Lille, Arras, Cambrai - Hooow Chahming...

I have not been home in days, which explains why it is 13:00 and I am still in bed, very reluctant to get up, not to mention that it is raining cats and dogs outside. Friday morning we left to go on an NYU organized trip to Lille, Arras and Cambrai, cities in very northern France - Lille is the northern most city on the tip of France, right on the border of Belgium. Truthfully, the trip probably could have been organized a little bit better because we spent so much time on the bus (we know how I love that), but all my friends and I were together so it was still a blast. 



First stop was Carriére Wellington in Arras, a complex of underground tunnels used by the British and French forces during World War I. The Germans didn't know about this at the time so the soldiers were safe here, but there were exits, like this one (Exit No. 10) where soldiers would leave the tunnels to fight. The network was like a little city! We took a tour along the way, seeing beds, food stations, letters, graffitis still remaining on the walls... The audio clips we heard, of course, were in French, but every once the narrator would say and English expression with British pronunciation but the heaviest of accents. The French pronounce every syllable, so all weekend we imitated him and his discussion of "cor-ned beef," and inserted "how chahming" and "of coouurse" into our conversations. Next stop was a candy factory in the town of Cambrai. Les  Bêtises are the candies native to Cambrai. They were made by mistake, and now they are somewhat of a national delicacy. We saw the factory and participated in a candy tasting. Don't worry, I'm bringing some home!

        

We spent the night at a chateau in Cambrai. Dinner was pretty good and when you put 40 hungry NYU students in  a dining room with good food after being on a bus all day, things can get a little bizarre. Dinner was tons of fun but we were all a bit delirious...pictures speak a thousand words. Except my rendition of Tevya's dream scene from Fiddler on the Roof isn't videoed so I'll just give you that one. We ran around the fields behind the chateau after dinner and sang Pocahontas songs under the willow tree. All in all, a relaxing evening.


Yesterday, we drove to Lille, and then I wished we had spent the entire weekend there. Before arriving, we stopped to do a beer tasting. CH'TI beer is fine beer is produced by Brasserie Castelain and has won tons and tons of awards for its Amber beer and Christmas beer. NYU should have known better than to make a beer tasting as 10:30 in the morning, but I learned all about different malts, and hops, and yeasts! Its interesting going to these tastings and such. Our French friends think its very uncultured to not know how to distinguish between wines, but they have been learning about it for years! Its incomprehensible to them that we can vote and defend our country but that drinking is illegal. There is no line between French culture and wines. Even the beers taste classy. 

Lille was adorable. The architecture was as if a dollhouse had been blown up! Julie, Kate, and I hd the greatest lunch and.....BEST DESSERT! We had been on the prowl from chocolate moulleux cake (aka chocolate fondant) and finally found it! Just trust me, cake with molten chocolate and vanilla ice cream in the best in the world. All the food is Belgian because Lille is so close to the border, so we also had mussels and great french fries (GREAT fries) and of course, treated ourselves to Belgian chocolate.

The ride home and last night will have to wait for a post in a few hours because I want to go wander around the D'Orsay, and I need to finish my laundry. I'll finish this soon!