So, with our accomodation finally sorted we spent another drizzly day indoors but managed to take the tram into town for dinner. As we chose not to carry a small library of travel guides with us we made good use of the free use-it guides, a great resource covering the major attractions of Belgium and specifically aimed at youth. We decided to go for a nice warm bowl of pasta in a chilled out little cafe by the river with refreshingly friendly and helpful staff. The waitress recommended a good spot for waffles so the next day we checked out and took a short ride around the city looking for "Desiree de Lille" (we never found this place in Lille later on). The waffles were nothing like what I expected. I'd imagined something doughy and cake-like but this thing was amazing. It was so light and crispy with just a dusting of powdered sugar. After an initial light crunch it would melt in your mouth.... *drool*Then there were the beignets. P2 had ordered 2 banana ones. We've been searching for the perfect banana fritter for some time and we thought we'd found it, double deep fried, at a street stall in Vietnam but oh how we were mistaken. The bananas here were ripe, soft and sweet, unlike the smaller, denser asian variety, and the batter was crispy and light, similar to the waffle we'd just had but perhaps a shade heavier. My mouth's watering just thinking about them.
We didn't have a lot of time to look around but enough to get a feel for the city. P2 was more impressed, saying it resembled her childhood memories of what Paris should be like. To me it seemed a lot smaller, definitely more laidback compared to Paris and although lacking some of the grandeur it still had plenty of history in the centre of town. Still, I'd gladly return just for the beignets.
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