Traveling: It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.

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  • Random Photos Week 2

    Another collection of photos that didn’t quite fit into other posts (or I forgot to include) for your viewing pleasure!

    Also, how have I been here 2 weeks already?!?!

    Smurfette I found in Brussels!
    When in Belgium-have to buy some chocolate-also isn’t this shopping bag so fun?!
    He’s not Waldo in France!
    I thought this guy was a neat contrast with the greenery and flowers
    Eglise-catholique Saint-Andre
    Rue Royale
    Palais Rihour-this is all that remains of the palace that was originally here
    My first (and maybe only?) Belgian beer-came recommended by one of my former students because it’s a cherry beer-it wasn’t bad-I’m just not much of a drinker

  • Birthplace of Charles de Gaulle

    The first Sunday of the month many museums/historic sights have free entrance. I was able to grab one of the last reservation spots for the first Sunday in June for the birthplace of Charles de Gaulle (World War 2 general and former president of France), which was one of the things on my to do list. This was actually his maternal grandparent’s house, but this is where he was born and this was a place his family would all get together. He only ever actually spent 2 night in this house (and I’m guessing they were pretty birth adjacent!).

    Street view
    Back view of the house from what would have been the little courtyard-isn’t the sunroom amazing??
    Dining room
    The chandelier of Le Petit Salon (the little living room)
    This would have been his grandmother’s room-to the right of the bed was a little chapel of sorts for praying and to the left was a washroom
    This is the room where Charles de Gaulle would have been born and that would have been the cradle that his mother used for him (and his siblings)-yes it’s the original although it was somewhat recently restored.

    It was an interesting visit and I’m glad I went, but I’m not sure it would have been worth the entry fee, so I’m glad I didn’t pay!

  • Parc de la Citadelle

    In the northern part of town is a fortress that is still in use for military purposes, so you can’t enter it, but all around it is a huge park with canals running along it. There are areas for playing sports, kayaking, running, biking and even small hikes. There’s also a zoo and a small amusement park within the park

    Les fusilles lillois-a monument to 5 Lillois resistance fighters who were executed by the Germans in World War I
    Monument Charles de Gaulle
    We had lunch on a canal boat (there are a bunch of boats permanently docked that they’ve now turned into restaurants)-this is what I had, Le Welsh, it’s a regional dish which consists of ham, bread with a sauce made out of beer, cheese and mustard poured over it and then the whole thing is topped with an egg. It was delicious!
    Pont Napoleon (Napoleon’s bridge)
    Lille is where they are starting the Tour de France this year! Unfortunately, it starts in July, so I’ll miss it 🙁
    We were walking along and path and saw this “turtle”! He’s made from trees that have naturally fallen down and old Christmas trees and creates a habitat for insects and mushrooms!
    Canal
    More canal views

    It’s really a neat area to explore and I missed about 1/4 of it, so I’ll try to venture back another day to talk around some more!

  • Walk Through Lille with Me

    On Friday, we had off because Thursday was a holiday (so why not make it a long weekend!), so I decided to enjoy the warmer weather and sunshine and “get lost” in Lille….come see what I found!

    This old tower-it had no plaque or anything that I could find, but some online research indicated it’s a medieval tower.
    Porte de Paris-in the late 1600s fortified walls were built around the city and this is one of the gates that remains.
    In this picture you can see how they would have been able to close the gate if needed (drawbridge style).
    Lille City Hall with it’s bell tower. I tried to go up, but the line was full for the day-maybe another day!
    After the day in Brussels, this was a fun find in Lille!
    I couldn’t find what this was historically (it’s now part of a hotel), but I thought the door was really cool.
    Eglise catholique Saint-Maurice
    This plaque was tucked away in a corner. It basically explains that the first time this man heard an organ was in this church and he instantly decided he needed to learn how to play the organ and he went on to become the organist at Notre Dame!
    Opera of Lille with the Chamber of Commerce Bell Tower to the left.
    Cathedrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille: modern in the front (1990s)
    Cathedrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille: Neogothic in the back (1800s)
    This is facing the more modern section-this wall is made up of sheets of granite that were sliced very thinly so that the light can come through-really cool!
    Close up of the stained glass
    A cute little street in Vieux Lille (the old town)
    Grand Place-not raining!
    Here is the fountain below the statue (this ledge is also where I sat to eat lunch-great for people watching!)
    This is the biggest bookstore in France! 5 floors (and each floor goes quite far back)…..I’m going to have to make a return to trip before I leave to bring back some French reads!

    I had a lot of fun wandering Lille-it’s such a beautiful city to get lost in and every time I think I’m actually lost I end up back at Grand Place and can get myself reoriented. More Lille explorations posts to come!

