The next task after getting unpacked, was exploring town and doing some grocery shopping. My apartment has a kitchenette and cooking will help me keep my budget under control, so hopefully I'll have money leftover from my scholarship to do some traveling outside Lille while I'm in France. The Euralille mall is a twenty-minute walk from my apartment. The directory includes clothing and beauty brands I was familiar with from my travel in the UK (Mango, H & M, Zara), a Starbucks (at least I recognize what I'm ordering here), and a Carrefour market (like a Super Target or Walmart - carries household items, beauty stuff, and a full grocery store). I was thrilled to see a whole line of gluten-free goodies to try!
I also walked west of Euralille, to the City Centre. This area is comprised of beautiful old buildings, with a mixture of Flemish and French architecture. People watching was great, as I sat on the steps of the Opera House and watched families, couples, and individuals shop, get coffee, and meet up for various reasons.
Thursday I attended orientation at Sciences Po-Lille. The staff and faculty were very, very welcoming, "bienvenue, bienvenue!" and helped us fill out some mandatory paperwork. They also reviewed course registration with us - a process we will complete online after our international student coordinator, Monsieur Buteau, emails us the open link on Monday. We also were offered a French language placement test, to help guide us as to which intensive language classes to begin next week. It's getting real!
The Palais des Beaux Artes, pictured below, is the second largest art museum in France (after the Louvre). It was commissioned by Napoleon I. It is undergoing renovation, but the structure is unbelievably beautiful. At the other end of the Place de Republique park, is a large government building, the purpose of which I have yet to discover. However, it's impressively huge, the gendarmes constantly patrol these streets, and it is a lovely place to walk, eat, and again... people watch.