We visited Lille back in April of this year whilst doing a three month tour, by rail, of Western Europe and vowed to return -See my previous post “My New Friend Lille”.
So here we are, having caught the Eurostar direct from London St Pancras into Lille Europe.
Our hotel is within walking distance of the station which is handy since a bitter cold winter wind is blowing as we leave the concourse.
We have two days to explore the city shops and absorb the Christmas atmosphere with visits to old Lille, the Christmas Market and finally the modern Westfield Eurolille on our agenda.
Sustained with breakfast from the hotel we turn right onto Rue de Pierre Mauroy, right again onto Rue du Molinel and then head to the Statue of General Faidherbe. This marks the entry into Rue de Bethune which is a a pedestrianised old street at the centre of the city. Strolling along Bethune introduces you into the individuality of old Lille. Our first stop is the Hema Department Store.
HEMA was founded almost 100 years ago in 1926 opening their first store in Amsterdam. At the time, department stores in the Netherlands were mainly for the wealthy and the staff mostly spoke French.. Ordinary people were on a tight budget and couldn’t afford to shop at them.
The founders, Leo Meyer and Arthur Isaac, wanted to open a department store for the ordinary folk. It was a store where a nickel was worth a dime, stocked with everyday items. Plates, soap or towels, at affordable prices. The store was a hit and the company expanded beyond Holland into Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, France and Austria.
The attraction for us is the Christmas decorations.
When I was a child decorations in the home were mainly handmade paper chains and colourful paper ceiling decorations which came in balls. As you unwound them, you twisted them as you went to form arcs across the room from one corner into the centre. Repeating this so you had four chains all meeting in the centre of the room.
In each quadrant you would then hang a paper ball. These came folded flat and you had to fold them outwards to form a sphere and then paper clip them together so the ball remained in place. The central decoration was always the largest ball or in some cases you would have another green paper decoration which when folded out and secured displayed a lovely Christmas tree.
Surprisingly the window display had these very same decorations which I hadn’t seen for probably 40 years back in the UK. I couldn’t resist going in and buying some to take home including some lovely rainbow coloured balls. Somehow a couple of packets of white chocolate snowmen also found their way into my basket, which alas never made their way home across the Channel after late night munching in our hotel room!
Walking past Dr Marten’s and Levis and heading on up the street we arrived at Grand Scene on the right. We had vowed to come back here and eat amongst the street food booths but unfortunately it was too early and then when we returned in the early evening it had closed. Note to self to check opening and closing times next time!
Across the road is probably one of my favourite stores in the world –Pylones!
This colour explosion began back in 1987 when the founders, Jacques & Léna Guillemot opened their first store in Paris on the Île Saint-Louis. As they proudly say on their web site “We shake things up, we reinvent them and lovingly embellish them with motifs from in-house or independent designers. Bright, subtle, figurative or abstract, our objects are real creations! Why Pylones? Just like the real pylons out there, those huge structures that circulate energy and cross borders, we wanted to spread our arms wide to hug the planet and transmit the good vibes!”
I walk into this store and immediately leave my cares behind and a smile is plastered across my face. This store just makes me happy! I love all the colour, it just explodes at you and I could honestly spend a fortune here. It takes me ages to choose only those items which I feel would make good Christmas gifts. I really have to rein myself in. As is normal in France gift wrapping is offered at the till but in my case I politely refuse.
Further along the road we swing left into Rue Neve and make our way towards the Grand Place. I smile at The Little Wizard’s Shop and the ongoing existence of Etam, which disappeared in the UK many moons ago.
We return to Notting Hill on the square for a welcoming cup of coffee and a cake. I always think about the film with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts when I sit inside this little cafe, looking out onto the many visitors and locals going about their day. I wonder why they called it by this name?
Having temporarily rested our legs we head out once again, circumnavigating the central Christmas wheel and rides to enter Furet Du Nord. This is another revisit. Such a great book shop featuring some English books and a great array of cards and stationary.
Heading across the square to Rue Esquermoise we stroll up this lovely street resplendent with many small independent chocolate shops. The window displays, at this time of the year, are amazing. The creations astound us. My favourite is Chocolat De Beussent-Lachelle with a white chocolate snow scene with a milk chocolate Santa on his sleigh pulled by his nine reindeer careering down the mountainside. It retails for 65 euros but wow what a unique present this would make.
You will also find some lovely small patisseries along this road displaying everything from proper French croissants to rows and rows of macarons.
At the crossroads where Esquermoise meets Rue Basse is Fromagerie Philippe Olivier – Les Bons Pâturages. We have agreed to purchase some real French cheeses which I can nestle in a wicker style hamper I have at home and gift to my friend and her husband alongside a good bottle of champagne.
As we peruse the cheese on offer it is evident fairly quickly that unless we are going to stand and inspect them with Google Translate to hand we need help. The manager of the shop smiles politely and welcomes us in French. Alas he doesn’t speak English.
Fortunately his young assistant, who is due to start work in ten minutes, kindly agrees to begin early and with her excellent understanding of English assists us in choosing a nice selection. She manages to cover provenance so the cheeses we leave with are from across France, milk origin so we have goats’ cheese as well as cow’s milk and sheep’s milk cheese and finally everything from soft to hard to smelly!
I’m so happy with our purchases it really brightens my already enjoyable day.
Walking on down the road we turn right in front of “Paul” a beautiful boulangerie and head along Rue Lepelletier to our final shop for the afternoon “Le Comptoir du Miel” -the honey shop. This is an oasis for my hubby who adores honey and will in the future keep his own bees. I love the fact that in France you find these particular, individual shops catering to just one product but in such spectacular fashion.
This shop, since 1987, specialises in the direct sale of rare and unusual honeys from beekeepers in France and around the world. Offering a selection of honeys from independent beekeepers from several countries: France, New Zealand , Madagascar, Australia, and many other wild and distant places.
Again we could have spent a fortune but limit ourselves to a key selection.
Whilst our day out shopping ended here, we took a break and then ventured back out in the evening to eat and visit the Christmas Market.
With more than 900,000 people visiting this market every year it is an arresting spectacle full of pretty lights, hunger inducing smells and 80 decorated chalets selling a variety of gifts and presents to take home.
Navigating your way around so you don’t miss anything is the first challenge but one real positive is that they limit the numbers that are allowed in at any one time. Yes, this may mean you have to queue to enter but once inside you can at least admire the stalls without pushing through crowds of people. Opening times are available on line but coming in the evening definitely lends more atmosphere.
We really enjoyed the Christmas feel, the lights and the sheer variety of purchases available.
Visiting Lille at Christmas is a unique and rewarding experience with a lovely balance between old and new. I would truly recommend this beautiful city x
A Midlife Adventure 