We were a little jet lagged but we were in Lille and we were ready for some Olympic Games.
I cracked open the Ladurée special edition Olympics box of macarons I bought yesterday at the train station.
Decisions, decisions
"Lille is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region in northern France, near the border with Belgium. A cultural hub and bustling university city today, it was once an important merchant center of French Flanders, and many Flemish influences remain."
We popped into Aux Merveilleux de Fred and grabbed some of Lille's speciality, Le Merveilleux. "This incredibly delicate and rich pastry consists of two light, crisp meringue shells sandwiched together and generously covered with whipped cream. The entire treat is then coated in shavings of dark chocolate, speculoos (spiced biscuit), or nuts."
I was impressed with that monster chandelier.
We had some lunch at Bierbuik.
I chatted up one of the staff. "We don’t tip in France so it’s been nice that there are so many tourists because we’ve been getting lots of money." That must have been why they were out of like half the menu.
There was some Olympics related promotional stuff set up in the Grand Place.
We got our American gear on and headed to the game... despite the fact America was not playing today. That's just how patriotic we are. One of the numerous French police patrolling the area saw my getup and laughed so I felt like that was a win.
It's time for some basketball!
The four of us watched France play Japan. Despite the fact we were in France, or maybe because of it, I felt like Japan was the underdog so I cheered for them. They were super close and only lost in overtime.
Ernie was really soaking up the excitement and cheering really hard. It was the rowdiest I think we'd ever seen him.
Ern got to see the tallest basketball player in the Olympics play the shortest. There was nearly a two foot height difference between them!
After the game Ern and I talked about our favorite highlights.
Lydia and I returned to the stadium later to watch Germany play Brazil.
After the game we needed an Uber but the wait was so long we ate at KFC to kill some time.
The chicken came in reusable containers which I thought was notable.
What a good day.