  • Brussels-Part 2

    This is a mix of the more historical pictures from our walking tour and pictures from my time wandering the city center. I love Brussels-it’s such a fun, bustling, international city. I forgot to mention in the last post we also visited the visitor’s center for the Parliment of the European Union, but there wasn’t much to take pictures of there because it was more informational.

    Martyr’ Square-there are over 400 people who were buried here, where they were killed during the Belgian Revolution of 1830.
    Just some lovely architecture
    Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste au Beguinage
    Same church from the front
    Cute city square

    This tower is a part of the old city walls-when they tore down the walls they couldn’t tear this down because someone was living in it and by the time it was no longer inhabited it was considered a historical building and couldn’t be torn down, so (as you can see) they just built around it.
    Eglise Sainte-Catherine
    Same church, but you can see this side has been cleaned up and has a reflecting pool in front of it
    Fontaine Anspach (with some random ducks in it)-this and the above church are both in the area that was the old fish market.
    La Monnaie (Brussels opera house)
    Another lovely little street

    The next few pictures are of Grand-Place, which is Brussels main square, which is so beautiful-it takes your breath away and these pictures do not even begin to do it justice.

    When in Belgium-must have fries with mayonnaise!

    Manneken Pis (which translates to the Little Peeing Boy, there is also a Little Peeing Girl and a Peeing Dog, but I didn’t see them)-a bit like the Mona Lisa-attracts crowds, but is much smaller in person!
    Manneken Pis has an entire wardrobe and he is dressed for certain holidays and events-there are some of his more “Hollywood” costumes (there’s a whole museum called the Manneken Pis’ wardrobe)
    When in Belgium-you must have a waffle-my only disappointment with this was the chocolate was the kind that gets hard, so it made it more challenging to eat
    Grand-Place again
    The facade of the City Museum of Brussels
    If you look at my pictures of the Grand-Place in some of the photos at the very top of the one point you can see a statue-it’s a statue of Saint Michel and this one is the original that stood up there from 1455(!) until the end of the 20th century when it was replaced with a replica.
    This is the original Manneken Pis, the one in the square now is a replica because the original kept getting stolen or broken (often in half)

    These are some final shots of Grand-Place before we departed.

    I loved my time in Brussels-this is my 3rd time there and I’d love to go back again. I’m adding the comic book museum to my list of to-dos for future trips.

  • Brussels-Comic Walk

    The summer program did a day trip to Brussels and I have so many photos to share! I’m going to split them into two posts-the first one will be a lot of the street art/comic book art and then the second will be the more historical parts.

    When we arrived in Brussels we had the option to take a guided walk, which I did. Some of the walk was historical, but a lot of it was about the comic book art you can finds on the streets of Brussels. It’s crazy how you can just come around the corner and see these really fun works! So, why so many comic strips in Brussels? Apparently, many comic strip authors hail from Belgium!

    We started off just by going into the foyer of the Musée de la Bande Dessinée (Comic Art Museum).

    art deco ceiling of the museum
    Sculpture of TIntin
    Boule et Bill (Billy & Buddy in English) and Les Schtroumpfs (Smurfs in English) statues

    Then we went out into the city to see a bunch of the painted comic books and also just general street art, so I’ll leave you with that below.

  • Miscellaneous Photos of the Week

    Today marks a week in Lille, so I figured I’d share a few photos that didn’t really fit anywhere else, but that I wanted to share.

    This is the university library-I enjoy sitting here to do work because it’s got a lot of windows and natural light!
    Prefecture de Lille (government offices)
    Statue du General Faidherbe I had to do a little research on who he even was, but he was a military leader during French colonialism in Africa and is controversial at best :/
    At the grocery store, each food item has a label like this on the front that rates how nutritious something is-it’s a really easy way to make decisions on products/between different products without having to look through the complicated nutrition labels!
    This is the building most of the summer classes are in.
    Finally stopped raining to be able to have a picnic lunch!
    Picnic view
    French pastries are next level ❤️❤️ luckily I walk a lot!

    Overall thoughts-I really like Lille, it’s a great city with a lot to do. Everyone is very friendly and the program staff and university staff I’ve connected with have all been wonderful. They really love Juniata and want to see our exchange continue.

    Last night, I was feeling pretty lonely and we had a group dinner that I was dreading because the students don’t really want to chat with me (I’m old enough looking that they’re suspicious of me), but I haven’t felt very connected to the other visiting staff and professors. I’m so glad I went though because I got connected to a group chat for all the summer faculty/staff and we had a great time chatting (and they all had the same complaint-I don’t know anyone to hang out with!). So, hopefully that’s a step in the right direction! Tomorrow is a long day in Brussels, but I hope to post some pictures on Friday or Saturday. I have some plans to explore Lille more this weekend, since the weather looks like it’s going to be very sunny!

