5th - 6th September 2017
It was raining as I left Nantes, boosted by an early morning cup of tea at the station with Clare.
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| View from the train window; rain and train tracks |
5 hours on the train isn't so bad with a kindle full of books!
I arrived in Tourcoing on Tuesday afternoon, caught the metro to Lille, and wandered round the city for a bit.
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| Old buildings in Place Charles de Gaulle |
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| There are lots of weird faces and busts on window frames |
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| The opera house |
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| Clock tower |
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| Optical illusion |
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| Look! It's me! In Lille! |
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| Mounted police officers - seems so old timey |
My
couchsurfing host Emily met me outside the cathedral, where she told me about its facade - referred to as the ugly cathedral by locals, it was the winner of a design competition a few years ago.
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| The ugly cathedral |
We went inside, and she wouldn't let me look round until we were in the middle of the church.
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| The back of the church |
I turned and saw sunlight glowing through translucent stones, only a few cm thick. It's an impressive effect.
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| From the inside, the glowing facade |
We had a lovely afternoon of sightseeing and engaging conversation. Emily is a wonderfully enthusiastic person, and we got on like a house on fire. We had dinner out - I had Welsh and chips, a local specialty. I put a pin on her map for Auckland, joining maybe 100 other pins marking the countries she's hosted people from in the last 3 years. She helped me write an email in French, proofread by her boyfriend David, and I recorded a short clip about New Zealand for her students. We finished up the evening with a game of Bears vs. Babies (the nsfw version). It's this kind of instant friendship that I love about couchsurfing!
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