indytravel

I spent the first 3 days of a 2 week vacation in Lille, France. This was my 4th solo trip to Europe. I'm a 43 year old single man. I'm more interested in food than hotels, though I rarely eat at a Michelin star level restaurant. All costs are listed in euros.

I flew out of Cincinnati on Friday, Sept. 24th. I arrived the next morning at CDG. From the airplane it looked like there was a lot of work happening on the TGV line to Reims & Metz that's slated to open in '06. At CDG I was quite surprised to see someone use a 500euro note to purchase a train ticket. 500euro in cash on me? Not ever. Weird. I hopped a direct TGV and arrived in Lille early Saturday afternoon.

I arrived at the Lille-Europe train station. The modern building atop the train station really does look like a ski boot. I walked the 500 meters to the Hotel Flandre et d'Angleterre. It's directly opposite the old Lille-Flandres train station.

It's a very nice two star. Breakfast room on the first floor above ground. My room was on the next floor up. At the back of the hotel it was very quiet. It had no view until after dark then there was a stairwell with 3 pretty stained glass windows illuminated in the next building. The hotel has an elevator but no A/C. The double bed was comfortable. The room wasn't too small. A small tub with no shower curtain was in the bathroom. Only rated as a 1 trash can. I really like a hotel room with 2 trash cans, or what luxury, 3. Using the bon-weekend-en-ville plan I stayed for 3 nights with 2 breakfasts for 150.

After checking in I headed outside. The weather was cool in the mid 60'sF with some clouds. It sprinkled later in the afternoon. I decided to wander over to the Place du Théâtre for a little café to help ease the jet lag. I turned the corner from the hotel to discover the length of one of the main streets was bridged and lined with bamboo poles lashed together. At the high end of each piece of bamboo a strobe was attached. Wow. I guess this is what being a "European City of Culture" is all about.

As I walked along, the buildings at the end became more Baroque or is that Rococo? I really need a refresher on architecture. At the end of the street was a Japanese tea house built in the middle of the plaza. I took a side street to the Place du Théâtre to find the bamboo started at one end then swirled skyward to15 meters at the other end and nearly encircled a stage. Along the edge of the plaza was the Sunday book market in progress. Books stacked in yellow boxes that spelled out "livres." This culture thing was getting a bit wacky.

I finally settled in to get my café just as it started to sprinkle. At the end of the plaza a rally started. Hmmm, politics? labor? anti-something? No. It took a while but from banners and chanting the peaceful ruckus seemed to be for building a stadium. "Un stade et vite" was the biggest banner. OK, whatever it takes.

As I sipped my espresso I noticed an older man next to me. I started conversing by asking about the rally. He confirmed that many Lille residents wanted a new stadium. We went on to discuss economies, dollars, hurricanes and their current residence in Spain. When finished shopping his wife retrieved him. They both recommend a restaurant that I used later Restaurant de la Paix.

I walked to the Lille Flandres train station to see about a Metro map. Along the way I saw a 1 meter high pile of discarded shoes roped off with a placard. I entered the train station to find all the windows had been covered with pink film and all the train station lights were pink. I felt as if I were in a Christo wrapped building.

Dinner ended up being a pizza regina and 1/2 liter of red at a little restaurant for 15 euro. Very nice pizza, but I couldn't finish it all.

Sunday morning I went to the Beffroi to find it was still closed for renovation. I took my picture with the nearby Porte de Paris. Winding my way along a main boulevard I eventually reached the Lille Fine Arts Museum. It has a very nice collection. Due to the culture thing it's free all this year too. Excellent.

I saw a beautiful Tissot done in pastel chalks, d'Anger sculptures, a few Reubens, 2 Goya, 2 El Greco, several Vuillard, 2 Monet, a Manet, a Sisley, a Picasso, a beautiful Van Gogh of cows and a Seurat. Lots of religious paintings, even a very unusual Bosch. I'd never seen Rodin cast in silver but there was a tiny medallion of his there. The basement was filled with huge models of towns from the region from the 1700's. Interesting to see the old fortifications laid out. Overall an excellent museum for me. Quite a variety but not huge.

