The Avengers

We had a fun day of stomping around Lille, France, waiting for the US Olympic basketball game this evening.

We have tickets to a match at this stadium. It looks pretty cool.

I've been doing some culinary exploration into the various puddings and cremes and the like at the French grocery stores.

My Batsuit is ready for the next time I'm called upon.

Les Fusillés lillois commemorates the execution by the Germans of five resistance fighters during the First World War.

"Maison Méert - A history of gourmetism and elegance

Founded in 1761 in Lille, the Maison Méert is one of the oldest pastries and confectionery in France still in operation. It is especially famous for its waffle stuffed with Madagascar vanilla, a specialty that has become emblematic."

I picked up several cans of fish to take home from this fun shop.

The Airbnb had a winding staircase. Luckily it also had a lil baby gate to stop any lil babies.

Happily after clicking the refresh button 300 times on the Olympics website I was able to secure a ticket for the USA vs South Sudan basketball game today. Sadly I was only able to secure one. In a very European move one could only resell their Olympics tickets on the official website. They were also only able to resell them for face value. So no scalping of any kind. Which is cool to keep prices low but also meant that supply was hard to come by.

It was a stacked team of Dream Team-like proportions. Here was LeBron doing his iconic chalk toss before the game. I don't usually like him very much but on Team USA I felt like it was acceptable to cheer for him.

"The team had been given the nickname "the Avengers" by some media outlets due to their high profile roster, which was assembled after the 2023 U.S. World Cup squad failed to medal. The Olympic squad included four National Basketball Association (NBA) players who have won its league most valuable player (MVP) award—LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid—an Olympic first."

Apparently Joel Embiid is also a French citizen. The locals must have been butthurt that he didn't play on the French team because they booed him a lot.

It was a lot of fun, and the good guys won.