Lille... its not Nice.
I'm in Lille, a wee town in the north east of France. Got here two days ago - And what a two days its been! First off I pride myself on my ability to navigate and book speedily on travelling websites - As tricky as the buggers can be trying to sell you an extra leg room seat for your pet gorilla. So I get to the airport, go through security, up to the gate only to find my boarding pass has speedy boarding on it. The flight attendants amplified voice invites the Priority boarding passengers up, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. On all my previous trips I deliberately try and get to the gate early so I can stare out the pretentious idiots who pay an extra tenner to sit on an aeroplane for ten minutes instead of sitting in the airport for ten minutes. I queued with the average people, hoping the attendant wouldn't notice or say anything. She did. I just giggled, muttered something like "Ryan air wins this time." and hastily made for the plane.
I was really tired getting onto the plane and I remember looking around as I was queueing, and seeing a Crow land on a barbed wire fence. It makes sense now, but at the time I was really concerned for the crow.
The city of Lille is nice enough - I got here on a Sunday, meaning every shop was closed. I walked about twenty minutes in all directions and couldn't find anything! Eventually had to make do with a McDonald's Tea and no toothpaste. (I'm not complaining, I love McDonald's.)
Got a burger and chips for lunch today - The main square is full of open air food places and restaurants. Its also full of really rude beggars, who literally hold you still in the street with one hand and make the 'spare change' gesture with the other hand. Also I quickly learned not to give a cigarette out - Homeless people here seem to have some sort of inbuilt vulture-istic radar that picks up when a generous person is being generous, and they immediately all flock to that person!
I had to get money out to pay the tournament entry fee - The only cash machine I could find had a beggar sitting either side of it. As I put my card in and pressed the button, the guy was rambling non stop and making the money sign. I told him I had no money at all. As my eighty euros came out the machine I made a quick getaway, pitying him slightly by reminding myself he's going to buy booze and drugs with it. Hang on...
Round One
The first round was today and I beat an 1806 French guy. The game was interesting and I think I played quite well. Tomorrow I've got a 2366 IM.
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