Lille

Iurii had to go to Lille the next day to see some of his friends or something and asked me if I'd like to tag along, which was cool with me because I had no plans whatsoever, and he said he'd find me a place to stay for the night. 

We got to Lille early, around noon, and Iurii asked me if I wanted to experience a true french lunch, which I took to without hesitation - I had been trying to live of 5 dollars a day since I arrived in Europe ($500 dollars, which was all I had, divided by 100 days) which I can proudly say I was doing quite well at (it's surprising how far a couple baguettes and apple can go) and was happy to accept any type of meal whatsoever.  Iurii's friends turned out to be both doctors who lectured at the University in Lille, they were very nice people, however their children were a bit spoiled and got what they wanted (see photo below - boy not getting what he wants).  Anyway, lunch was great.  We left and planned to take the subway back into town - turned out that neither of us had any money for the train, and it was sunday so every single shop that could have given us change was closed.  We inner citied hitchhiked. 

'Hey'

'uh, hey'

'You guys aren't driving downtown are you?'

'uh, why...'

'well, you see, we don't have any change for the train, and it's sunday so we can't get any change, and we really need to get downtown'

'well...I... ya I suppose I could give you a lift.

Hitchhiking Rule # 1 - It's easy for someone to drive right by you, but it's almost impossible for them to say no to you once your talking to them.  

Once we were in town Iurii brought me over to his friends place where I was supposed to stay the night.  We walked into his place, which turned out to be a single room, and a dirty one for that matter, and then quickly left.

'well what do you think?'

'Iurii, it stinks in there'

'what? well... you really think so'

'I don't know if I want to stay there'

Iurii then proceeded to give me one of those big hugs, all while saying 'Cooommmmoonnnn'

I laughed it off sarcastically.  What right did I have to be picky? I was a bum in France.  

Iurii had to go see another friend of his so he left me with the guy and told me that he'd asked his other friend if I could stay with her and that he'd call me once he found out - he never called.

I wasn't mad at Iurii at all, I was just uncomforable staying with that other guy, I don't know why, he was nice enough, but he gave me a weird vibe.  

I ended up searching online for someone else to stay with and actually found someone who had a phone number I could call - it was almost midnight and I was desperate.

'Hello'

'Hey, uh Pascal (that was the guys name'

'Ya, hey'

'Listen, I know its late and everything, but I'm looking for a place to stay tonight and - '

'Couchsurfing!!'

'uh ya...'

'Very nice, very nice, I have just the place for you'

'oh ya, that would be aweso - '

'- where are you?' 

'uh...'

'Meet  me at the center square in 15 minutes ' 

'ok man... thanks '

Great, I had found a place. Now I  had to politely ditch this other guy... 

'hey man'

'ya whats up'

'listen, I know this is kinda odd and everything, but... I'm going to go'

'what? go where?'

'we'll, uh, just somewhere else'

'its almost midnight, where could you be going?' (starting to sound offended) 

'uh (time for the bullshit) it-turns-out-that-someone-I-know-from-Canada-is-living-in-Lille-right-now.'

'really (and I know he was thinking 'ya right you little punk') ... and you just found this out?'

'ya... I know, kinda weird eh'

'ya, really weird' (starting to take a hint) 

'So, well, thanks for everything!'

'ya sure'

I left.  It was akward, but understandable - one of those moments where two people know exactly what their really talking about, but would rather beat around the bush then be the one to say it out loud.

I couldn't feel guilty, and I didn't (and Iurii don't tell the guy you know this) - I was more excited then anything. 

I got to the square, which was big, and suddenly realized that I had no idea what this guy looked like, and that he had no idea what I looked like.  So I did what anyone in that position would have done - stood there looking stupid.  

It ended up working out with one of those akward 'are you looking for me?' kinda things, and then the hearty laugh.  Pascal turned out to be Canadian, french Canadian, and an unreal guy.  He had just gotten back from Serbia an hour before I called and was still fresh of the traveling high.  He had been in Cassava (Kosova maybe? i don't know) when they gain independence.  He showed me a copy of the national paper that day after; the front page had a picture of Yugoslavia's leader with a hugh captioning under it that read 'FUCK YU' (YU standing for Yugoslavia) - Pascal told me that he was going to show it to his kids one day.

   

Pascal was the ultimate traveler.  He hitchhiked everywhere he went, and only brought a small backpack - and I mean small, like Grade 5 backpack small - that he didn't even fill.  He had been to almost everywhere in Europe and was still planning trips (I just talked to him yesterday and he is to hitchhiking to Budapest in a week).  He was attending school in Lille, an exchange, and he set himself up so that he works his ass off for a couple weeks, then travels for a couple weeks, then comes back and works hard, then does it all over again. 

I learnt alot from him.

His apartment was, and in his own words, 'the smallest apartment in France'.  It was shared shower and bathroom kinda place, shoved in on the top floor of an old building in the old part of town - I felt like I was one of the children of the revolution, the bohemians, and I loved it.  

Pascal hooked me up with a futon for three nights and I happily spent my days strolling around Lille reading books, going to museums, staring at art, eating baguettes  and thinking about how incredibly ugly Edmonton is.

France had won me over.

I saw my first street musician in Lille, which cheered me up considerably because, in my opinion,  I was much better at the guitar then he was, and by the looks of his guitar case, could safely say that once I ran out of money - which was bound to happen - I could most likely feed myself by playing the guitar without trouble; I felt invincible.  

The three days I spent in Lille set me up for what has become, so far, an amazing adventure, and I thank Pascal because he really set me up for the road that I am on now.  

And it's cliche to say it, but I am going to do it anyway - I felt like Chris McCandles.  

And I couldn't have been happier.