History walk in Lille

Sunday morning I walked over 10 km with Bailey at the Citadel, including two stops at the dog park. By the time we got back home she was ready for a nap. I was too, probably, but Clay and I had signed up for a guided history walk in vieux Lille (old town), and I didn't want to miss it. It was led by a guy who works at Lille University; we had met him at an anglophone gathering a couple weeks ago. It was very interesting. We went part many sites that we see every day but didn't really know anything about. 

I'm going to post a lot of pictures here but not much of the history because I have come down with a cold and feel like crap. It's just a cold, but it's a man cold, so things will be touch and go for a few days. Send chants and incantations.

But first, here's Bailey playing at one of the dog park stops yesterday. Anyone know what breed of dog that may be? There were two of them there. The look like setters of some sort, longish fur, black with bits of silver or gray. Really pretty.

This wasn't on the tour, this is the view across the street from the park where Bailey poops and pees at night and early in the morning.

This is a bit of 15th century pavement that still exists on the Grand Place.

This statue was originally intended to be on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to represent the north (Nord). Instead they just sent it to Lille.

Chamber of Commerce and belfry.

Typical Flemish facades. There are cannon balls lodged in some of these from some old war. Apparently Lille is the most beseiged city in France.

L'Opera

Inside the courtyard of the old stock exchange.

Cast iron downspout.

Water fountain

Old city gate, Port de Rubais

Aux Merveilleux de Fred

This isn't quite an original Lille creation because apparently the founder took his Austrian employer's best recipe and set up his own shop in Lille. They are amazing. 

Back to the new normal

Sunday was the final day of the Braderie and it was much quieter in comparison to Saturday. Sellers were packing up by late in the afternoon and there was none of the late night partying and madness that occurred on Saturday. Although I stand by my criticism of the city's handling of some aspects of the event, I was impressed and amazed by how quickly and efficiently they cleaned everything up when it was over. The street cleaners had most of the garbage picked up before sunrise on Monday and the clean up continued throughout the day. Loose litter was picked up from the green space where we walk and even from our alley way. Everything was back to normal on Monday but everything was a bit subdued because a lot of places are closed on Monday anyway. 

I think that Bailey was a bit traumatized by the event. The massive influx of people and the constant bass beat of music that reverberated throughout the old city was too much. She refused to use the nearby green spaces entirely for several days, which meant I had to get her over to the park to do her business. I had anticipated the problem to some extent and was only feeding her once a day since she was only able to poop and pee once a day for a while. On Wednesday evening she finally consented to using the nearby green space. The scents were beginning to fade a bit perhaps, and at least the people were gone. Thursday morning she pooped and peed at the time and place we had established as habit, so I hope she is back to normal. She had also been just irrationally frantic and spooky when walking the streets in the city since the Braderie. Yesterday she was at least a bit calmer and I really hope that trend continues. If she's not a bomb-proof city dweller by this time next year I may consider boarding her someplace quiet during this annual event. 

My language class began Monday and is occupying my weekday mornings, three hours per day, five days per week. That has brought on its own stress, as my brain hasn't been tasked with anything like that for many years. But it's got to be done because I'd really like to be able to communicate. The problem for me is that the language seems to be composed of nothing but vowel sounds with ever so slight nuances in the pronunciation that give distinct meaning to the words. I think I'll learn to read it before I learn to hear and understand someone speaking. 

I'm still seeing a physical therapist for my shoulder twice a week, mostly because I'm not sufficiently self-disciplined to be left on my own to do the exercises. I think I'll go down to once a week starting next week, however. 

Clay has been gradually moving our things over to the new apartment and working on getting the internet service, electric, mail, and banking services established. We now have French phone numbers but our prior U.S. numbers still work at least for getting messages. Email remains the same and is the best way to reach us. The "WhatsApp" app works and costs nothing. 

I've been walking at least 10 miles a day since we arrived in France. I hope I'm losing some weight but I haven't found a scale where I can weigh myself to be sure. May have to buy one. 

Bailey at the dog park sitting next to me waiting for a fun dog to come along.

I've noticed that a lot of dogs who visit the dog park just sit with their owners, rather anti-social. 

Bailey is always ready to play if anyone shows the slightest inclination to do so.

Bailey on an evening walk.

This is a distance marker along the canal where we walk. I hadn't noticed them until yesterday.

