Peculiar

25^th to 27^th of February, 2022.

              It is quite easy at the beginning, but when I am almost at his road, I meet one of his housemates, Barbara, and she tells me I am in the right way. Yay! But then I ask her if it is the next road to the right, uphill, and I have the feeling she said yes. But maybe she didn’t hear me. When I cannot find his house, I ask a young lady on the street a bit of help. While we are talking, the couple from the front house arrives and we start talking. Oh, my Loki! They are the kindest people ever! The woman it seems like it is made out of sugar (I don’t know how better can I describe her) and her husband is only a bit shy because he cannot speak English, but he is also lovely.
              Valerie (of course she would have a lovely name like that) and Didier immediately invite me to their home so I can use their wi-fi and try to contact Cédric. I don’t even have his mobile phone number plus he didn’t give me his address for some reason. Valérie even said, since the beginning of the conversation, that I could wait in their house until the time Cédric would be back. Problem is I don’t know when he will be back.
              At their house I meet their two cute dogs, Nessy and Zoe, and their cat Parisse. I do send an email to Cédric but I am sure he will not see it because he is in a demonstration (in favor of more respect for the cyclists) in town. So after briefing Valerie about my travels, I calm down and start to think. I remember better what Cédric had told me and by looking at the map, I come to the conclusion that there are 3 more possible streets where he could live. Didier offer to drive me to the three of them until we find his house. Aren’t they the best?
              After sadly saying goodbye to Valerie (I could stay with her forever), me and Didier start our search. At the last of the three streets, when it is already dark, we finally find Cédric’s house. After a little celebration, Didier gives me my backpack and I say goodbye to him.
              I had so many plans for my evening! I wanted to write, to post on my blog, to send some e-mails, to do some groceries shopping and prepare some nice, fresh and healthy warm meal. But by the time I arrive, just after seven, I can do only one of them, groceries, and in a super rush!
              So I quickly get directions to the shop (which is almost 30 minutes walking) from Cédric’s other housemate, Sebastian, (who is very welcoming, by the way) and take my way. I read my directions wrongly and get lost. But I am proud of myself for two reasons: I quickly find a solution, asking people and finding the right way, a new way; and I memorize all this new directions, all the turnings, just by head. And all of that while half of my brain is focusing on trying not to let me know how starving I am.
              I arrive at the shop 10 minutes before the closing time. Trying to pay, another issue, this time much simpler: I cannot pay with cash in this cashier. Luckily I can pay in the right next one. And the employees of the shop are so nice after all. Congratulations!
              Back at home, is almost nice o’clock. I have decided to make a quick mushroom omelette and some steam broccoli.
              Barbara comes back home and soon enough another CS arrives, Natasha, from French Guiana. How cool is that?
              We all chat for some more time, everybody is very friendly and we all get along pretty well. But I am exhausted and go to bed around midnight.
              Next morning I allow myself to sleep until 9 o’clock. I have decided that I will only visit the Citadel today, because at night we will all go to see Cédric’s performance of Irish music, in a local pub. Their local pub. I will explain later.
              The weather is incredible! Blue sky, sunny and warm. So after breakfast, following Sebastian’s suggestion, I go to visit the citadel, before the weather decide to change into a horrible storm, as it has been happening the last few days.
              Namur’s Citadel is so cool! There is so much to see though, so many different paths and directions you can take. But it is almost impossible to get lost. There are maps of the place everywhere, which is great for people like me, who cannot simply take a photograph on the smartphone. Even though I have a map from the Tourist Office, the one on site is much better. So all you have to do is to choose which ways you will take, where do you go and how much time will you spend in there. You can easily spend a whole day there, bring some food for a picnic, and relax. Right at the back of the citadel, there is a interesting open air theatre. It is quite big and overlooking a huge area. I just keep thinking how it would be to live back on those times… Just behind this building, there is the Château de Namur, it is a restaurant now, but the outside is still super cute. I am sure I haven’t seen it all but if you have more time and energy, you should try. It worth! The only weird thing is the gigantic golden turtle. The ladybug you see in the photograph is actually the keyholder for CSs, something about friend’s key. It so cute!

              For tonight’s dinner, I decide that me and Natasha could make some vegetarian empanadas for our hosts. She agrees to help me. Cédric prepares some pumpkin soup for selling at the pub. Me and Natasha prepare the empanadas. They work out great but it takes much more time than I though because I did double recipe. We live in Barbara’s car sometime after 8 o’clock.
              La Cassarole is a pub which is managed by many different people. Cédric and Sebastian are two of them. It works like a “everybody’s pub”, which is super cool, and the whole idea is very much about freedom. So you can drink any beer or drinks pretty much for free, but if you would like to donate some coins to help the pub, that is very welcome. It is the same with the food. There is always some soup with bread and cheese. Plus some snacks. They also own a free-shop for clothes, just nearby, so if you need anything…
              The music part is pretty much musicians who can play Irish music gathering together to play… Irish music! Yay! The night I came there were about 10 of them, but Barbara told me they can be up to 20 or more. I love the whole thing: the place, the music, the idea, everything! It is super great and you should definitely check it out if you are in town. They also have some events from time to time, like movie sessions or lectures about important subjects. So just go! I am sure you will not regret! Plus is so cool to support something different, something which you cannot find anywhere or everywhere else, like most of the places out there nowadays…
              When we go back home, everybody is exhausted so we all go to bed almost immediately. I finish packing, do my hitchhike sign and some more other things and go to sleep too.
              Sebastian has offered to give me a lift until the central station. He is going to his Kung Fu classes early morning. It is great for me because it will save me half an hour walking! Yay! I prepare two sandwiches, have my breakfast, say goodbye to everybody and we leave.