Novotel Lille Gares

... br>Yesterday on my way to work, I was sat next to a couple of respectable looking people until they got off and were replaced by an old wrinkly smelly man on one side and an old smelly woman on the other side. The woman smelt like very very very old cheese, and had a carrier bag that she kept looking into and feeling inside it for something but she never once brought out whatever it was so I never got to find out... perhaps it was the very very very old cheese.<br><br>Other ...

... today to buy my week's fruit and veg and some pastries! <br><br>I also went with my parents to the "Jardin des Plantes", which is a kind of botanical garden and is absolutely beautiful. The guide book says "it is worth a visit just for the smell of the roses", however unfortunately there were no roses since it was October! I will have to make sure to go back when they are blooming! I really liked walking around these gardens, it was really ...

... to get to know them, and vice versa. However it didn't really give me much of a sense of their level of French, but more about that later.<br><br>Last week we were sent on a training day for all of the English speaking assistants in the "academie de Lille" (basically the LEA), which Annabelle had pre-warned me would most likely be useless, however we actually found it of some benefit! We were taught about discipline and teaching methods and ...

... had a sketching guest teacher for the weekend who was an amazing sketcher/artist/architect. The first place we went was an old fortified palace up on a hilltop. It was mostly remains, but very beautiful in its own way. The next place we went was the village of Laon, a little bit more hoppin' then the last because there ere more than 2000 citizens. There was a very elaborate Notre Dame Cathedral here which we toured and sketched.<br>After we visited these two places ...

... a street stall and took a walk around Vieux Lille up to the Catédral Notre Dame de la Treille which is an incredible building. It was built during two different centuries and the modern front of the building has only been finished for ten years, having been completed in 1999.<br>Monday eventually arrived and it was back to work for both of us; I was up at seven to catch the metro and eight to be at school by nine. This week I have only been observing classes, however not only English ...

... continued throughout the day as we struggled to fit it all onto the Eurostar, then struggled to get it all off when the train arrived in Lille before it set off again to Brussels! <br>We then met the teacher from the school at which I will be teaching who is called Annabelle, and is having us to stay until we move into our apartment on Friday. She had to make two separate trips because of the amount of luggage we had!<br>Annabelle is lovely and insisted that we stay with ...

... of the Canadian military<br> doctor Major John McCrae. John was asked to conduct the burial service owing to the chaplain being called away on duty elsewhere.<br> It is believed that later that evening John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'.<br><br>The small town of Ieper is very quaint. We had a few hours to kill so we walked around the square and even went to ...

... that all looked about 15. Still, we had a great time, as most of the people from our program showed up and we had a nice UIUC turnout in Lille &#8211; and listened to more American Top 40 songs than I can say (Michael Jackson is also enjoying a resurgence here). <br><br>After getting about 3 hours of sleep (and getting ready in less than an hour! I am getting so good at "roughing it!"), we headed out again on the bus to begin our last day of the trip in Amiens and Perrone.

Over Lille was a non happening event as we just enjoy a sleep in I did manage to go to the post office to send a couple of Parcells back home and as we had lunch in town, we manage to buy a couple of movies (in English) and a few French books for myself. In the afternoon after booking the taxi for the following day I went ...

Ca y est, le blog commence à J-1 du départ! Et nous commençons ce blog par les photos de la soirée de départ (un grand moment!!!) Nous tenons à remercier toutes les personnes présentes ce soir-là, nous garderons un super souvenir de cette soirée et de toutes les attentions que vous avez pu nous montrer une fois de plus! Un grand merci à Benoit et Steph pour la salle. Merci à tous ...