This is the house where Charles de Gaulle was born. We walked by it on the way home from the park.

This is the staircase in the building where my language classes are held. 

It doesn't look like much from the outside but some of the interior features are really nice. 

Bailey and I got caught in the rain on today's walk but were rewarded with this rainbow over the carnival afterwards.

Braderie Day 2

Sunday was the final day of our first Braderie. It was great, productive, but I'm glad it's only 2.5 days because we are tired. We bought four more chairs today and two more tables. It took two trips to carry all that back to our new apartment. Then we had to pick up the desk and rug we had bought on Saturday and get that back to the new place as well. We also picked up some glassware today, so we are feeling better about the gradual move to the new place. We've already ordered a refrigerator, washing machine, television, and a vacuum that will be delivered to the new place on Clay's birthday, 18 September. Our bed and a couple other items will be coming from IKEA; we've been out to their store twice already but will do the order online this next week. 

About the Broderie:  I look forward to it next year when we don't have to look for necessary items and can focus on all the unnecessary and interesting stuff. We ate mussels for two days in a row and they were delicious. It's a huge party mostly event for people under 30. That's fine and all, but I wish the city managed it better. At any event this size in the U.S. there would have been hundreds of port-a-johns. Here there were none. Consequently, public urination was rampant, especially down our little alley, even after someone broke through the construction barrier to the park under development next door. This event has taken place for hundreds of years, I can't believe they haven't figured this out yet. If you serve beer, you need to provide a place to pee. I like to pee outside as much as the next guy, but when I took Bailey out last night we saw at least two dozen young men pissing and about half as many women as well. I was very tempted to take pictures with the flash on my camera but it would probably have started a fight. Seriously, Lille could do better. However, on the plus side, I saw and heard of no violence and no shootings. I guess some public urination isn't a bad trade off. I'll take it, but it could be avoided with some better planning by the city. I can only hope for a good hard rain in the next day or two to wash it all away. 

Below are some more pictures of the thing we brought home today, and a couple of Bailey doing "ups" on the boulders in the nearby park. 

I'm glad that the drunks broke through the construction barrier on the end of our alley in one way because it gives us access to the nearest green space without going out on the streets through the crowds. 

Bailey has missed our walked in the Citadel for the last couple of days but we'll get back to it tomorrow.

This is the Porte de Paris

And here's the new things we picked up today.

The best buy of the sale may be this rug, approximately 5'x8' for 15€

Braderie de Lille 2025

The Braderie in Lille is Europe's largest flea market. It's an annual event that dates back hundreds of years. It started as a day when the city's wealthy residents permitted their servants to sell off their old clothes. Used clothing is still the most commonly sold item. 

In its current form the Braderie is essentially a massive sidewalk sale for retailers, but it's also an opportunity for antique dealers and collectors to sell their wares, and for individuals to hold what we would call a yard sale in a designated spot in town. There are thousands of vendors and a couple million potential buyers. It is also a big party event with music and copious amounts of food and drink. 

It appears to me that the food and drink have overtaken the flea market as the primary focus of the two day event. Bars and restaurants only have to close down for two hours during the night to give the city an opportunity to clean up the trash. I am writing this Saturday evening and the sound outside is deafening. I expect things will be much quieter on Sunday. 

We were very excited that the Braderie was happening after we arrived because we have a new apartment that needs to be furnished. We made a pretty good start on that today, buying a couple of chairs, tables, and a rug, as well as a few pots and pans for the kitchen. We will go out shopping again tomorrow and hope to add to our haul. The film crew that is documenting our move to Lille were with us again for much of the day. 

Bailey is not loving this. She still isn't fond of city crowds and traffic and it's ten times worse today. Actually the traffic is better, most of the streets in the old part of the city where we are have been closed down until Monday, but crowds are off the charts. 

Here are a few pictures from the event starting Friday evening, followed by a few of the things we bought on Saturday.

These guys reminded me of the flamingos I left behind in Virginia. 

I didn't buy them though. 

These native american figures surprised me.

What are they doing in France?

This vendor had nothing but garlic and smoked garlic. 

There's a huge carnival in town also.

All the bars and restaurants are packed around the clock.

This is the view outside the kitchen window from our new apartment.

And here are some of the items we bought today.

After selling, giving away, or trashing nearly everything that we owned, it was nice to be acquiring some new things today.