In Which Our Author Anticipates An Addiction

I went to Lille last weekend to visit a dear friend, Aurore. We met when I lived in Tours seven (gasp!) years ago and we've kept loosely in touch ever since. I treasure her friendship, because from the beginning she took me on as a project and made a focused effort to integrate me into French culture; everyone needs a friend like this.

One of the things I love best about Rory is that she's fiercely protective. I can't count the number of times she snapped at her fiancé to "articulate" when he spoke to me. It makes me laugh. I mean, I take it as a compliment when French people speak at their normal speed, although at some point I do completely lose track of the conversation and just stare into space. She also reprimanded him several times to use smaller words, which also made me smile.

Anyway, Lille was fantastic. Rory met me at the train station and we walked around the gorgeous downtown and caught up over a delicious lunch of hot sandwiches and a very indulgent dessert. I had a speculoos cheesecake, speculoos being a cinnamon-flavored cookie indigenous to the area.* I scored a verbal invite to the August wedding, which I'm totally stoked about. My diet starts January.

After dessert and coffee, we roamed around town some more and did a little shopping. I fell madly in love with a line of jewelry called Skalli, which is odd since I don't consider myself a jewelry person. I wear one ring (which I got when I was 11), an occasional necklace and I lost my watch. Still, something about this line really appealed to me.

Then Aurore suggested we take a ride on the giant Ferris wheel, and who was I to object? The views were gorgeous, Lille is absolutely breathtaking, and I took lots of pictures. I also fell out of the teacup on my way out, which left a humdinger of a bruise on the same leg I'd previously damaged falling off the bus.

We explored the Christmas market, which was massive. I swear there were more English people than French there. Because Lille is so close, lots of Brits take a bus or ferry over for a day trip, especially this time of year. Aurore understands English really well, which I forget because we always speak French together, but it was cute to see her laugh every now and then at something stupid the tourists said. (Said one rather chav girl about the products at what was clearly a waffle stand, "They're sort of like little pancakes.")

We met up with Laurent, Rory's fiancé, and we had a juice and I entertained them with my ability to name all 50 states. (You'd be amazed at what amuses French people.) Then we went back to their house, which I hadn't seen yet, and I got to take the grand tour. They've done a lot of work to the place, and it looks great. It's what the French would call très design.

Then it happened: Aurore broke out the Wii. This was my first Wii experience. My friend Chrissie has one, but up until now I've managed to avoid it. I don't know much about video games; I had an Atari, and I used to play Nintendo at Amy Lee's house, but my last experience with "gaming" was Leo's Playstation, and honestly, it was just too friggin' complicated.

I got sucked in to Wii-dom so fast it's scary. First we did Wii Sports, where Rory handily whipped me at tennis, I redeemed myself in bowling only to lose-- to a French girl-- in baseball. This gravely wounded my national pride and I feel certain that the State Department will be revoking my passport any moment now. Then we played a game whose named translates loosely to "Bonehead Rabbits." I feel sure that it has a different name in the U.S. It's based on the idea that rabbits have taken over the television and you (a rabbit) must act out the various shows. Some of them I was incredibly bad at (anything involving music), but others I rocked out (dancing and this other program wherein a drill sergeant shouts commands at recruits and they try not to mangle themselves).

Oh my gosh, I loved it. I was sitting on Rory's couch watching her snowboard a wildebeest (yes, that's what I said) and I thought, I need one of these. And I knew immediately that one of two outcomes was inevitable: I would spend entirely too much money and never use the thing or, more alarmingly, I would become grossly addicted and never, ever leave my house again.

Still, since I'm feeling muscle fatigue two days later, I can't help but be tempted. I mean, that sucker kicked my tail, and we weren't even doing the Wii Fitness thing!

So, here I am, vacillating. On the one hand, I've got a massive crush on the Wii. On the other, I'm already a homebody as it is. So time will tell...

Tomorrow I'll post about the wildly fun dinner party we went to, and if I can get my hands on pictures, I'll introduce you to my new boyfriend, Quentin. The world isn't ready to accept us yet, but in 16 years and 10 months, we'll be able to declare our love officially.

*Yes, I realize the article says Belgium, but Lille is spitting distance from the border, so there's a bit of overlap.