My week-end in Lille ended with a huge Sunday lunch with my first host family. We had a platter of seafood that included raw, smoked trout, oysters, and escargots. Yes, I ate two escargots to be polite, but it was slightly painful (mentally). I also had a slice of the smoked trout, but mainly just tried to focus on eating the bread. Next, we had this delicious platter of guinea fowl, potatoes, pears, and small bacon pieces.

After that was the cheese of course, and I discovered a new flavor I like “Dent du chat.” Dessert was this amazing puff pastry my host mom made with her own whipped cream made from creme fraiche (”fresh cream”-not available in the U.S. because it’s not pasteurized) and drizzled carmel on top. My host dad absolutely loves being an alcohol connaisseur, so we started off our meal with real champagne, then we moved on to a red wine from the 80’s, a porto, and even though I was sitting there completely blanking out because I was starting to get drunk, he convinced me to taste some of his homemade blackberry liquor. We ended the meal with a coffee and a nice chat.

I also got to see my second host family and my two host brothers who have grown! My older host brother (who’s actually my age) hadn’t really changed that much–he still had tons of energy and charisma and kept spitting out phrases in English and ending them with “know what I’m sayin’?” Half of this boy’s English is learned in school, and the other half from rap songs. My youngest host brother is no longer 12, in fact he is now 16, which was my age at the time I stayed with them. He still looks the same to me though and acts the same :). I loved having a little brother while I could, even if it meant that he kicked me, pinched me, tickled me, scratched me, bit me, lied to our host mom to get in my room, only left with me dragging him by the feet while he dug his nails into the floor.

I headed off to meet my friend Mackenzie, from Seattle, and we went to the Christmas Market where she got some food. In the center of the town is still that huge Ferris Wheel, and we basically just wandered around.

Eventually, we ended up at Les 3 Brasseurs, which is the bar that my friends and I claimed as our own during my exchange in 2003-2004, so it was cool to be back there. It was funny for me when Mackenzie and I went to this awesome cafe the day before, because I was shocked I never really explored the cafe culture of Lille. Then I remembered that at 16 years old, I was so stoked to be able to drink alcohol that I only went out for beer. Haha.

She left, and I went to say goodbye to my host parents Michelle and Piere and the proceded to miss my train back to Paris twice in a row (a classic move for me), and finally got on with my Eurail pass so I didn’t have to buy a ticket :). Now I’m back in Paris, and the magic is starting to wear off a little in the city for me. At worst, Joni Mitchell sings it best “it’s too old and cold and settled in its ways,” but at best, Paris has been a utopia for me. Now I’m back to reality, researching for my hellish dossiers, fighting a sinus infection, and battling some homesickness!

Good news is this Friday I’ll be in Rome. That is pretty good news indeed.