I had a very late lunch at Brasserie Flore. It was very good, but not excellent. The slab of foie gras was exquisite but the toast points were not perfect. I had the Carbonnade, beef stewed in beer. It was very good, but the frites were a bit off, too limp. The beef and frites portion was huge. I only ate a few of the fries as I was so stuffed from the beef.

Next up was the Musee Comtesse. It had been remade bizarrely for the culture fest. Many of the rooms contained beautiful old furnishings, antiques and the like that fully matched the hundreds of years old building. Other rooms were filled with modern art. A house made of cardboard tubes sitting on Kirin beer crates. Steel boxes in the courtyard open at one end and projecting performance art against the box's far side. Chaise lounges made of grass. Yikes!

It was a sunny day with a mid-60 temp. I wandered over by the old citadel on the west side of town. I was distracted by a carnival. A good old-fashioned carnival with rides, barbe-à-papa (cotton candy,) bumper cars and go-karts without seat belts, funhouses designed to seriously trip you up, beer tents and junk food. A real slice of French life was presented. I saw the whole range of humanity. Well dressed people with wide-eyed small children. Dirty people who were trashy looking. Young couples holding hands and giggling as they made goo-goo eyes at each other. Little kids wailing 'cause it was time to go.

As it was late and getting dark I headed back to the hotel. Along the way I went by the pretty old bourse. When I peeked inside there were at least 20 couples ballroom dancing in the open air courtyard. I stepped in to watch them dance as many others had. It's beautiful to see people dance like that as it's a skill I'll never have. After a few numbers the dance floor was cleared. Spotlights were set up shining from the floor. 3 men in very bad drag took the floor and performed a number. One was chunky; one was decent looking as a woman, and one hadn't bothered to, shall we say, "tuck" appropriately for the slinky dress he was wearing. My, my, my the things you see in France.

cigalechanta

welcome back, indytravel, Lille was on my stops but we never got there and I've collected alot of info for next time. I want to eat at the Huiterie because we love seafood. I chuckle at the dance courtyard, because when we were in Annecy, arrived late and headed for the old town where we had a lovely dinner on the terrace of a drag queen bar and had alot of fun and went upstairs to dance with a few.My the fun you can have in France.

indytravel

I blame it on the jet lag and French wine but I finally put 2 & 2 together. The logo for the Lille City of Culture is the silhouette of a bounding androgynous person wearing mukluks. For the first couple of days I wondered what exactly mukluks have to do with Lille. As I was looking closely at a warning flyer pasted to the bamboo poles saying not to climb them, I noticed the "mukluks" were a bit too angular. The "boots" that androgynous person is wearing are actually silhouettes of the ski boot shaped building on top of the Lille-Europe train station. OK.

Monday was a typical museum closed kind of day. The one major exception being the Museum of Modern Art located in a 'burb. I bought my all day metro/bus pass and headed east. I was going to see some Pollack, Calder, Miro, Picasso and Leger.

The approach to the museum was very nice. Two huge Calders, a giant Picasso and a couple of other modern pieces were scattered about the manicured lawn. The building is made of flat bricks, uneven floors and interesting. I paid my 8euro admission to be sorely disappointed.

There was a special exhibition of Europe/Mexico running. Sadly I discovered they had completely gutted their permanent collection to fill the entire museum with the special exhibit. The only things inside from the permanent collection were a couple of nice paintings by Pollack.

Sigh. I really hate it when museums do that. It reminds me of the time I visited MOMA in NYC to discover that Dali's "Persistence of Memory" was not on display. Not on loan for a special exhibit, just not displayed. I asked a docent how they could not show one of the single most famous pieces of surrealism art. My question was met with a blank stare. I left a cranky note for the MOMA management.

With my all day pass in hand I headed back to the city center. From there I took a tram line north. I like to ride the trams. Above ground you get to see so many things. I went through a couple of gorgeous neighborhoods. They had big brick homes with mansard slate roofs, landscaping and lots of flowers still in bloom. I also went through some grittier neighborhoods which are quite the contrast.

