Another Little Adventure I Forgot to Mention

While Laura and Jade were here and I was off school, we also spent a day shopping in Lille (4th largest city in France and just across the border). It was a beautiful day, perfect for strolling from shop to shop in search of good sales. We succeeded in our proclaimed mission to find shoes for Jade and found some other fun things besides. For lunch we stopped at a creperie for galettes, which is the name for savory crepes. I tried a galette à Maroilles, the infamously smelly and strong cheese of Northern France (it stars in a hilarious scene in Chez les Chtis, an extremely popular comedy here. It's basically about culture shock between southern and northern France, and since Northern France is similar to Belgium in some ways, it's a big hit. I laughed really hard when I watched it.) I was a little worried, but it smelled stronger than it tasted and was actually quite delicious. Later in the afternoon we heard some shouting in the streets, and discovered that it was coming from a crowded bar. Apparently Lille's soccer team was playing. There were drunken fans zigzagging around the square and the police were there to make sure things didn't get too rowdy. Soccer is a little excessive here. It's like football for the US, only maybe worse. Anyways, we didn't have any problems, and after a lovely day of trying on wacky hats and perusing funky purse shops we caught the train home. Good times; here's some photos: