Bonjour !

J’inaugure ce blog fourre-tout par un court article sur deux bonnes boutiques lilloises.

Elles sont un peu opposées dans le style et je trouve assez marrant de les présenter dans ce même petit billet.

La première boutique est située dans le centre, il s’agit d’une épicerie fine : “les lilas verts“. Vous pouvez la trouver au 16, rue des bouchers. La vitrine est alléchante mais il faut “oser” pousser la porte en bois de la boutique.

Le blog un peu flashouille (sortez les Oakley UV 4) riche en infos : http://leslilasvertsepiceriefine.unblog.fr/

A l’intérieur votre regard sera rapidement accroché par tous ces petits bocaux de mets français ou exotiques. Les clients ici semblent tous avoir sympathisé avec la commerçante qui sait prendre le temps de vous présenter ses produits et ses épices. Ces dernières et surtout les poivres sont la spécialité de cette boutique. Les parfums sont tout simplement exquis et surprenant : allez y !!! Le revers de la médaille c’est le coût de ces poivres de haute qualité : entre 100 et 200 euros le kilo… Dieu merci il ne sera pas nécessaire de passer par la case “banquier en urgence” la vente se fait généralement par de petites doses de 25 g (quelques euros). Vous y apprendrez également qu’un poivre ne se moud pas mais se concasse avec un mortier, ne demandez pas de moulin à la patronne !

Mes derniers achats : du sumac, de la racine de galanga, du carvi, du “poivre” Cubèbe pour les crustacés et du poivre d’indonésie Lampung pour le pavé de boeuf !

Dans un style décidemment moins poshy, le Minh, 112 bis rue Jules Guesde, vous propose à peu près tout ce que vous pouvez chercher pour cuisiner exotique. N’hésitez surtout pas à demander à la patronne elle connait son magasin à donf et saura vous dénicher les graines de courge ou le basilic thaï en deux coup de cuillère à pot. Les poissons séchés qui se tiennent tranquillement dans un coin sont un peu effrayants mais les petites merveilles que l’on trouve partout à bon prix dans ce magasin compensent largement tout ça ! Méfiez vous des autres supérettes asiatiques de la rue Jules Guesde, je n’y jamais trouvé un aussi bon conseil qu’au Minh… de plus plus vous êtes proche de la rue Gambetta et plus les prix sont élevés : c’est le gradient bobocentrique Petite astuce supplémentaire, n’hésitez pas à demander une carte de fidélité, la boutique ne la distribue pas du tout systématiquement d’après ce que j’ai pu observer (business is business my friend !)

Mes achats favoris chez Minh : le riz Phénix, le riz gluant pour le petit déj, le lait de coco, quelques curries, la sauce soja, le basilic thaï, du gingembre frais, quelques épices, les cacahuètes au lait de coco, les chips de crevette, les nouilles à sauter, la citronnelle et parfois des aubergines thaïes

Fans of BATE Borisov taunt their opponents Everton on Matchday 2. Everton, however, had the last laugh winning 2-1.

In the second half of our UEFA Europa League group stage round-up “Stoppage Time” looks at the groups that concluded on Thursday, December 17th:

GROUP A (RSC ANDERLECHT, AJAX AMSTERDAM, DINAMO ZAGREB, FC TIMISOARA)

Blessed with years of European experience and tradition, Benelux neighbours Ajax Amsterdam and RSC Anderlecht of Brussels easily negotiated their way through this group. Their Matchday 6 match in Amsterdam still had some importance, though, as Anderlecht’s 3-1 win meant that they topped the group on account of a better head-to-head record over their Dutch challengers, both teams finishing on eleven points. Dinamo Zagreb were optimistic of further progress earlier in the competition as they had three points from two matches but they failed to build on their good start. Champions League Play-Off losers FC Timisoara scored a respectable five points on their maiden Europa League campaign but still finished fourth in the group table.

GROUP B (VALENCIA CF, LILLE, GENOA FC, SLAVIA PRAGUE)

Valencia secured qualification and the top spot on Matchday 6. They went into their game away at Genoa needing only a point to be certain of going through to the last 32 whilst hosts Genoa needed all three points to finish at least second. With the game tied at 1-1 in stoppage time, David Villa was gifted the ball from Genoa goalkeeper Alessio Scarpi to secure the victory in the 94th mnute. Elsewhere Lille’s 3-1 win at home to Slavia Prague ensured that they finished second, two points behind the leaders. Slavia, who have dominated the Czech league in the last two seasons, have been struggling domestically this season and this form was transferred into Europe as they remained without a victory after six games.

GROUP C (HAPOEL TEL AVIV, HAMBURGER SV, GLASGOW CELTIC, RAPID VIENNA)

Israeli side Hapoel were the surprise winners of this group finishing two points ahead of German giants Hamburg. Their Matchday 6 encounter in Tel Aviv ended as a 1-0 win for the hosts and it was they who leapfrogged “HSV” into first place. The biggest disappointment of the group were Scottish club Celtic who were unable to re-create their many great European nights under new coach Tony Mowbray. Among the highlights of the group were the encounters involving Celtic and Austrians Rapid Vienna, whose little known rivalry dates back to a controversial European Cup Winners’ Cup second round match in 1984-85. Both games ended drawn but the Matchday 6 encounter would’ve felt like a win for the Glasgow giants as they came back from 3-0 down after 18 minutes to draw 3-3 with virtually the last kick of the game and demote their Austrian hosts to last place.

GROUP G (RED BULL SALZBURG, VILLARREAL CF, SS LAZIO, LEVSKI SOFIA)

The only team who finished their campaign with a 100% record was Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg suggesting that they could be a good outside bet to go far in the competition. Huub Stevens’ men beat all challengers home and away to finish a clear nine points ahead of second place Villarreal. Italian capital side Lazio frustrated their followers as they could only win two of their six games and finished three points behind the little Spanish village team. Bulgarians Levski Sofia fared little better than their local rivals CSKA (see previous blog) finishing bottom with three points.

GROUP H (FENERBAHCE, FC TWENTE ENSCHEDE, STEAUA BUCHAREST, FC SHERIFF TIRASPOL)

Steve McClaren’s FC Twente were looking comfortable after two games but then nearly blew their qualifications chances. After Turkish side Fenerbahce secured the leadership of the group, FC Twente were relying on them to do them a favour on Matchday 6. Twente needed a win away at 1986 European champions Steaua Bucharest but could only manage a 1-1 draw in very cold, frosty conditions played in front of a sparse crowd. However the surprise team FC Sheriff from Moldova had to win against the already-qualified “Fener” to grab the second spot but the Turkish team did McClaren’s a favour beating the Moldovans 1-0.

GROUP I (SL BENFICA, EVERTON FC, BATE BORISOV, AEK ATHENS)

No surprises in group I were Benfica and Everton went through to the Round of 32 with one match to spare. Benfica, in particular, showed their class in their two matches with nearest challengers Everton scoring seven goals without reply in their two games (5-0 at home and 2-0 away). The Merseysiders, however, did progress thanks to three wins out of four against their eastern European opponents, the only defeat coming on Matchday 6 at home to Belarussian champions BATE Borisov but Everton were already through to the next round and played a very young team on the night. Benfica finished top with 15 points (only a shock defeat away at a very poor AEK Athens denied them a 100% record), Everton scored nine points, BATE avoided the wooden spoon scoring seven points compared to AEK’s four points.

In Three Sheets To The Wind, Pete Brown decides that the Belgian people are committing some kind of massive practical joke on the rest of the world. Perceived wisdom seems to be that Belgium is a tedious country with nothing to see beyond the wonderful beauty of Bruges (if you haven’t been to Bruges, go. If you can’t afford to go, watch In Bruges, it’s very funny and makes the city look as stunning as it actually is).

This, as Pete Brown attests is very wrong. Not only are Belgian people, almost to a man (or woman) very entertaining, but their cities are fantastic and, most of all, the make the most interesting and diverse beers you can dream off (the legendary beer writer Michael Jackson wrote a great book all about the range and brilliance of Belgian beers).

My affection for Belgium brought me back to the country (via a quick trip to Lille, which is in France, but was once a part of Flanders, which is in Belgium) for the third time and coincided with drinking a fair few fantastic beers.

So, the holiday starts with leaving the Eurostar (a truly great way to travel) and arriving in Lille. This being a beer blog, I’m not going to go into detail about the architecture (partly because I can’t), the historic points of interest or the culture I’ve seen. Rather, I’m going to launch into the beer, bars and occasionally the food (the three are intrinsically linked).

So Lille, we hit a bar called Les Trois Brasseurs. It seems like a lovely little micro-brewery and brasserie (although it turns out it’s actually a small French chain with micro-breweries in most of it bars, but Lille is the original site). We start off with a tasting platter of four of their beers, before I pick out their stout (smokey, malty thick and chocolatey) and my girlfriend goes for the blond (a strong, Belgian style blond ale, crisp, simple and refreshing). We wander the streets, doing some culture and that, getting food, before returning for a 75cl bottle of their speciality beer, La Belle Province, a dark red beer which is refermented with maple syrup. It’s good, but far from stunning. An ample warm up for the treats of Belgium though.

Antwerp Train Station - not bad, eh?

Lille being very far North in France, and Belgium being tiny, Belgium can be travelled around at very little cost and in very little time, so we start with two nights in Antwerp (0r Antwerpen, if you’re being Flemish). Antwerp is very wealthy. They have the biggest diamond market in Europe, a fair few champagne bars and a thriving fashion scene. It’s a great city for wandering around and gawping, with magnificent squares, some amazing imposing architecture and a giant sculpture of a hand in the middle of the main shopping street (Antwerp means thrown hand, apparently).

That doesn’t mean it’s all swanky, fancy beers here though. We start our Belgian drinking at De Vagant, an old-fashioned style bar that specialises in Jenever (a kind of Belgian gin) but also stocks a good range of beers. Plus, they do hearty portions of soup and bread for a mere €3 and have a lovely old cat milling around. It’s a classic old style bar, long wooden benches, stone tiles, candles and quiet classical music piped across (all the best bars play classical music, it’s probably why drinking here is so placid with no hint of aggression). We have a couple of beers, including a sweet and dark Grimbergen, and De Konnick, a good, but unexceptional pilsner brewed in Antwerp. It’s the local brew of choice, apparently.

It’s actually surprising how many people drink pils here, instead of the richer, stronger abbey-style beers. But then if you spent every night on beers that range between 7% and 12%, your liver would struggle, I guess.

The real highlight, drinking-wise in Antwerp comes in Kulminator that night. A small, crammed smokey bar with strings of sausages flopping around the bar, two cats dancing around the window front, loads of cheese (including aged stuff from the Rochefort and Orval breweries) and shelf-upon-shelf and crate-upon-crate of beer. What’s really noticeable is the ancient, dust-laden bottles on the top shelves. See, while Kulminator do a great range of standard bottles, and some amazing draft beers (we take two very strong, dark, Christmas ales, a Stille Nacht and Bush Noel) and, most interesting of all, lots of very old beer.

The back of the menu is selling beers for beyond €30 a bottle, and it’s because they deal in vintaged bottles of beer. You can, if you ask nicely and have the cash, get 25 year old geuze, or two year old Chimay, or, just about any Belgian beer you can ever want.

An old guild building in Ghent

One way to tell an especially strong beer, is a warning at the bottom of the menu that they will only sell you three of said beer. Thus was the case when we visited Ghent and Het Waterhuis Aan De Bierkant. This lovely canal-side bar (Ghent, like Bruge, is full of canals. In fact, Ghent is like a larger, more lived in Bruge. But not quite as beautiful). In this bar, one of their house beers (or Huis Biers – Flemish words often look and sound like English word spoken in a childish tone, thanks lot is “dank u well”), named Klocke Roeland – named after a bell in the city’s Belfry, the middle of three big towers in the city – is rich, strong, slightly red and full of aniseed and banana notes. It’s gorgeous, heavy and kicks in at over 11%.

In retrospect, a beer that strong wasn’t the best thing to drink before going to t’Velootje. Velootje (meaning small bicycle) is, by far, the strangest bar I have ever entered. As you reach the bar there is nothing, other than an Orval plaque, that suggest you are at a bar. The stack of bikes pilled outside the bar, the stiff door that needs a real shove to open, the long curtain than you’re then faced with, then the dim, smokey darkness, don’t scream ‘this is somewhere you would be welcome’.

As your eyes adjust to the gloom, it doesn’t get any easier to get your head round. The ceiling is full, absolutely packed, with hanging, rusting bicycles. The walls carry old beer posters and religious imagery. The tables (two long wooden tables with matching benches either side) have paper and packaging piled around them, alongside a pail holding archaic beer mats (all of them filthy) and religious artifacts and tat. In a corner an old man in shorts and sparkling tights skulks by a fire. A computer sits by him with a cat curled up nearby.

After a few minutes, the tight wearing man comes up to us. “So, you want a beer, he asks?” “Yes”, we reply. That the last option we’re given. He heads off to the back and returns with a beer called Kerst Pater, a 9% sherry-ish Christmas beer, complete with a deep, curranty flavour. We get no glass, and don’t really want to ask.

While we chat with the drunken locals (who work through Duvels and Monty Python quotes at speed), the owner approaches us. “What are your names?” he asks, and we tell him. “The police might arrive, if they do, we are friends, and you are not paying for your beer.” Ok, we nod in agreement and take his name, Leuven, for surety.

Sure enough, the police do arrive (the locals give us a mixed bag of reasons, a trouble neighbour, the open fire, the lack of fire exits and ventilation, the fact it’s an anarchist bar) and stick around for a fair while filling in forms, while we do our best to appear like friends enjoying a few beer in Leuven’s open front room.

Thankfully, the police soon leave, and we ask Leuven for one more beer. He returns with a monster that I know was 12% (my head told me that much the next morning), again with no glass. We drink it willingly, singing along with Leuven’s choice of music (60s psychedelic pop, 50s rock’n'roll, great stuff) as well as some Flemish drinking songs, and, odd enough, Abba’s ‘Thankyou For The Music’.

That’s definitely the last beer of the night. We leave our new friends and head off back to our room. “Will you be open tomorrow?” we ask. “Maybe,” he says. “I might clean”. We somewhat doubt that.

There’s one more city left, our favourite and two more bars to tell you about. Bruges, as I have already mentioned, is magnificent. Beautiful canals, nothing but gorgeous old architecture, grand town houses and old arced bridges. It’s all you could hope it would be, especially if you avoid the two bustling shopping streets and all the tourists.

The bars are good too, if you leave the obvious places and tourist traps. De Garre is, probably, the best. It’s hidden down a narrow alley between two famous old squares. You would barely notice it was there, but after one visit you’d be heading right back. The small, two floor bar is fancy, but not pretentious or too expensive. It’s rustic-feeling, with old wood tables, wonky twisted stairs and a squat bar. It’s table service done with aplomb and the real treat is their own beer Tripel Van Der Garre. A proper, powerful Belgian Tripel that, like the rest of the beers at the bar, comes complete with a small portion of tasty cheese (truly one of the best things about drinking in Belgium).

Dulle Teve in t'Bruges Beertje

Perhaps the biggest draw for beers lovers though is t’Bruges Beertje (aka The Bruges Bear). You can tell the Bear is a beer-lovers haven because it has a photo of Michael Jackson (the writer) above a mantelpiece, a thick, bound beer menu and loads of people in it all drinking great Belgian beer.

Like Kulminator, there’s plenty of aged stuff here, and loads of Christmas beers too. I go for Straffe Hendrick though, a tripel beer brewed by Halve Moon brewery within the walls of Bruges. It’s actually not as great as I had hoped (having tried and enjoyed the brewery’s blond beer Bruges Zot and its dark sister on a previous visit to Belgium), strong, certainly, but lacking any distinctive flavours. Much better is the Dolle Brewer’s (literally, mad brewers) Dulle Teve (aka Mad Bitch), it packs a massive punch and comes with flavours of tropical fruits and licorice in its golden sheen.

A fellow Brit recognises us from our trip to De Garre and indulges in some serious beer one-up-manship with us. ‘Oh so you like Rodenbach? Have you tried the Gran Cru?’ ‘Yes, yes we have’ and so on. His beery tales and experiences far over shadow ours though, and we give up. His parting shot is to recommend the Christmas beer by Gouden Carolus. When he returns to our table a little later, he’s upset to see we haven’t tried his suggestion. Lucky for us, he vanishes for a moment, and returns with a glass of the stuff, a deliciously thick, malty, treacly beer that’s a perfect Christmas warmer. What a nice chap.

And with that, we bring a close to my commentary on Belgium. This is obviously nowhere near a full account of the holiday. We visited museums, churches and galleries (including an Anime exhibition in an old monastery in Ghent), saw some really famous paintings by the Belgian masters (all of them deeply religious), loads of amazing guild buildings, walked along canals, trod the streets of the city and caught up with a Belgian friend. Oh, and ate a fair bit too (plenty of cheese’n'beer, plus the obligatory soups and, best of all, a beef stew made using Leffe).

If you’ve read this and not visited Belgium before, I hope you might reconsider now.

So here is the Europa League Draw – 1st Knockout Round

Pot one: Anderlecht,  Benfica,  Fenerbahce,  Hapoel Tel Aviv,  Galatasaray, Juventus,  Marseille,  PSV Eindhoven,  Roma,  Salzburg,  Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting,  Unirea Urziceni,  Werder Bremen,  Wolfsburg,  Valencia.

Pot Two: Ajax,  Athletic Bilbao,  Atletico Madrid,  Club Brugge,  Everton,  FC Copenhagen,  FC Twente,  Fulham,  Hamburg,  Hertha Berlin,  Lille, Liverpool,  Panathinaikos,  Rubin Kazan,  Standard Liege,  Villarreal.

1st Knockout Round Draw

Rubin Kazan v Hapoel Tel Aviv
Athletic Bilbao v Anderlecht
Copenhagen v Marseille
Atletico Madrid v Galatasaray
Panathinaikos v Roma
Club Brugge v Valencia
Ajax v Juventus
Atletico Madrid v Galatasaray
Fulham v Shakhtar Donetsk
Liverpool v Unirea Urziceni
Standard Liege v Salzburg
Villarreal v Wolfsburg
Hamburg v PSV Eindhoven
Everton v Sporting
Lille v Fenerbahce
Hertha Berlin v Benfica

So There you Go, Please go here for Discussion of the Europa League 1st knockout round draw.

Written by Jarv

As Always for all your European football discussion and Match discussion please visit Away Goals Rule Football Forum

EDIT: Here is the draw for the 2nd Round

DINAMO ZAGABRIA – TIMISOARA

Pronostico: GOAL SQUADRA DI CASA

Quota: 1,10

Risultato: 1-2

—

LILLE – SLAVIA PRAGA

Pronostico: 1

Quota: 1,25

Risultato: 3-1

—

GENOA – VALENCIA

Pronostico: GOAL SQUADRA CASA

Quota: 1,27

Risultato: 1-2

—

So the first time I saw this phenomenon, I laughed out loud. And it still makes me chuckle. In the last few days, it has been freezing at night here. Since the Lillois aren’t used to scraping ice off of their windshields, they don’t necessarily have the correct tools for the job, so it follows that they don’t like to do it. But that damn frost is going to get on there anyway if they don’t do something about it! So here’s what they do – put something against the windshield to prevent the frost from forming! No matter that your car looks ridiculous and you should probably clean off your side and rear windows too. Being saved from scraping that front windshield is worth going to quite a lot of trouble! Check it out:

This guy tried the newspaper approach, but it just blows off. Not a great method.

Big boxes flattened out seem to be the most popular.

This was the first sheet I saw. They have it tucked nicely into the front doors!

Scraping ice is SUCH a drag! I know, we’ll wrap our truck in a blanket overnight!

The quest for immortality is a profoundly difficult endeavor, what with Hayflick limits, and your various viruses and bacteria, and of course, the constant bombardment by free radicals. And while digitizing ourselves seems to be the most practical and popular way forward, it holds certain risks as well… namely, computer viruses and spyware/adware (could you imagine if they could be secretly downloaded into you? You’d suddenly encounter erectile dysfuntion in that wet dream, or worse, that wet dream would involve the guy with the lady-hair from the UPS spots), vulnerability to electromagnetic pulses, or, worse, the loss of our humanity. Voluntarily transforming ourselves into robots… is that really what we want?

Which of course makes the Honcho Awards, currently, the only way to ensure your immortality. This isn’t up for debate. Alas, with my persnickety standards and rigorous yet mysterious grading system, it’s only slightly less difficult to achieve than the aformentioned theoretical perpetuities and three times as awesome. And yet, until Pfizer or Novartis or Bayer releases that miracle pill (Foreverol? Eternol? Perpetuol?), my exacting criterions are all you got. I’m your only hope. This power that I hold… the ability to decide who does or doesn’t go into the everlasting… it’s not for the meek. Heavy is the weight I carry. My miraculously broad shoulders come in handy.

So who enters the world without time this week? Well, how about…

- Ndamukang Suh, for his ridiculous obliteration of Texas’ offensive line. He finished the Big 12 Championship game with 4.5 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, 12 tackles and 2 QB pressures. The best big-game performance by a defensive lineman this particularly choosy awards allocator can remember. He might have solidified himself as the #1 overall pick in next year’s NFL draft. He definitely cast himself into the ether of timelessness. And now, NFL scouts can see how he fares when matched up one on one with Thor, or Hercules. We imagine they’ll think he’s “sudden”.

- Bruce Gradkowski, for his stirring 4th quarter performance on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sure, it was the Steelers minus Troy Polamalu (henceforth referred to as S-TP), but it was the Oakland Raiders. Maybe I didn’t address that with the appropriate stress… let’s try some different formatting… it was the “¿Oakland Raiders?!” That’s better. Gradkowski threw more touchdowns against S-TP in the last 10 minutes of the game than the Raiders had thrown all season. Honcho-worthy? All signs point to yes.

- Lisandro Lopez, for his hat trick against Lille. Alas, if I were to introduce some sort of anti-Honcho award (maybe a Mad Adam Trophy… hmmm…) for ineptitude, Lyon’s defense and goalkeeper would surely qualify, for allowing Lille to score four and win the game. Thrilling game though, and were it not for Lopez’ acumen, Lyon would have been on the ass-end of a 4-0 scoreline. At least he made it respectable.

- Dwyane Wade, for his double-double against Sacramento. Specifically, 34 points and 10 assists. The only other players this season to score at least 30 points and get 10 assists? Lebron James and Chris Paul. And truly, with the game becoming more of a me-first affair, anytime anyone reaches double-digit assists, I’m going to notice. 30 points and 10 rebounds? Meh, good game, but certainly not worth a Honcho. But what Wade did? Welcome to the gates of Valhalla, young phenom. The password is “self-breema“.

- Chris Gayle, for his test hundred (an unbeaten 155, to be exact) against Australia. Gayle, struck with a case of atypical patience, shrewdly picked his spots and led the West Indies back into a test match that, for all intents and purposes, they were out of 10 days ago. Whether it leads to a win or a well-deserved draw, Gayle has united the squad when it seemed, by every right, they were falling apart. Give that man a Honcho.

- Marc Savard, for his hat trick during the Bruins 7-2 pasting of the Toronto Maple Leafs. OK, so they still win by 3 goals without his contributions, do we hold that against him? Of course not. Instead, we give the man a Honcho, and put the name Marc Savard into the pantheon, next to Albert Einstein, and Nostradamus, and Jim Varney.

- Robert Meachem, for his game-changing plays against the Redskins. First, there’s the 53 yard touchdown he caught to send the game into overtime… that was nice and all, but nothing compared to the other one. I’m sure you’ve all seen it by now, so I won’t bore you with the details… except to say that Saints QB Drew Brees dropped back to pass late in the first half, was pressured, and threw an ill-advised pass into coverage. It was intercepted by Kareem Moore, who, after picking himself up off the ground, began to return it towards the Saints end zone. Meachem, a wide receiver for the Saints not involved with the play, knifed between two would-be blockers (as in, they would be blockers if they knew how to block) and wrapped Moore up. As he was slinging him to the ground, he began to pull at the ball, jarring it free just before Moore went to the ground. The ball popped fortuitiously into Meachem’s arms, and he ran unscathed, into the Redskins end zone. The fact that Meachem even went for the strip is either great coaching, or just a savvy, veteran play from a relatively young player, as Meachem is an offensive player, and thus wouldn’t really need the skills or the mindset to try and strip the ball. So he went above and beyond (unlike the Redskins defenders, who could have blocked Meachem as Moore returned the ball, but showed their incompetence in this regard), and, in this world, above and beyond = Honcho Award.

- Fabio Quagliarella, for breaking his slump in style, with two goals and an assist in leading Napoli to a come-from-behind victory against Bari. That’s the kind of all-around performance we look for out of Honcho winners, and the fact that the Partenopei needed every bit of his contribution to usurp the Galletti makes it all the more laudable. So please accept our lauds, Fabio, and continue with the knowledge that yours is a name that will live on in famy.

- Mardy Gilyard, for his starring role in that crazy Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game. Did you see that game? That was what they like to refer to in elitist linguistic circles as a “doozy”. Pittsburgh jumped all over Cincinnati in the early going, leading by as much as 31-10. That’s when Gilyard went to work. First, his teammates (and coach!) were approaching him, begging him for a big play. Rare is the man that delivers a big play when he’s asked to (it’s really a more organic sort of thing… it happens when it happens), but here, we have one of those men. Just before halftime, and immediately after Pitt had taken their 31-10 lead, Gilyard returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD. Hello momentum swing. Then he caught a 68 yard TD in the 3rd quarter. After Pitt scored again to restore their 2 TD lead, Gilyard returned the next kickoff 49 yards to set up Cincy’s next TD. In total, Gilyard caught 5 passes for 118 yards and racked up 256 return yards. Yes, that’s 256, the most all-season in FBS (Division 1-A). Pull up a chair, Mr. Gilyard.

- Ed Hochuli, for threats to my well-being for rocking those new ref unis like I’m rocking the webosphere; powerfully, palpably, and suggestively. A man after my own award. And OK, maybe there’s just the slightest hint of selling out here… just a smidge. A dash. A sprinkling. But “sell out” is such a harsh phrase. Am I a sell out for kowtowing and pandering to the suggestions of my readers? I am, you say. It’s the the very definition of a sell out, you go on to say. OK… well… fine. I’m a sell out, so sue me. Just don’t expect to be joining me and other Ed here in the halls of greatness. Your loss.

So there you have it. To this week’s Honcho winners; you’ll be joining us in the Great White Tower of Infinites on the morrow. There will be a continental breakfast and bed service, but you’ll need to bring your own toothbrush. There were complimentary ones, but Ra has appropriated them all for some sort of toothbrush-castle he’s building. We have to distract him with mundane little projects or he gets bored and threatens to destroy the world, that sort of thing. And as lame as it sounds, it’s actually pretty cool. You’ll have to check it out when you get here. But yeah, bring your own toothbrush.

Gervinho netted a stoppage-time winner as Lille overturned a 3-1 half-time deficit for a stunning Ligue 1 defeat of Lyon.

Lisandro Lopez put Lyon ahead in the opening minute before adding a second from the penalty spot and a third to complete his hat-trick after Pierre-Alain Frau had pulled a goal back.

But if the first half belonged to the visitors, the second was Lille’s as Gervinho netted his first, Yohan Cabaye equalised from the penalty spot and Gervinho popped up with a last-gasp winner.

Lisandro fired the visitors ahead inside 60 seconds, shooting past Mickael Landreau after a flowing move involving Bafetimbi Gomis and Kim Kallstrom.

Hugo Lloris denied Gervinho after eight minutes before Lamine Gassama cleared Ludovic Obraniak’s header off the line.

Lille had another opportunity when Cabaye released Gervinho in the penalty area, but Lloris made an acrobatic double save to deny the hosts an equaliser.

Lisandro doubled Lyon’s advantage after 21 minutes, sending Landreau the wrong way from the penalty spot after Obraniak was adjudged to have handled Miralem Pjanic’s free-kick.

Frau pulled a goal back for Lille two minutes later. Lloris saved Cabaye’s header but could not prevent Frau heading in the rebound.

Lisandro struck his third after 34 minutes after a solo slalom run which culminated in a strong shot to beat Landreau.

Lille were not disheartened though and Gervinho outmuscled Jean Alain-Boumsong and beat Lloris from an acute angle to make it 3-2.

Boumsong almost added to Lille’s tally by deflecting Adil Rami’s effort towards goal, but Lloris saved.

Tulio de Melo’s stunning header was then saved by Lloris as Lille again threatened.

But the equaliser came from a Cabaye penalty after Gassama had fouled Mathieu Debuchy in the area.

Gervinho went close to a winner after 73 minutes but again found Lloris in fine form before his second arrived to give Lille a memorable triumph.

Francois Clerc lost the ball to Eden Hazard, who flicked the ball to Gervinho and the Brazilian beat Lloris with a strong shot.

ESPNSoccernet.com

Lille est revenu de nulle part ! A l’occasion du match de clôture de la 16e journée de Ligue 1, les Dogues ont remis de l’ordre dans la maison en obtenant un précieux et spectaculaire succès contre l’OL (4-3). Pourtant, Lyon menait bien à la pause grâce à un triplé de Lisandro Lopez (2e, 22e et 35e). Mais une réalisation de Frau en première période (24e), un doublé de Gervinho (54e, 90e) et un but sur penalty de Cabaye (70e) ont changé la face du match. Quatrième, l’OL reste à cinq longueurs de Bordeaux. Les Dogues remontent au 10e rang.

Après un cinq buts partout du plus bel effet, mais inquiétant défensivement entre l’OL et l’OM lors de la 13e journée, Lille et Lyon ont offert un nouveau récital en Ligue 1 lors de leur affrontement au Stadium Lille-Métropole (4-3). Claude Puel pourra quant à lui sérieusement songer à remodeler une défense qui prend évidemment trop l’eau pour contester l’hégémonie bordelaise en tête du classement. Car en l’état actuel des choses, impossible de croire que ce septuple champion de France pourra coiffer une couronne laissée à Bordeaux la saison passée.

Incapable de remporter le moindre match lors de ses 5 dernières prestations et restant sur 3 résultats nuls en Ligue 1, Lyon se devait de l’emporter contre Lille pour mettre la pression sur le leader bordelais, victorieux samedi soir du PSG dans un match âpre. Défait cette semaine en Ligue Europa à Valence (3-1), le Losc avait quant à lui la volonté de se rattraper face à une formation rhodanienne qui lui avait bien réussi lors des deux derniers matches. Aussi bien en Ligue 1 qu’en Coupe de France en mars dernier, les Nordistes avaient alors eu la peau de Lyon.

Lille, la bête noire

Dès le début de la première période, les choses tournent pourtant au vinaigre pour les hommes de Rudi Garcia, qui a préféré titulariser Obraniak plutôt qu’Hazard dans son entrejeu. Dans un 4-4-2 avec le duo Gomis-Lisandro en pointe, l’OL ne met que deux petites minutes à trouver l’ouverture dans l’arrière-garde nordiste. Gomis se libère sur la gauche et parvient à trouver Källström à quelques mètres de la zone de vérité adverse. Le Suédois sert Lisandro qui enchaîne contrôle et frappe du droit. Croisé, le tir ne laisse aucune chance à Mickaël Landreau dans le but du Losc (2e).

Partie sur une excellente base, la rencontre prend encore un peu plus d’intensité avec les répliques des locaux, bien décidés à ne pas se faire marcher dessus dans leur antre du Stadium Lille Métropole. Dans une première période sans temps mort, Gervinho, l’ancien Manceau, met à mal une première fois la défense rhodanienne sur une accélération côté gauche. Placé à droite de la défense lyonnaise, le jeune Gassama pousse l’Ivoirien mais M. Fautrel laisse le jeu se dérouler. Si Gervinho réclame le penalty, il aurait de toute façon fallu la vidéo pour déterminer l’endroit exact de la faute (11e)… Au lieu de cela, c’est bien l’attaquant nordiste qui écope du premier avertissement de la partie.

Lisandro, un triplé pour rien…

Défait une seule fois depuis le début de la saison à domicile, par Lorient lors de la 1ère journée (1-2), Lille imprime un gros rythme et met à mal un quatuor défensif olympien beaucoup moins inspiré que son attaque avec Lisandro en tête. Mais à deux reprises, Lille manque l’égalisation, d’abord sur une tête de Frau repoussée sur sa ligne par Gassama (15e), puis par Cabaye qui perd son duel contre Lloris (16e).

Face au but lillois, “Licha” se pose beaucoup moins de questions et profite d’un penalty sifflé par M. Fautrel, pour une main de Cabaye dans son rectangle vert, pour doubler la mise. Tiré plein axe, Lisandro fusille Landreau pour la seconde fois (22e). L’attaquant argentin est d’ailleurs dans tous les bons coups lyonnais et confirme son statut de superstar de la Ligue 1. Michel Bastos, absent contre son ancien club, doit quant à lui apprécier le travail depuis son poste de télévision. Si Frau réduit la marque sur une tête à bout portant, le mal semble déjà être fait (24e). Lisandro a pris un ascendant sur ses adversaires. Servi une nouvelle fois par Källström sur l’aile gauche, l’Argentin percute et enrhume Rami sur un crochet avant de placer son tir dans le soupirail droit de Landreau (35e).

Une défense rhodanienne catastrophique

Menant à la pause, Lyon n’a qu’à gérer son avantage de deux buts pour se rapprocher à deux longueurs de Bordeaux. Avec Lloris dans une forme olympique, l’OL semble parti pour s’offrir une seconde période de tout repos. C’est mal connaître la solidarité nordiste. Avec une charnière centrale Bousmong-Cris à l’agonie sur chaque opportunité lilloise, Lyon perd le fil du match secondes après secondes et voit les Dogues mordre dans le ballon et partir en conquête du but adverse. Si Frau ne met pas assez de conviction dans son tir (52e), Gervinho profite d’une ouverture de Mavuba pour déposer Boumsong couloir droit avant d’armer une frappe puissante décroisée (54e). Lloris KO debout, Lille n’en reste pas là et se prend à rêver d’un retour tonitruant devant son public. C’est chose faite quand Gassama tacle le pied d’appui de Debuchy dans sa propre surface de réparation. Cabaye transforme la sentence et Jean-Michel Aulas, comme Bernard Lacombe dans les tribunes, ne peut que pester contre cette défense sans ressort (70e).

Dominé dans le jeu, Lyon se fait reprendre et perd définitivement la boule dans le temps additionnel. Clerc piégé par Hazard, le jeune Nordiste trouve ensuite Gervinho pour le plat du pied de la victoire (92e). Assommé, l’OL repart groggy de son déplacement à Villeneuve-d’Ascq. Et ce n’est pas les bonnes prestations de Lisandro et Lloris qui redonneront du baume au coeur de Claude Puel. Lisandro et Lloris, ou les arbres qui cachent une forêt d’approximations…

Football.fr

While I have really come to love living in Northern France (beloved Nord Pas de Calais), my homesickness has recently kicked into overdrive. That’s not to say that I want to leave the program at all. I’m even toying with the idea of staying in France for another year. But I certainly do need that two-week break in the United States, only 17 days away from now.

The lonely feeling became palpable last week. It started with teaching my French students about American Thanksgiving for three days straight before last Thursday. My lesson covered all the bases, starting with a radio clip from Voice of America that discussed the reason behind the holiday, the history of the first Thanksgiving, the famous Macy’s parade and, most importantly, the food. I also included two video clips for discussion: an excerpt from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and the infamous first Thanksgiving summer camp scene from the Addams Family sequel.

But teaching food vocabulary, including turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and stuffing, made me extremely hungry by day’s end. It didn’t help that all I’ve been able to afford for the last few weeks have been bread, cheese and ham. It’s not just me, but most of the Americans in my program were living on no more than 30 to 50€ for half the month until we were finally paid last Friday. (We don’t get a full paycheck at the end of October, only an “advance,” thus just a little amount of Euros left over after paying rent, or go back to exchanging dollars, if there were any left.)

My Thanksgiving Day wasn’t the most traditional. The two highlights of the day were getting my visite medicale over with (after waiting for an appointment since October 1), and eating pizza with some of the other American assistants in Lille. Some of the assistants did plan traditional dinners for Friday and the weekend, but I was in London. So I guess I can’t complain too much then.

My medical visit was quite easy, although it took awhile.When I arrived to the OF-II office in Marcq-en-Baroeul (just outside of Lille) after two hours on the train from Montreuil, I found the office closed. For lunch. From 12-2 PM. But then the time on my appointment letter said 1:30 PM. Of course this would happen. It’s France. Apparently about 10-15 other people had the exact same appointment time as well, including four other Americans. But they re-opened at 1:30 for us, so it worked out. The visit included an eye exam and a chest x-ray. They also took my height and weight numbers, and since it was metric, I had to convert them outside the room on my iPhone to figure out what they said I weighed. My chest x-ray was also simple, which I got to keep. I’m not sure what I’ll do with it. The best part was that’s all free, and I have a big new sticker in my passport proving I’m healthy to live and work in this country.

Although I couldn’t have Thanksgiving here, I do get to experience my other favorite holiday from a whole new perspective. Christmas is huge in France. Les Marchés de Noel (Christmas Markets) are very popular, particularly in regions that border Belgium and Germany. Thus, Lille has set up a huge ferris wheel (The Lille Eye?) and Christmas tree in the Grand Place, as well as a marché in another plaza nearby. The little wooden stalls are adorable and festive, looking more like Santa’s village than any holiday fair I’ve seen in the U.S. Although, a few friends have mentioned to me that it pales in comparison to the one in Strasbourg, possibly France’s grandest Christmas market. I wish I could see it for myself, but I just can’t afford it this year. I still haven’t even been back to Paris yet this year, which also depresses me.

At least I finally saw London at Christmas time. All of the big streets around Oxford and Piccadilly Circuses were decorated with big, bright lights and signs saying “A Christmas Carol.” I’ve always imagined what it would be like to experience a Dickens-like Christmas. Although, without any snow and millions of rude shoppers crowding the streets and Tube, the dream was a bit crushed.

Suite à un échange de tweets avec Marlène et à l’occasion du Colloque international « ressources électroniques : mesures et usages » organisé à Lille les 26 et 27 novembre, j’ai testé « Cover it Live », un outil qui permet le « live-blogging ».

« Cover it Live » ne nécessite pas d’installation en « dur », une inscription (facile et gratuite)  suffit pour y avoir accès.
Prise en main aisée, intuitive, même si une utilisation poussée demande sans doute un petit temps d’adaptation que je n’ai pas eu.
Ce colloque étant aussi l’occasion de retrouver IRL quelques collègues, j’ai partagé le clavier avec @marlened et @nico_AsLi. Ou, devrais-je dire, nous avons « live-bloggué » à 6 mains, possibilité étant offerte d’ inviter des contributeurs sur « Cover it Live » (invitation par mail et zou c’est parti).

Autre intérêt, l’intégration au « live report » des tweets couvrant le colloque, par la simple déclaration du hashtag idoine (#epef09). Seuls les tweets (et re-tweets) provenant de comptes « ouverts » sont intégrés au fil de la discussion. Ainsi d’autres contributeurs nous ont rejoints sur ce « live-report » : @jsicot, @bbober, @piottr70, @gallezot, @yanngriset, et quelques autres. On intègre donc pendant le compte-rendu les échanges sur Twitter à propos de la présentation : voir dans les comptes-rendus les rebonds entre @piotrr70 et @jsicot au sujet de Revues.org par exemple.
Les photos postées sur Twitpic et marquées du hashtag #epef09 sont elles aussi intégrées au fil de la conversation (je vous renvoie aux photos prises par @nico_AsLi qui illustrent les compte-rendus des deux journées).

« Cover it Live » s’avère donc assez complet : on peut intégrer au texte, photos, vidéos, sons, liens vers sites Web (une présentation déposée sur Slideshare par exemple) ou renvoyer les « lecteurs » sur le site dont parle l’intervenant, et ces derniers peuvent commenter la retransmission.
Autrement dit, le « live-blogging » d’un colloque pour lequel les supports de présentation auraient été mis à la disposition des participants à l’avance serait encore plus intéressant, je n’ai pu intégrer à mon « live-report » que quelques « slides » récupérées tant bien que mal.

On dispose également de statistiques (vous avez été respectivement 132 et 100 à vous connecter jeudi et vendredi, merci) et nous n’avons pas pensé à proposer des sondages en temps réel (pour ou contre les PPT surchargés?), mais c’est également possible. On peut également revenir sur son texte pour le corriger, l’enrichir.Et il y a même une position « veille » pour les pauses-café…
Une fois l’ « event » fini, le compte-rendu est immédiatement accessible.

Les possibilités offertes par «Cover it Live» sont assez étendues pour que ce mode de retransmission se généralise  et fasse partie intégrante de chaque manifestation : Campagne d’information en amont de l’évènement (rappels par mails), affichage de la fenêtre de lecture sur le site Web de l’évènement, «branding»aux couleurs de l’évènement (avec un peu d’anticipation on évite de mettre une photo de la Chartreuse pour illustrer un colloque lillois…).

Au final ça donne un compte-rendu certes partiel (partial même parfois), mais qui reflète assez bien je crois la teneur des communications qui nous ont été faites (et l’ambiance qui régnait au colloque…).

Y’a plus qu’à donc.

Cela étant dit, le compte-rendu de la journée du 26 est disponible ici, celui de la journée du 27 là.
Et vous, vous en avez pensé quoi?

I know I’m super late to the Lisa Hannigan party, but after seeing her live I’m enjoying her music much more. She has this particularly beautiful song called Lille from her 2009 record Sea Sew.

Her voice is superb, and there’s sweet harmonium and beautiful sparkly glock. It’s such a beautiful song… listen.

Del 12 de Desembre al 2 de Gener podreu trobar la col·lecció “Bichos” de Factotum a la Galeria Alliage 925 de Lille, França.

Since December 12th to January 2nd you will find “Bichos” collection from Factotum at Alliage 925 Gallery in Lille, France.

Le “Live Blogging” de la journée du 27 nov. c’est par ici

People are very friendly in Southern France. They don’t like to be in a hurry. It is normal for them a lunch or a dinner to take more than 2 hours but in such a place does it matter?

Southern France city of Villefranche

The atmosphere in Villefrance is peaceful, ideal if you want to be left alone with your thoughts.

All the houses in Villefranche have wine cellars – something very typical for Southern France but not that usual for the rest of Europe. The old houses with their medieval appearance, inner yards and thick wooden tables able to host 20 guests, made me feel just as if I was teenager again reading “The three mousquetaires”.

When I was visiting my French friends for a dinner one evening, they put on the table 5 identical bottles of wine without labels. French people are excellent hosts – their food is excellent, their wine is excellent and their friendship, in case you have won it, is special. So it appeared that all the bottles were Beaujolais dating from different years.

They told me it was cheaper to buy them from the producers without labels. Our host opened the first bottle, poured in each glass some wine and we tasted it. Then he told us to throw away the rest. He opened the second bottle and we did the same ritual again. Thus we tried all the 5 bottles. No need to say the wine was very good.

In French supermarkets there is an inscription at wine departments “vins divins” literary meaning “divine wines.” I think this is the confession of people who know how to live.

Histoire d’une renaissance

“La ville est très attrayante pour ceux qui, comme moi, ont vécu plusieurs années à Barcelone, car elle offre de curieuses analogies avec la capitale catalane malgré leurs différences de destin : l’une, dévastée guerre après guerre depuis les Carolingiens ; l’autre, à peine touchée par deux bombardements. Cependant, au milieu du XXe siècle, l’une et l’autre étaient des centres industriels barbouillés de suie, envahis par la crasse, le chaos urbain, le désordre et la mauvaise vie. A tel point que leurs propres habitants les jugeaient infâmes, même si ces villes passaient pour pittoresques aux yeux de l’esthète étranger.

(…) quand [Stéphane Lebecq, professeur d’histoire médiévale à l’université de Lille] était enfant, vers 1960, il avait honte chaque fois qu’il rentrait dans sa ville après un été passé aux Pays-Bas ou en Bretagne, lieux impeccables, policés, ornés de monuments intacts depuis l’Antiquité. Lille, en revanche, était un lazaret de brique entouré d’un parc industriel empoisonné. Son opulente bourgeoisie vivait dans l’une des pires villes européennes.

Puis, soudain, vers les années 1970, cette ville à demi-morte est revenue miraculeusement à la vie (…) L’effort local conjugué à l’appui du centre allait assurer aux Lillois une victoire définitive en 2004, après qu’ils eurent décroché le titre de capitale européenne de la culture et donné la dernière impulsion à la tâche commencée trente ans plus tôt. Au fond, c’est une histoire qui ressemble à celle des Jeux olympiques de Barcelone en 1992 (…)

La Lille actuelle est charmante, toute en teintes ocre, citrouille et bleu indigo, parsemée de terrasses. Son centre piétonnier est vivant, bigarré. Il y vient beaucoup de touristes anglais, belges et néerlandais, ce qui remplit de satisfaction les habitants – et les rues de commerces luxueux. Elle possède en outre un musée sensationnel, le deuxième de France, où (nous y voilà enfin !) on peut admirer un Goya sublime (…) J’espère que le destin des villes refaites n’est pas de mourir, comme les lapins, d’un coup sur la nuque, mais il est certain que, lorsqu’on veut garder toute sa superbe, la chirurgie ne suffit pas (…) Outre le simulacre chirurgical, il faut injecter du sang neuf, mais avec discernement : à Lille, les pansements architecturaux de Rem Koolhaas, de Jean Nouvel, de Christian de Portzamparc ajoutent un mur de verre spectaculaire, telles ces énormes lunettes noires que portent les opérées pour masquer la misère. Comme dans le miroir de Goya, au lieu de dissimuler la chirurgie, le verre scandaleux la rend plus visible, plus éclatante. Car le vrai visage de la ville, c’est le centre où se rassemble la population, loin des hordes touristiques et des ravalements de façade. Son visage authentique, sa vérité.”

Félix de Azúa – El Periódico de Catalunya – 14/05/09

Le “Live Blogging” de la journée du 26 nov. c’est par ici

Un amico mi ha fatto un regalo inspettato indovinando da lontanissimo quello che mi piace. Le sorprese si annidano e quando non faccio gli occhi scuri riesco a scovarle tutte.

Our last day started off a bit grey, slightly damp, but surprisingly mild.  Our train didn’t leave until 20:30, so we had one whole day left to explore.  After breakfast we packed our bag and left it with the hotel, to be collected later on the way to the station.

The Place de la République is a beautiful square with the Palais des Beaux Arts (1892) on one side of the square and the Préfecture (1865) directly opposite on the other.  There is a fountain in the middle in front of the Palais and a modern sunken garden with seating opposite the Préfecture.

We had passed by or through this square many times to and from our hotel.  I thought as the weather was not so great, we should at least go into the Palais to look at the art collection.  There is an entrance to the front of the museum.  In this instance, there was a red velvet curtain covering the doorway which made us think this was not the case.  It is there to keep the draft out.  The museum was very quiet and fairly empty, which I found unusual compared to other art museums I had visited.  We paid our money and checked our coats to look at the collection.  The building is quite grand without being over the top.  On the main floor there is an interesting collection of ceramics from the area and other parts of Europe.  There is also an amazing collection of sculptures.  There were a few little pieces by Rodin that I wouldn’t have minded taking home with me.  After viewing everything on this floor, Amor and I had a break and ordered some coffee from the bar.  It is also possible to order alcoholic drinks and they also serve lunch.  Our coffee was excellent, very strong.

Upstairs is where you will find the painting collections.  There is everything from Dutch Masters, Medieval and religious paintings, Renaissance and some modern.  We made an effort to look at everything, some we liked and others not.  Even if I didn’t like a painting, I could appreciate its’ place in history and the talent and work behind it.  Every once in awhile, I would come across a piece that was truly amazing and inspiring.  Oh, the joy when that happens!

Downstairs, in the basement, there is an incredible of collection of scale models of the former French Netherlands from the 17^th – 19^th Centuries.  These are truly amazing masterpieces of miniaturization and we spent a lot of time here viewing them all.

A visit to any museum is not complete without a visit to the museum shop.  I purchased a copy the English version of The Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille.  It is a wonderful reminder of the beautiful works we had spent the past few hours viewing.  I am looking forward to reading more about the museum and the collection.  The shop also has the typical tourist items such as pens, notebooks, pencil sharpeners, plus some more expensive items such as silk scarves, china cups, jewellery and sculptures.  If the rate of exchange had been better, I might have been tempted to buy one of the scarves as they were very beautiful.  The website listed at the end of this post is very informative thereby making it easier to plan a visit in advance.

When we went outside we were pleased to note that the weather had brightened up.  Where to next?  I wanted to go back to The Old Town.  I am a sucker for bright colours, plasterwork cherubs and wrought iron railings!  We went back to Grand Place in search of food before going to The Old Town.  Being on the constant lookout for sustenance in a country where you don’t speak the language and are on a budget can be tiresome after a few days.  We went into the nearest establishment, The Hippopotamus Restaurant Grill, a chain restaurant.   The prices on the fixed menus were reasonable and I ordered a steak, with salad and chips.  Amor had Thai kebabs to start and a steak with baked potato.  For a chain restaurant, the food was cooked very well and the portions were reasonable.  We skipped coffee and dessert. This was to be our last meal of the day.  If we had wine instead of beer (€5 per bottle of Kronenbourg white beer) the bill would have been more reasonable as the drinks cost almost as much as a meal.

After lunch, we walked towards The Old Town.  We ended up on streets we hadn’t been on before, which is what I had hoped we would do.  I was still searching for another café/patisserie for coffee and cake, but no luck there.  After a nice long walk and to kill some time before we went back to the hotel to collect our bag, we went into a bar, for a beer, and a pit stop (another pissoire).  That is where I got the news of my exchange.  Hallelujah!  We had another beer to celebrate the good news!

On the way back to the hotel I took these photos of the Chambre de Commerce, at night.  They are not that great, but it gives you an idea of how lovely the place is, even in the dark.

We also stopped into a supermarché as I wanted to see if there was anything interesting to bring back home since we had some room in our bag.  Amor found some of the local beer that was on offer at our last restaurant for €9 and being sold in the train station for €12.  We paid €2.50!  We bought a bottle each of Les 3 Monts and Ch’ti, both of which were very good and is recommended if you like blonde beer.

We collected our bag and walked back to the station.  I was a little bit sad to leave as we were just really getting to know and love Lille.  The journey back was a Disneyland nightmare and full of kids making a racket.  Who in their right mind takes kids under the age of 10 to a theme park!  Having a little snooze was out of the question.  Fortunately the rest of the journey, once we got off the Eurostar, was uneventful.

What I have learned from my trip to Lille: Lille is a walking city and is very compact.  The city map makes everything seem further away than it actually is.  Exploring the city in sections was a sensible idea as it gave us an opportunity to take our time and wander at our own pace.  Until the last day, we didn’t go into any of the museums or tourist sites as we wanted to take advantage of the good weather.  By going down a street that is not on the tourist route, one might discover something interesting.   It is very difficult to get lost in Lille.  Wear comfy shoes for walking as some of the older sections of town are cobblestoned, which can make walking difficult in heels.  Unless you have issues with mobility, or are just plain lazy, forget about purchasing a City Pass.  It may let you into most museums for free with unlimited access to public transportation, but how much of it are you actually going to utilise before you realise that it was easier (and cheaper) to walk, and you were only able to go to one museum per day?  I can’t see it being economical unless one is on a strict and regimented schedule to cram in as many museums in one day as possible, or unless the weather is particularly hideous that it is better to be under cover at all costs.  We were fortunate with the weather and walked everywhere.  A three day trip was just enough time to explore and visit a few attractions and to get the feel of the city.

Most Essential Items: The two guide books in my first post were invaluable.  Compared to the MapGuide, The AA guide had more detailed information on the history of Lille, the top ten sights, shopping, eating out, and a couple of walks.  The MapGuide was really useful as the city was divided into sections, with fold out maps of each section, and with basic information about the tourist sites in the area as well as shopping and restaurants.  My camera goes everywhere with me.

What I would do differently next time: The next time I go to Lille I would most likely start my day earlier.  Depending on the weather, I would make an effort to visit more of the attractions such as the Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse, the Befroi de l’Hotel de Ville (Town Hall Belfry) and the many parks and green spaces.  I would eat less food, or eat different food.  I enjoy eating potatoes in any shape or style and am particularly partial to chips, which are served with everything, but there was a bit of over kill on the carb front.  I normally don’t eat wheat and didn’t think a  baguette or piece of cake would an issue, but my digestion can’t handle it and I would really need to be selective with my meals.  As the Euro is almost on par with Sterling, budgeting meals better can mean that there would be more money for shopping!  I would drink wine instead of beer – it’s cheaper and isn’t made of wheat.  I would also pack fewer clothes.  If I needed anything, I could always go into one of the many shops or markets and pick something up!

Palais des Beaux Arts, Place de la République – http://www.pba-lille.fr

Hippopotamus Restaurant Grill, 2, rue Faidherbe – http://www.hippopotamus.fr/

Le 12 novembre, à l’office de tourisme de Roubaix, a été l’occasion de célébrer les 100 ans du Grand Boulevard. Voici déjà un siècle que le centre de Roubaix a été réaménagé, voyant notamment apparaître un moyen de locomotion révolutionnaire : le tramway qui relie Lille à Tourcoing.  José Barbieux et David Grison nous expliquent l’origine de ce projet.

A voir aussi :
-Projet urbain : exposition, Roubaix “fabrique des idées neuves”1/2
- Projet urbain : exposition, Roubaix “fabrique des idées neuves”2/2
- Projet urbain : Ilot Crouy

I woke up refreshed and to find the weather brighter than the day before.  We had a loose agenda for the day:  have breakfast, go to the Wazemmes market, and do some more exploring.

First, breakfast!  The food on offer was a continental breakfast, and what was available was fresh and good.  Coffee came from a machine, which was the only downside for me.  There was a choice of fresh fruit salad, boiled eggs, ham, cheese, cereal, juice, baguettes, assorted mini croissants, yoghurts, assorted jams (in individual glass pots), honey, butter, etc.  I didn’t notice any hot food being available.

After breakfast, we walked down Rue Leon Gambetta (or Gambetta as it is known) toward the Wazemmes market.  The market opens at 7am and closes at 2pm.  The best and most interesting day for the market is on Sunday, where you can buy anything from puppies to panties.  We weren’t staying until Sunday, so we went to the market on Thursday when it is a bit low key, no puppies.  The market is still very busy on Thursdays.  There are a vast array of stalls on many of the little side roads off of Gambetta that flow into the Rue de Sarrazins and around.  You can find people selling clothes (women’s, men’s and children’s), shoes, toys, house hold products, fabric, jewellery, cosmetics, records and books, knick knacks, cooked food, fruits, vegetables, etc.  The restaurants in the area will sell food outside their premises.  There is a covered market where people sell food from all areas of the world, but we didn’t quite manage to go inside.

The flavour of the market is definitely ethnic.  There are Middle Eastern, African, Turkish, Indian, Central European and people of other nationalities selling a vast array of goods.  There are as many different ethnic restaurants in the area.  The Wazemmes or Lille Sud area is a bit down trodden in comparison to other areas of Lille we had experienced the day before and subsequently.  The houses are a bit smaller and shabbier.  Although it seems a bit shabby, I really liked the flavour of the place and it reminds me of certain neighbourhoods in New York.  I like the variety of people and the casualness of the neighbourhood.  Amor and I explored the market and eventually made our way out of the hustle and bustle towards Rue Des Postes down towards Boulevard Montebello.  Architecturally, Boulevard Montebello was not too interesting, but it picked up a little bit and improved when we got to Place Cormontaigne where we stopped into a café for a coffee, pit stop, to get our bearings and work out where we were going to go next.

I thought it would be a good idea to carry on walking toward the canal and along i towards the Citadelle.  It wasn’t a very nice walk as it isn’t possible to walk along the canal until one comes to Jardin Vauban.  We arrived at a beautiful war memorial near the entrance to the Citadelle.  There is a very large park surrounding it that contains a zoo with over 400 animals.  It is not possible to go inside the Citadelle walls without making prior arrangements through The Tourist Office.  Then one must give 24 hr. notice and visits can only be made on certain days.  I think it could be a very interesting tour.  We were very happy to have a look from the outside.  As you can see, the entrance is very impressive.

On our way out, we crossed the car park to Pont du Ramponneau into Vieux-Lille (Old Lille) toward the centre and Place du Géneral De Gaulle or Grande Place.  This is where I went crazy about the Architecture.  The oldest part of Lille is probably the most beautiful.  We found a restaurant in Grande Place to have lunch.  I don’t know the name of the restaurant, but it was opposite the McD’s on the other side of the square and we could see the statue of Déesse from the window.  The decor was pleasant and modern with some amusing and unusual artwork on the walls.  The restaurant served traditional French food.  I had the Carbonnade, which is beef cooked in a sauce flavoured with beer, onions, brown sugar and thickened with gingerbread, sort of like a stew.  It came with chips.  Amor had a special type of sausage of pork and herbs (and chips!).  My meal was excellent.  It wasn’t too sweet, the meat was very tender and flavoursome.  Amor wasn’t too sure about his sausage.  He liked the taste, but wasn’t sure about the texture.  The sausage fell apart when he cut into it.  I guess it depends on what one is used to.  I didn’t try it as I don’t generally eat pork.  We didn’t have coffee or dessert.  It took awhile for our bill to arrive.  I think the restaurant was a bit short-staffed and our waiter was running around all over the place.  I took this opportunity to use the facilities, which were very nice.

We decided to do the second walk in the AA book, Vieux Lille – the Old Town on page 38.  I went a bit mad with the camera.  There was so much to look at.  There were so many interesting details on many amazing buildings.  The shops were amazing.  There were designer shops left right and centre, many I never heard of.  I fell in love with a pair of purple, suede, pull on boots.  Purple is one of this season’s colours.  Unfortunately, they were out of my budget, ouch!  There were also many pátisseries, chocolate shops, trendy bars and restaurants.  The Old Town provides a feast for the eyes and palate.  I may have driven Amor a bit crazy with my camera antics and continually pointing things out to him by saying, “Ooh, look at that!” every few seconds!

We went inside the Cathédrale NotreDame de la Treille, a neo-Gothic cathedral started in 1854 and eventually completed in November 1999. This building took many years to complete as work completely stopped in the 1940’s.  If one looks at the building carefully, you can see the various styles of work done through the ages.

We continued walking around Old Lille making our way back to Grand Place and The Opera.

It was teatime and I fancied a coffee and cake.  None of the pátisseries we came across had anywhere to sit to have cake and coffee.  It was either cake or coffee, except for the famous Pátisserie Méert. The building is beautiful and elegant on the inside as it is on the outside.  The premises have been extended and there are several rooms, including a courtyard, to have your coffee (they also serve tea) and cake.  We were seated in the back with a view of the courtyard.  We were given a menu, in French.  I could understand a bit of it, but when it came to the cakes, we were a bit lost and had to ask the waiter for advice.  This is what we ordered.

We both had café crème.  I had the rhum au baba and Amor had a chocolate cake.  The chocolates are complimentary and come with the coffee.  Everything was divine.   The coffee was excellent, the chocolate cake was to die for, the baba was sublime, and the chocolates were coffee praline (we saved them for later).  We had all of this for €25, which is about £25!  It’s a bit shocking really, but it was soooo worth it.  Would I go back here again?  Definitely, and I would choose different cakes, and take photos of the interior and the loos, which were very pretty.  After our decadent feast, we walked around the Grand Place some more before heading back to our hotel for a snooze before dinner.

It was our last night out in Lille.  We had been out walking all day (apart for the time we were eating) and we wanted to eat at a restaurant near the hotel.  We brought out the guide books for well, guidance.  We decided to go to Le Chat qui fume (The Smoking Cat).  It was practically around the corner from us, was supposed to serve traditional food, and it had a cool name. (We found it in the MapGuide book.)  If we weren’t looking for it, we would have walked right by the restaurant.  It had an unassuming front, though the figure of a smoking cat was a good clue.  We went inside.  The place is quite small, but it had a lovely atmosphere, very cosy.  There was an upright piano that made up part of the bar, and as one would expect, there were pictures and paintings of smoking cats and other cats on the walls.  The place was very quiet and we were the only people in there until a small group arrived about a half an hour later.  Our waiter was friendly and very helpful as the menu was in French.  Amor had a steak with baked potato. I had the potatoes dauphinoise with Maroilles, a soft creamy cheese, and a side salad.  Amor’s steak was cooked perfectly and my potatoes were delicious with a delicate flavour from the cheese.  Amor had a beer with his meal and I had a small carafe of rosé wine.  As with all the places we had been to, there was no hurry for anything and we had a relaxed evening out and enjoyed a lovely meal.

Pátisserie Méert: 27 rue Esquermoise – 59000 Lille – http://www.meert.fr

Le Chat qui fume: 3, Rue Henri Kolb, 59000 Lille

Lille is a shopper’s and foodie’s paradise.  You can find designer clothes in the Old Town to cheap tat in the markets.  The markets are also a great place to find amazing fruit and vegetables.  I was very excited to see what Lille had to offer in the way of merchandise, but the first quest was for food.  We were hungry!  The rate of exchange with the Euro doesn’t make travelling in Europe a bargain as it used to be.  In fact, the Euro is pretty much on par with Sterling.  In one respect, it does make it easier to guess how much things cost!  Eating out in restaurants is not cheap.  Even the set meal fixed menus (less expensive and half the price of a la carte in the evening) can seem expensive if you are not used to paying £15 per head per person for lunch back in the UK.  I wasn’t going to worry about such things on this trip as it was only for a few days and I wanted to experience everything that was French.

We were staying in the Latin Quarter, near Place de la Republique.  The area is what could be termed, a bit ethnic.  I really liked it.  We went off in search of food in the opposite direction from where we arrived (the station).  It soon became apparent that everything was closed.  Usually, most restaurants will close after 2pm and then re-open again for dinner around 7pm.  As it was still quite early, we realised that most places were closed because it was a bank holiday.  Even the shops were closed.  We worked out that we would be better off heading back toward the station where many restaurants and touristy bistros were open.

The weather was a bit dull and chilly, but dry, so we happily walked towards the Palais Rameau, along the Boulevard Vauban, the Boulevard de la Liberté and found a little restaurant somewhere off of the Rue Nationale.  We saw many splendid buildings on the way.  For once I restrained myself from taking photographs.  Firstly, we were on a mission to find some food.  Secondly, I didn’t want to bore Amor too early on in the trip with my photographic obsession of architecture.  Instead, I settled for pointing out all the wonderful details of each and every building we passed!  ‘Ooh, look at that balcony, and look at that wonderful plasterwork!’  “Look at those wonderful windows and the amazing door on that building!”  I’m not sure if he would have been better off if I had taken pictures instead!

I can’t remember the name of the first restaurant we went to or what street it was on (somewhere near Saint Etienne).  All I remember was that it was a grill restaurant and it was next to a seafood restaurant.  It was getting late and I was too hungry to make note of it.  The speciality was grilled and spit meat.  Amor had a steak and I had chicken.  We opted for the special potatoes which are placed under the spit meat and where the juices drip onto and soak into them.  It was disgustingly delicious.  One couldn’t eat that every day without clogging one’s arteries, but it has to be tried at least once!  We also had salad, and beer.  All the guidebooks tell you that beer is a specialty in Lille.  It is also very expensive.  I am a bit partial to white beers, but I don’t think that it helped my digestion much.  So unless you really like beer, go for the wine as it is less expensive.  Amor’s steak was cooked ‘medium’, but in France that is actually ‘rare’ and the meat was very tender.  My chicken was very tender and moist as one would expect of a spit roast chicken.  We were both very pleased with the meal, the portions which were substantial, and the service.  There was no hurry with our lunch even though it was late.

For the record, Amor and I do not speak French.  We can do the basics.  Fortunately, many of the people we encountered in Lille have some English.  I think that Eurostar going there may have had a hand in that.  We have also found that the service in the majority of establishments we had ventured into was very good and most people were quite friendly.

Not having any room for coffee or dessert, we paid our bill and set off again to do some exploring.  This time we had a little agenda. In the guide books I listed in my previous post, the AA book on Lille has a couple of walks listed.  As we were near Rue Nationale, we started from there and did the walk on page 34, 19^th Century Lille.  Amor was the tour guide and I had the book with the maps from the other book.  As he read out the walk and talked about what we were seeing, I navigated with the map.  What a team!

I couldn’t refrain from taking photos and here are a few I took from that walk.

One of the wonderful things about Lille is the many cafés that abound.  It is reassuring knowing that one can make a pit stop if required, have a coffee or a drink.  People leave you alone and respect your privacy.  Just a word of advice for the ladies:  Please don’t be surprised if you can’t find a door that says dames.  Sometimes there is only one toilet and there will also be a urinal in the room.  Fortunately, I hadn’t experienced the potential embarrassment of coming across a gentleman using one, either while walking in or coming out of the loo.  We had a coffee at a café on the corner of Rue Gosselet opposite the Parc J.B. Lebas.  It was quaint and what I would consider very French, with old pictures on the walls, lots of wood, a few booths, and is where I had my first experience of the pissoir.  We warmed up and got our bearings before carrying on with our walk which took us back towards our hotel.

We had a rest in our hotel before we ventured out for dinner and discovered the joy of a very comfortable bed and pillows.   I am really fussy about pillows and these were perfect.  I almost didn’t want to get out of bed at dinnertime, but needs must and Amor was hungry.  I was still stuffed from my lunch.  It must have been those potatoes!

Between Rue Nationale and Rue du Molinel, and diagonally across the Place de la Republique, there is a pedestrian shopping precinct.  There are shops, cinemas, cafés and restaurants.  This area is towards the train stations and where we had earlier glimpsed the only restaurants open, and without any hesitation, we headed in that direction for our dinner.

Walking along Rue de Béthune, we were surprised to see so many people at the cinema.  When Amor commented on this, I remembered that a French friend of mine had told me that Wednesday is cinema night and the government encourages people to go and see movies and is why there is crap TV on Wednesdays.  That was good a reason as any.  There were restaurants offering cheap meals and cinema tickets!

We walked around the shopping area to see what the restaurants had on offer.  We ended up back in front of Aux Moules. Having had mussels the weekend before travelling, we thought we might be overdoing it on the mussel front, but the restaurant looked inviting, and although busy, it was the least hectic in the area.  So we went in.  Table for two, no problem, but we had to move as it was reserved, no problem.  The decor was very old fashioned with many old photographs all over the walls.  There were lovely old lights with little coat hooks on.  It was very quaint and welcoming.  The waiter, an older gentleman, was amusing and very sweet.  Amor had the Moules Mariniere and I had a goat’s cheese salad as I wasn’t that hungry.  We also ordered beers.  The food was amazing!  I am a new recruit to eating shellfish and these mussels were divine.  They were very tender and gently flavoured by the liquid.  The chips that came with them were excellent – crisp and dry.  My salad was very good.  There is no comparison between the two meals, but as a salad goes, there was not one wilted leaf, my bread was perfectly toasted, the cheese was very creamy and the dressing had just the right amount of bite.  Between bites of salad, Amor would feed me a mussel as there were so many.  We took our time eating.  No-one was in a hurry.  The waiters weren’t either, but they always seemed to turn up when you needed them.  I was happy to have just coffee after our meal, but Amor also wanted dessert.  There was a chocolate mousse on the menu that looked very tempting!  I told Amor that I didn’t want dessert, but I just wanted to have a bite of what he was going to have.  Amor told the waiter, in his best French, that he would like two coffees and one chocolate mousse.  The waiter told him, in French, that he would see if there was any chocolate mousse left, and then he came back with two!  He disappeared before we could say anything.  I didn’t have the heart to tell him about the mistake and did what I had to do.  I had to eat my own chocolate mousse.  The only problem with the dessert was that it was huge!  There was no way I was going to do this wonderful chocolateyness any justice.  I managed to get halfway through it before I had to put the spoon down.  I thought it was a good effort.

After dinner, we walked around the shopping area some more before going back to the hotel. Lille is lovely at night.  Although the Christmas lights were up, it was unfortunate that they weren’t lit up while we were there.  I think that they might be on now as the Christmas market has been taking place since the 18^th of November.  I would expect that the lighting would be spectacular now.  The fountain in Place de la Republique looked lovely.  I didn’t take a photo unfortunately.

All the food and walking tired me out and I was looking forward to getting back into our comfortable bed, but not before Amor made enquiries as to what time breakfast was being served until!