I ended up in a neighboring town called Tourcoing. I explored their huge church and walked their downtown area before returning to Lille.

After a less than successful modern art day I decided to have dinner at Restaurant de la Paix. It was the one recommended by the Belgian couple currently living in Spain.

It was excellent. I had a kir pêche appertif. The chef's amusée bouche was a crab salad on baguette. The foie gras appetizer was like butter with perfect toast points. I had it served with a very nice slightly sweet complementing sauturne. The ris de veau came in a pot with a delicious heavy cream sauce and wild mushrooms. The side plate of vegetables was perfection: potatoes au gratin, more mushrooms, spinach and zucchini. My most expensive meal of the trip for 50euro.

The odd thing was the sound track for my dining experience. It was techno/disco music. Nice linen, pretty flatware, beautiful food presented on beautiful china and disco. I'm not sure what is up with the French in this respect. I've eaten at several nice restaurants in France over the last few years. More than a few had what I consider very odd music playing: French pop, disco, English pop. Do they focus on the food so hard they don't care about the music? Do French people like disco music at dinner?


I enjoyed Lille immensely, especially with the culture festival happening. It struck me as a city of two halves: the old and the new. The stark Lille-Europe train station is next to the classic Lille-Flandres station. The recent Beffroi is next to the old Port de Paris. Even the cathedral is divided. The nave and facade have been renovated in a modern style while the apse and transept are classic.

Sue4

Loved your report. You really seem to get the most from your travels. Hope you'll continue with the rest of the trip!

indytravel

Thanks for the kind words Sue4 & cigale.

I'm cross referencing to the rest of my 2 week vacation. I've posted the Greece portion on a new thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34535452

indytravel

Managed to get a few photos into Ofoto too:

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=c8dih6q...&y=-7nezce

francophile03

Lille seems like a wonderful small city. It's so close to Paris it would be great to visit if I had more than a week's vacation! That and Lyon are two places I'd like to visit some time.

USNR

Indytravel: you have a gifted eye and an even more gifted pen. I have often avoided Lille, thinking it a grimy French town of no particular attraction. You have proved me wrong. And for that, I thank you. I would be curious to know, after reading your description of various restaurant meals, how much weight you put on during your time in France!

cigalechanta

Thanks for the photos, Davis . We were on our way up to Lille til serindipity raisd it's head. I've been cutting out articles from magazines for a few years for that day, and the "huiterie" is still there.

indytravel

Thanks USNR.

I lament the days of old when I went to Europe and actually lost weight due to all the walking.

I also lament the days when I could hold my weight steady with all the walking.

This 2 week indulgence cost me 5lbs. I'll struggle for weeks to dump those and a few more that I really need to.

I figure it's one of life's biggest ironies. I'm in a position where I can afford nice food and nice wine. I can afford to have a starter with a meal and a dessert. Alas, I can afford everything but the calories.

Tulips

Topping for Ronda

RobynFrance

Hi Indy--we are going to the Picardie this year for our annual France trip--some friends have offered us their home near Le Touquet Paris Plage. Lille is on our list and your info has been helpful. Would you say a day's visit is about right if one is not staying there? How is the traffic and is parking reasonably straight forward there? Thanks so much for your report.

indytravel

Hello Robyn,

I didn't have a car but I thought the traffic looked pretty heavy especially around the Lille-Flandres train station where I stayed. I think you'd do better trying to park on the western edge of the old town near the art museum. Or near the citadel on the Champs de Mars which is free.

I'm sure you could take advantage of their metro & trams with a park&ride too.

I think you could put a big dent in things to see and do in Lille in a busy day: the art museum, the Musee de l'Hospice Comtesse, the beautiful Place General de Gaulle with the old bourse and the other pretty buildings to see.

The cathedral is an odd mix of a new nave with old transcept and apse. It could be skipped if you're pressed for time and not into modern stained glass though the old parts are lovely.

You'll get to see Lille "au naturel" since the year of culture is over. The next time I'm through it'll look strange without art & bamboo poles everywhere.