Roadtripping to Lille in strangers' cars

Hand on the clutch, cigarette between your fingers and I watched the smoke curl languidly into my friend's maroon jeans as she awkwardly tried to brush it away. You got the hint quickly. So Parisian, I remember thinking from the backseat of the car as I watched an endlessly changing scenery, your tousled head bopping to the music, and smoke trails gently dissipating into the ceiling. Your music taste was bearable at best.

Then there was you on the way back, pulling up in a mini-cooper with a checkered roof, cigarette in hand and with a head of dirty blonde curls. I could've hugged you for blasting 150km/h down the highway from Lille to Paris like a pro while I inevitably dozed off with the comfortable rocking of the car. We reached Paris in under two hours and even overtook the bus that we would've taken if not for you.

Lille was alot smaller than I expected, but it didn't make it any less lovely. The wind, though cold, made cafe-stops all the more appreciated. And two was just the right number in a group for roaming the streets. We now know the place at the back of our hands.