Mom and Dad in France!

Well, after a long and decently eventful day, my parents and I are happy, full of good food, and enjoying our hotel in Lille.
It all began this morning at 5am... when, in my nervous state of not wanting to miss my alarm, woke up to get ready. I decided to take a cab to the train station to catch my 7am train, not wanting to sit on the tram for such a long time so early. Turns out that the cab only takes about 15 minutes to get to the station, so I ended up sitting around for a long time in the station. When I finally got on the train, I realized I was in first class but I had no seat. So for the first bit I dozed in the corridor bench (which was actually quite comfy) and then I got a seat and chatted with some of the train attendants.
When I finally got to the airport, I had no trouble finding my parents. It was awesome to see them again! Then, for about the next hour, we had some interesting moments...
First, we were at terminal 3, where apparently we were supposed to be able to pick up our rental car. When we got there, we couldn't find the rental car desk, so I asked the info desk for help. He assured us there was no rental desk at terminal 3, only at terminal 1. This after dragging our bags quite a ways. I showed him our confirmation sheets, which clearly stated we could find something at terminal 3, but he kept saying no and eventually got the rental company on the phone to convince us.We gave in and made our way back to terminal 1. When we got there, we asked for directions and finally found the desk. We picked up the key and went to follow the ladies directions to "parking 1." Of course, she failed to tell us that there were three parking 1 lots. So my dad had to go all the way back to find out which one. When we finally found our rental car (which was awesome), we couldn't get it started because the key was weird. You had to push on the clutch and press a button. I had to ask two random guys to help us because no one else was available. Finally it got started, but then my dad couldn't figure out how to put it in reverse. He eventually figured it out, because the gears were kind of weird. After about 2 hours of frustration, we were on the road! Our GPS got us to Lille and our hotel safe and sound. Oh, and my Dad is a great driver, even when driving standard.
Once we got here, I took a shower and we got some groceries, since the store will be closed tomorrow. Then we headed downtown for some dinner. The city is so gorgeous! The buildings downtown are just beautiful.

The clock tower

Main square-- reminds me of Brussels a bit!

The sun peeked out

Mom and Dad in France!

We found a really nice restaurant that was recommended on our map and ended up having a really nice meal. We got a bottle of rosé and then we each got the menu of entrée+plat+dessert. It was so good! I had smoked salmon with tsatziki to start, meatballs in black pepper cream sauce with house vegetables, and creme brulee. The food was great, the ambiance was nice, and the waiters were really nice too. It was a great first meal together in France!

Mom and starter

Dad and I! He would wear a Toronto Maple Leaf shirt...

Starter

Tomorrow, we are going to go to church for Easter then go for a run, and hopefully walk around a bit of the town to see more of it. It is very different from Nantes, and a lot more beautiful than I expected!
Now it is time to just rest and relax. It has been a long a tiring day!