Ever since I knew that I would going to France, I was exited by the possibility of seeing the place where the 1914 Christmas Truce happened in World War I.
A little background
In the WWI, during the first Christmas, German and British troops laid down their weapons and had a truce during Christmas. Both sides mingles in No-Man's Land, exchanged gifts, and games of soccer were even played in some sectors. The truce lasted until New Years, but then the higher up officials got wind of it, and transferred the divisions to other areas where they did not know the enemy, and made them continue to fight.
This story had captured my attention, and I have now written a short, historical-fiction story centered on this event. After the copious amount of time researching the event, I would now be going to see the sight where it happened!
Back to Trip
I awoke the morning of March second and met up with a group of friends to watch the sunrise from Fourviere. I was getting up early to catch my train to Lille, so why not get up a little earlier to take in this sight.
Unfortunately, it was a little "smoggy" along the horizon, so the sunrise wasn't the best, but it was still nice to be up there, and a great way to start the day.
I then proceeded to the train stations to set out on my adventure. Just me and my backpack on my journey to the North. It was the first time that I have ever traveled somewhere by train. I exclude the field-trip I took to Burbank airport on the Amtrak when I was in elementary school.
I took the TGV, the French bullet train. It took 3 hours to go from Lyon to Lille.
On the train, we sped past farmlands and woods of central France. The landscape was soon covered in fog.
I got to Lille at 12 and exited into an overcast, grey day. I made a stop to eat lunch at Quick Burger (France's versoin of McD's). I had this "Dark Vador" burger that they were running for the Star Wars 3D promotion. It came on a solid black bun, and had a spicy sauce with some bell peppers. T'was pretty good.
I had to go to the bathroom, so looked for one in the mall where the train stations was. I found one, but you had to pay to use it. I refuse to pay to relieve myself. It makes no sense. In fact, it takes away cents. This idiotic ideal of having to pay to use the toilet made me "uncomfortable" a few times over the weekend.
Now full, I set off to explore Lille. I walked wherever my eye was captured. I saw a beautiful church, St. Maurice, with gorgeous architecture and stained glass windows that looked like a colored reflections of a lake.
I also saw the Grand Place, the opera, and the old trading square called Vielle Bourse.
I love Lille. It is one of my favorite cities that I have seen thus far. I love the buildings in the city center. They reminded me of a much cleaner New Orleans, as they should as both have French influence. Lille is a smaller city than Lyon, but still has a big town feel and also a lot of culture.
I continued to walk all around, and found my way to the citadelle; a fortress island. I was looking forward to being able to walk inside, but it is now controlled by the army, so I didn't get to see much. I then walked all the way down to find my hotel. I walked for quite a bit, but I finally got there.
I was glad to get my backpack off. I am also glad that I decided not to take my 900 page book with me on the trip. I took a little nap before going back to the city to have some dinner.
I decided to take the bus into town. I found a nice restaurant called Les 3 Brasseurs (the 3 brewers). I had a great plate consisting of their "favorites;" half a croque monsieur, carbonnade (some meat in a sweet gravy sauce), salad fries, and Welsh (a gooey cheddar cheese dish that covers some ham and a piece of toast, scrumptious). The weirdest thing on my plate was a piece of bone that sat on some toast. This bone had a spoon in it and also had a lot of salt. I was afraid, but, when in France....
I took a bite, and I don't really know what I was supposed to be eating. I just tasted mostly salt. I have just done some research, and it was bone marrow that I ate. Apparently I was supposed to put it on my toast. There wasn't much marrow to spread.....oh well, live and learn.
After diner, I took in the city at night, and then went back to the hotel.
I watched a little bit of a French Western (odd combo) called Lucky Luke. It is a comedy that stars the newest Oscar winner for Best Actor Jean Dujardin. I liked him better in The Artist.
I went to bed knowing that the next day, I would go a little further north to the French/Belgian border to Armentieres to see the field of the Christmas Truce. I slept, eager with anticipation of the day ahead.
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