Rouen jour 1

Day one of the Conservatorium organ department’s field trip to Rouen, France. Wannes, a stout fellow named Johan from Lier, and I departed from Mechelen in the evening. I finally gave the McDonald’s in Mechelen a try with them, but was disappointed by the French fries (without dip--that would have cost 40 cents extra). If European McDonald’s are better than American ones, they certainly don’t do fries that way. Ironic for a country that boasts some of the best frieten in the world. I stole a balloon from the Happy Meals. "I beg your pardon?" Wannes asked as I tried to inflate it in the car.

It’s difficult to reconcile myself with having overlooked it, but just across the river from IKEA Anderlecht is a nuclear power plant with mood lighting. Yes, mood lighting! Changing pinpoints of light over the entire surface of the cooling tower. It must be an impressive sight by night--or at least psychedelic.

For the first hour, I fervently reviewed my exam repertoire, but fell asleep as darkness fell and remained that way through my companions’ incessant and increasingly irritating chatter. To drown them out, I was sleepily extracting my iPod mini from my backpack when Wannes’ voice cut through the haze of unconsciousness.

“Don’t you want to take pictures of the lightning?”

Sure enough, lightning was crashing in stereo around us as we sped through misty surreal fields. We passed by trees illuminated eerily as I had only seen them in photos. Moby provided the perfect soundtrack, and I savored the melancholy, solitude, and vulnerability of which I become intensely aware when driving at night.

Many of the buildings in Rouen seemed badly maintained, further persuading me that Flanders really is economically one of the best places in the area these days, although Wannes’ explanation was simply that run-down buildings were a French habit. Since the cozy family-run place they used to haunt had gone of out business, we checked into an Accor hotel outside the city center that seemed more like a prison, with a giant code-operated gate, code-operated doors, and an electronic check-in. The only redeeming aspect was the vending machine with Van Houten hot chocolate. Unable to resist, I knocked back a full cup and was chipper by the time I hopped into bed, although I’d barely managed to stay conscious for the ride.

It did not occur to me that the top bunk of a short room does not offer an ideal environment for sitting up. Twice I became acquainted with the consequences before I finally managed to toss and turn myself to sleep.