Friday 20th March 2010
Everyone arrived on time, and I knew this was going to be the day that the Urban Pioneers would go to France. Although it was not Paris, Kofi and I still expected to see the Eiffel Tower. I think it is because we had built up a stereotypical image of France but in all fairness, there is to France than the Eiffel Tower and I saw that on Friday.
Walking through the more modern side of Lille, my eyes were bombarded by concrete, metal and glass and the EuraLille. It was a formidable monster, which stuck out like a sore thumb in contrast to the rest of Lille. I definitely preferred Old town, the more historic side of Lille and wow! There was so much intricate detail and design in the every aspect of the buildings. The roads and pavements were interesting, as there was no differentiation between the two; they ran into each other with only bollards outline the roads. Sometimes this got the better of us and we would stop to talk, not realising that we were in the middle of the road. (But no one got hurt.)
The food was nice, the wine was great, and the Cathedral was stunning. I was just a shame that there was not enough money to finish the outside wall, especially when you saw how lavish the inside was. But snapped up some amazing pictures! Tom was great company, he was the walking, talking ‘encyclopaedia’ and there was ALMOST nothing he didn’t know. Top Tom story was when we walked to the city centre and he explained how the government paid for that opulent, spacious area in exchange for people’s co-operation. All roads that lead out of the centre where specifically made with a perfect line of symmetry, so that when the working class would try to invade, the cannons would be deployed, hitting it’s targets with perfect accuracy. I was shocked!
Quotes of the day...“Is that Spanish Euros?” - Naomi and “Star trek is 2000 years old” – Kofi. My six word story for Ruby “Lille with Ruby and Tom. Sightseeing”