  • Palais des Beaux Arts

    On Sunday, we went to Lille’s art museum, which has a fantastic collection in a very easy to manage space (ie not the Louvre). The art ranges from medieval to modern and includes sculpture and special exhibits-it’s one of the nicest museums I’ve visited as far as size and spectrum of works.

    One of the staff of the summer program lead a tour for those who were interested and since my knowledge of art is mediocre I decided to join the tour and I’m glad I did! Under the photos, I’ve included some of the information he shared with us about the works, so enjoy! Also, the building itself is quite a work of art as you’ll see in some of the photos!

    the entry
    In the basement is a whole room of relief maps of regional towns. The maps are from the 1600-1700s and are a nice way to see the original towns as between the 2 World Wars much of these areas were destroyed.
    Then basement is also where the timeline of art begins with the middle ages. This piece was interesting because you can see the 2 thieves have their arms bent in an odd way. That’s because at this time in the region if someone was caught stealing the punishment was having their limbs broken over a wheel and then they were tied to the wheel before being hoisted up to die, so their arms would have been bent like this on the wheel. So in art depicting the crucifixion if the thieves are displayed in this style you can tell it was created in this region.
    This work is newer and is called Empathy. The artist took La Pieta and carved a copy of it and then covered it in a sheet. His idea was would you still have empathy for people if you can’t see them (like people suffering all over the world).
    First floor has sculptures-these are small models from Les Bourgeois de Calais, which is the sculpture that sits in front of the town hall in Calais.
    Also on the first floor were a few modern art optical illusion type works as part of a special exhibit.
    Even the stairwell is a work of art!
    Ending with some things leaning more modern (Picasso and Chagall)

    Unfortunately, the impressionism and a few other galleries were closed due to work, but overall it was a lovely visit!

  • Where is Lille? Lille in Photos

    Lille is in the very northern part of France adjacent to the border with Belgium. It’s a great location for travel because you are very close by train to Paris, Brussels and London!

    For those of you who are unfamiliar with my previous travels to France, this map gives you a chance to see most of the places I’ve lived. My first semester was in Nantes (west coast) in Bretagne (Brittany), second semester was in Aix-en-Provence (not on this map, but southern France near Avignon) in Provence and then I taught English for a year in Calais (not far from Lille!). Of course, I’ve traveled throughout much of France as well.

    https://about-france.com/maps.htm

    Onto the walking tour of Lille!

    Lille has a lot of really unique neighborhoods and for this tour we were in Vieux-Lille (Old Lille). You’ll notice in the pictures an array of architecture, but it’s very influenced by the Flemish style due to the proximity to Belgium. I’ll add some captions to the photos with any interesting facts, but otherwise enjoy!

    La Vieille Bourse The Old Stock Exchange-Lille was very much an economic center of Europe historically.
    If you go inside the building there are stands of people selling posters, books, etc-this is very similar to les bouquinistes that you find along the Seine in Paris
    La Voix du Nord (this, the stock exchange and the statue in the next photo are all in ‘Grand’Place’ )
    These little pink guys are not normally here, they are a part of a current modern art exhibit through the city
    The fountain/statue in the center of the place (you can’t see the fountain here, but it’s there I promise!-I’ll get pictures on a nicer day!)
    This was a seafood shop originally and when the Louis Vitton company bought the building they maintained those historical aspects (notice the fish mural-those are all done in a mosaic tile style)
    I need to get a better picture of this church because it is really wild-it’s very gothic and traditional on the sides, but the front is 100% modern-more pics to come on a better weather day!
    This building was originally somewhere else and they wanted to tear it down, but in an effort to save it they took it down brick by brick and rebuilt it here!

    And that’s it for today!

  • My apartment

    It rained all day today and I thought I was going to have to find something to do between when I had to leave the hotel and when I could check into the apartment, but at 9am the apartment texted to say it was ready, so I could check in early. So, I headed over just before the rain started!

    cute little cobblestone street that it’s on
    the little outside area that you walk into first
    living room area (kitchen to the right)
    kitchen(ette)
    bedroom
    bathroom

    My only complaint so far is that it’s in the basement, so there isn’t much natural light, but if it gets warm in June I’ll be grateful for the basement because air conditioning is not common in France. Otherwise, it’s clean and seems like it has everything I need for a monthish stay!

    I’ll do another post about the walking tour we did today, but I’ll leave you with the “American” endcap I found at the grocery store!