Europe Day 9
Yesterday was another travel day, spent heading Southwest from Hamburg to Lille. The drive took us through 4 countries, originating in Germany, briefly crossing through Belgium and Holland, finally arriving at our French destination relatively late in the evening. Save for a brief, and somewhat bizarre, stop at a Dutch gas station, I didn't get the opportunity to see any significant part of Holland or Belgium. A shame, as those are two countries that I'm certainly curious to explore a bit. Next time, next time.
The drive itself was about as uneventful as it could have been. We left Hamburg at noon. Drove for about 9 hours. Arrived in Lille. We did have a chance to spend the lunch hour at a German travel stop, which provided a bit of entertainment as we noted that the bathrooms required a .50 Euro deposit, the lunch buffet provided more than ample amounts of both red wine and Jagermeister (two ingredients not normally suggested for those taking a quick break from a long drive), and the gift shop had a wide selection of Che Guevara-adorned apparel…Nothing like a "Viva La Revolucion!" cap to give purpose to that long haul from Berlin to Dresden….
Grieves and I are staying at a different hotel than the rest of the folks, and while we had grand plans to venture out into the town after checking-in, we quickly realized that the night was more appropriately suited to hotel beat-making and, in my case, a cup of weird pureed mushroom soup.
I woke up at the oh-so-early hour of 11:30am today, threw on my running clothes, and headed towards the city center. From what I was able to see, Lille is a pretty amazing little town, 
with an old, centrally located cathedral, tons of winding cobblestone streets, lined with little shops, bakeries, and restaurants. I'm excited to get a good meal and relax for a bit before our 5pm load in for the show this evening. After 3 days off, it will be nice to get back on a stage, and I'm super curious to see how the French crowds react to our music!
Side note:
Grieves and I just ventured into Lille's downtown area for lunch. He ordered Steak Tartar. Confidently. The waiter seemed a little hesitant, awkwardly asking Grieves if he knew that the dish was served cold. Seemingly undeterred, Grieves waved him on. Several minutes later, a plate containing small piles each of chopped raw onion, capers, and parsley, all surrounding a massive heap of raw ground beef with a raw egg on top, was placed on the table. Grieves tried his bet to remain calm but, several bites into the dish he sheepishly admitted that he thought he was ordering a well cooked steak complemented by tartar sauce. Whoops.
To his credit, he tried his best to choke down a couple of bites, but it quickly became pretty clear that he wasn't prepared to make any sort of appreciable headway. Raw beef: 1 Grieves: 0. We then walked around Lille for a bit, exploring the myriad shoe stores, patisseries, and wine shops that the town has to offer. Wide streets, lots of trees, hatchback cars, and folks that don't speak a word of English. 
The change in the number of folks that speak English out here, especially relative to the Scandinavian countries, is pretty striking. As confusing as it may be, there's something incredible about being in a country where you really truly have to work to make yourself understood, and where, in turn, being understood is not a foregone conclusion.
