saúde!

Saturday morning, I had a text from my Brazilian friend asking if I'd possibly like to spend a few hours in Lille with him and his friends (also originally from Brazil but currently living in Lyon). Because an escape from Val can always be nice, I responded that I'd like that and to keep me posted. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned. Oh, I didn't get stood up. Quite the opposite. I was waiting for confirmation when they just showed up at my door.

Once in the car, I was informed we would be going to Pipaix. Wait a minute. Where? It turns out that Pipaix is a small town in Belgium who's claim to fame is the Dubuisson Brewery home of Bush Beer (that's Scaldis for the Americans) and Cuvee des Trolls. And that was exactly where we went for a visit and tasting. We arrived too early, so we ordered a bottle of Bush Prestige (at a whopping 13%, this beer was stronger than wine!), and prepared ourselves for a beer tasting by becoming slightly tipsy. A group of guys were far ahead of us, and I'm surprised that none of them fell over during the visit. For the tasting, we were given three very large samples of three different types of very strong beers. Plus, we were given the history and a visit of the brewery itself. It was quite interesting.

Meanwhile, my friend spent the entire four or five hours we were there whining about how much he wanted fries. Well, we were in Belgium after all (fries come from there, you know), so we decided to go to Tournai to find a friterie (basically a fry joint). We gorged ourselves on too many fries and some questionable meat sandwiches while cracking each other up like a bunch of idiots. We got some stares.

After Tournai, we finally made the trek to Lille (only eight hours later than planned) and met up with another of Brazilian's friends and wandered around there for awhile and grab a drink while trying to avoid the sudden downpour.

Since we had such a good time together, they invited me to join them the following day. I went to meet them in Le Quesnoy (where Brazilian lives), and we drove to Maroilles (a tiny town in the North) for none other than the Fete du Maroilles. For those of you who don't know Maroilles makes a cheese of the same name and it is pungent! Plug your noses! We wandered around checking out the stalls and trying some samples like saucisson sec with Maroilles in it before settling day with a bottle of cider, a tarte au Maroilles, and croque monsieurs made with Maroilles. We all definitely had some stinky breath after that.

Enjoying some tarte au Maroilles 

Of course, the day was still young, so back to Belgium we went. Where else would you go if you're in the North of France? There was some debate over whether to go to Gent or Bruges or both, but in the end it was decided to just go to Gent. We went, had a wander (and in some people's cases a waffle or fries - I was good), and a beer. I scored a can of black beans which are impossible to find in France, so I was happy!

On our way home, I declined their invitation to dinner, and I asked to be dropped off in Valenciennes since it was on their way back to Le Quesnoy. I didn't want them to have to drive me home late after dinner. However, they were insistent and said that they were making a Brazilian dish that I must try. And I was so happy they insisted, because the meal was amazing! Yum!

I really liked Brazilian's friends. At first, I felt a bit bad, because I was forcing them to speak French seeing as I don't know a word of Portuguese! Though I learned a few words this weekend! Okay, I can say "Cheers!" as we spent a lot of time drinking. But in the end, we all had such a good time and got along so well. I also now have an open invitation to go to Lyon whenever I'd like.

P.S. The black beans were already put to good use. Hannah and I bought some cheddar and tortilla chips, made refried beans, and ate nachos for dinner. Delicious! And you can so tell that we haven't adopted our eating habits to the French way.