Touring Western Europe -France -My New Friend Lille

Having left Paris on Friday we took the train an hour north to the city of Lille.
Sitting just 10 miles from the Belgium border, it is the tenth largest city in France with approx a million citizens and was the original capital of Flanders.

We had been drawn here, en route to Belgium, by a Lonely Planet article and having slept well in our hotel room we set off on Saturday morning armed with a self guided walk to explore the centre.
I have an app on my phone called GPS My City which I find really useful when we want to explore a new place, but at our own pace, without any pre booked tickets or devised plan. On this occasion we were given two options: City Introduction Walk or Historical Buildings and chose the former.

It was a little overcast and there was the occasional shower but we soon arrived ten minutes later at the Porte de Paris. Built by Louis XIV in 1692 to celebrate him conquering the city and as such is an Arch of Triumph.

Close by is the Belfry of Lille Town Hall, the tallest municipal building in France but a belfry without any bells! Built in classic art-deco style with Flemish elements common to this region.

Walking on we soon reach the Palais des Beaux Arts, which is the second biggest Fine Arts Museum in France in terms of the number of exhibits on display. If you wish to go inside you will find a Middle Ages and Renaissance department, as well as European paintings with Rubens, Goya, Van Dyck, Delacroix etc, French paintings and sculptures from the 19th century including Rodin, a magnificent collection of ceramics from the 17th and 18th centuries and a room of drawings including some by Raphael.
Being slightly museumed out, having just left Paris, we chose instead to merely admire the beauty of the building built in a French end of century style with elements of Italian Renaissance.

Our walk then led us to Bethune Street, a pedestrianised old street at the centre of the city and this is where temptation led us astray. But that’s the great part of a self guided walk, you can wander off at will and come back to it when you are ready.
We are not shoppers, let me make this clear! I still remember my peers at senior school taking off to the local town every Saturday Afternoon to shop. I couldn’t understand the allure then and I still don’t get it now!
However one element that Lille has is an abundance of independent shops. You will still find some well known brands but it is these sole traders that always tempt me in if I’m in that frame of mind to explore. I like to support local business and I always feel you are more likely to spot that unusual memento of your visit in such a place.
Along the cobbled streets that radiate off from Bethune Street you also start to see an plethora of individual coffee shops, patisseries, small cafes and bistros.

We also stumbled across the Grand Scene whilst looking for a public toilet. This is an indoor food court. As we wandered through, the toilets were at the back, the smell of food starting to cook and the absolute buzz of the different unit holders was a scene to behold. Music played in the background, statues of African animals are interspersed between the seats and the whole place just exudes atmosphere. But for the fact that we were too early to be considering lunch we would have definitely chosen from the many varieties of food on offer and stayed.

Back on track we make our way to the Grand Place, Lille’s main square. It is surrounded by a number of buildings including the Theatre of the North and the Old Stock Exchange and paved in check of pink and blue granite. The architecture of the houses and shops around the square brings a smile to my face. I love these grand old market squares and always take a moment to savour the ambiance. In this case inside a cafe, oddly called ” The Notting Hill” where we partake of coffee and wonderful cake!

The Old Stock Exchange is definitely worth a visit with its Renaissance Flemish architecture, columns adorned with garlands and at the top of the bell tower a golden image of the god Mercury. It consists of a quadrangle of twenty four lookalike houses surrounding a large courtyard where today you will find florists, book stall holders, coin collectors and people selling old fashion board games, all plying their trade.
My husband naturally gravitates to the record stalls.
Meanwhile locals gather at the adjacent eateries and even the odd game of chess is being played, under cover from the raindrops.
Again it is full of atmosphere, a bit like a step back into a bygone era.

Also on the square you will find Librairie Furet du Nord or the Ferrets of the North Bookstore. I love a book store and this shop has been operating since 1960! It claims to be the largest book shop in Europe but I’m not sure having visited Blackwells in Oxford? Obviously most of the books are not written in English but there are sections, here and there, where a display of English books on a particular genre are available for sale. The only catch is the price. I spotted, for example, a copy of a recently released paperback by one of my favourite writers but it was nearly three times the price I would pay back home. I’m not sure why?

Moving on from the square we make our way to Lille Cathedral, the Hospice Comtesse Museum and the 13th century Church of St Catherine. But the highlight again of walking around this area of the “Old Town” is how easy it is to wander off, to go and explore down an alley or an old narrow street. We even manage to stumble across Place aux Oignons or Onion Square. Lined with houses dating from the 17th and 18th century, they were originally homes for artisan weavers who used the attics and cellars as workshops. Now you will again find independent cafes and restaurants and just such a lovely olde worlde atmosphere.

In case you’ve not realised I’m beginning to fall in love with this city. It’s my kind of place!

To finish off our walk we head to the Citadel of Lille and whilst I could include a photo and give you the historic background to this last piece of architecture, I will leave you to discover that for yourself and instead extoll the virtues of the beautiful walk we took to get there.
Leaving the Old Town behind we suddenly find ourselves on the side of a canal and entering the Parc de la Citadelle. This park, of 123 acres, encircled by the Deûle canal, is an unexpected surprise. The sun has started to peep through the clouds as we take a stroll along the canal, admiring the bulbs poking through the grass and watching the moorhens feeding their young. Several bridges span the water and, but for the fair that is in town, this would be a great place to bring a picnic on a dry day.

We also come across a monument that on further research we find “honours the memory of members of the Jacquet Committee who, during the First World War, were shot for having helped French and English soldiers who took refuge in the city to escape.
Sculptor Félix Desruelles chose to represent the resistance fighters at the moment of their execution, on 22 September 1915. The young Léon Trulin, although shot on 8 November, lies face down on the ground. The work, inaugurated in 1929, was destroyed by the Germans in 1940 and restored identically by the sculptor’s widow.”

Lille has been a city full of surprises.
Sometimes when you visit a new place with no expectations, other than to explore, you walk away with what feels like a new friend. Lille is my new friend, a walkable city full of hints of a bygone era, with friendly shopkeepers and an array of differing cuisine that we are already planning on returning to for Christmas shopping.

NB:

This is part thirteen in my series of posts about our tour of Western Europe. Why not read the previous posts and then follow us on our journey as we continue to explore this lovely part of the world?