape to be of particular interest.  It's a pentagon.  It's a bit pointier than the pentagon with which we Americans are familiar, as its corners are emphasized with what look like little tower buildings, but it's definitely a pentagon.  It's a tiny bit humbling to realize that something most Americans think of as completely All-American existed somewhere else before our country was even founded.  Though after having lived near the US Pentagon for five years, I have to add that the Americans kind of took it to the next level, size-wise.  Did you know the Pentagon is the largest office building in the world?  I guess a few hundred years worth of technological advances will give you an advantage....

One last note about Lille: The food was amazing.  Paul and I had dinner at a restaurant recommended by the staff at our hotel, and we were not sorry.  The name of the place escapes me, but everything about the meal was excellent.  The meat was tender, the sauces were delicious, and the dessert was creative (it included basil sorbet!) and to die for.  And a big note to all those who would like to visit France and enjoy some of its best food: Paul's review of the restaurant was that it was amazing and we wouldn't have been able to afford a meal as good in Paris.  This might make an out-of-Paris detour worth it to any traveling foodies.  Just some food for thought... (ha, get it?)

Aside from our excursion, the week was great.  We finally made it to a REAL Ikea and subsequently have more shelves and order in the apartment.  We hosted a former colleague of mine and his wife for two nights, which was a lot of fun.  Paul played tour guide for us on Tuesday, and it was as much a tour of Paris for me as it was for our guests.  (I was trying out the panoramic function on my camera at the Jardin du Luxembourg, below.  Clearly, I still need to work on it!)  Our guests also left us with a book, Paris: Free & Dirt Cheap, which is pretty great.  We were able to find restaurants in the typical tourist trap areas that were good an relatively inexpensive.  Thank you, Son of Wat!

Now back to that whole organizing the apartment thing....

à bientôt!