jacobblogs

Tag: Lille

  • Lyon -> Lille, Lille -> Amsterdam (4/13, 4/14)

    Lyon -> Amsterdam 4/13:

    This one should be quick – most of the 13th and 14th were travel days by train. I stopped in Lille, a little town in Northern France, for the night – otherwise it would have been about 16 hours by train. I’ve found that the slower travel is worth it for me – less recovery time when I do get to my destination.

    While walking to the train station in Lyon, I stopped at a cafe for breakfast, and snapped a few photos along the way.

    A warning about high voltage inside!
    A view across the river Rhone.
    The gates of the Park of the Golden Head in Lyon

    One neat thing I’ve noticed in Lyon – there are cracks in the sidewalks that have been filled in with little mosaics. According to one local I met, this is all the work of a street artist called Ememem (named for the sound his moped makes). He calls this art “flacking” – turning cracked blemishes in the sidewalks into public works of art that are owned by all.

    The one on the left was the first thing I took a picture of in Lyon!

    After a few hours on the train (during which I technically stopped in Paris, but only to switch trains), I was in Lille!

    The trains here are often quite comfortable! FAR more than airlines in the US.
    The train station in Lille was very pretty.
    This is what a lot of “Old Lille” looked like. Cobbled streets with pedestrians everywhere, old buildings, and beautiful architecture.

    I was pretty tired from travel, so I got myself a (supposedly) nice dinner (I don’t know if it was just not something I liked or if this restaurant wasn’t great) of Flemish (local) cusine, and turned in for the night.

    It did look nice at least, and the salad and fries were delicious! The croquets left something to be desired though.

    Lille -> Amsterdam, 4/14:

    Breakfast was a mocha and a delicious breakfast sandwich at an apparently very popular cafe.

    As I traveled on the train, it became pretty obvious as I drew closer to Amsterdam – windmills began passing by every now and then. I didn’t manage to catch any out the window, but I did snap a photo of this cool old warehouse.

    Amsterdam’s train station was also really cool looking! I didn’t have much time to stop though – my next train left in 5 minutes so I had to run to the next platform!

    OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

    After crossing a large canal with a ton of other people on foot and bike, I was almost to my hostel (the red building in the photo below).

    The room in the hostel is utilitarian, but comfortable and quiet. I don’t spend a lot of time in there anyway!

    That’s all for this day! Still no Mopeds 😉 But, I can rent them here! We will see when it happens. I’m a little scared to have that much power on the roads of Amsterdam 😛