Lille (known as Rijsel in Flemish) is a medium-sized city in the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France with a very large student population. This city has a strong industrial background, but, after some difficult years, it is now known throughout France for its handsome city centre and its very active cultural life.
Lille is the main city of France's fourth largest metropolitan area. It is located to the country's north, on the Deûle River, near the border with Belgium.The whole metropolitan area of Lille, both on French and Belgian territory (Kortrijk, Tournai) was estimated in 2007 at around 1,885,000 inhabitants, ranking as one of the major metropolitan areas of Europe.
PLACE TO VISIT
La Vieille Bourse (1653). Right between two picturesque squares, Place du Général-de-Gaulle and Place du Théâtre, this former commercial exchange still plays a central part in the life of the city. You may find booksellers and flower markets in the inner court.
The main square, Place du Général-de-Gaulle, better known as the "Grand'place", has many lovely historic houses, like the neo-Flemish headquarters of local newspaper La Voix du Nord, and a fountain with the statue of a goddess, "la Grande Déesse" (1843).
Place Rihour, surrounded by restaurants, houses the tourist information centre inside its main attraction, the Palais Rihour (1453).
The town hall is worth a look and can be combined nicely with a visit to the Porte de Paris (1692).
The Opera (1923) and the Chamber of Commerce (1921) are located close together and offer magnificent sights, especially when lit-up at night.
Take a stroll through the old quarter of the city, known as Vieux Lille, and enjoy the quiet, cobble-stone streets, the variety of stylish designer shops, gourmet restaurants, and the modern Cathédrale Notre Dame de la Treille. More notable streets like Rue de la Monnaie and Rue Esquermoise are definitely worth the trip.
A bit farther from the city centre is la Citadelle, an interesting example of defensive military architecture, built by Vauban, a famous French military architect, under the reign of Louis the Fourteenth.
Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse, a former hospital now presenting art from a rather alternative angle.
Musée d'Art et d' Industrie de Roubaix : La Piscine, a 20th century art museum hosted in a beautiful "Art déco" (start of 20th century) former swimming pool.
WHAT TO DO
The open market, Marché de Wazemmes, is open every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday morning, but the busiest day is definitely Sunday. Vendors sell everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, books and stationery, suitcases and shoes, even perfume and undergarments! Be sure to pick up a bag of fresh clementines, a bright bouquet of fresh-cut flowers, some rotisserie chicken and roast potatoes for lunch, and a glass of beer at one of many little pubs surrounding the market.
La Braderie is an annual street fair held every September, for which millions of people come to Lille. You will find everything: paintings, antiques, ornaments, furniture. Inhabitants are partying and drinking, very fun atmosphere.
Once a month, there's a big reggae event in Wazemmes called Chalice Sound System, Check their MySpace to know when the next event will be. If you're in Lille, it's really worth it.
SHOPPING
Delicious stuffed waffles to be enjoyed at Meert (probably the most beautiful pâtisserie in France) on the Rue Esquermoise right next to the Grand-Place (place du Général de Gaulle) (Station: Rihour on Line 1), as well as at the new location at the Piscine (Museum of Arts and Industry) of Roubaix (Station : Gare Jean Lebas on Line 2)
The pedestrian streets just past Grand Place (rue de Béthune, rue Neuve, Rue du Sec Arembault, rue des Tanneurs, etc.) offer popular clothing chain stores such as Etam, Pimkie, Zara, H&M, Sinéquanone, as well as small pubs, restaurants, and two (huge) movie theatres. Some of the buildings that house these stores have beautiful 30's-40's architecture.
Euralille is Lille's largest shopping centre and offers popular clothing chains, as well as the Carrefour hypermarket. Situated between the two train stations, Gare Lille Flandres and Gare Lille Europe, and right in the heart of the city near dozens of hotels, Euralille is easily accessible to travellers coming into the city.
Le Furet du Nord (Place du Général de Gaulle) is the largest bookstore in Europe, it appears to be one of the most touristic "monuments" in the city. It has 8 floors and offers more than 420,000 titles.
There are dozens of upscale boutiques (e.g. Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Hugo Boss, Kenzo) and trendier, independent stores located in Vieux Lille.
Food lovers would definitely be recommended to visit Lille. There are hundreds of little patisseries selling more cakes than I knew existed, as well as a number of chocolate shops. Of these, I would suggest Guillaume Vincent (12 Rue du Cure Saint Etienne), which sells exquisitely decorated chocolates which, judging from their taste, must have about 90% cocoa solids.
HOW TO REACH
By train - Lille lies on the Brussels-Paris-London connection. TGV and Eurostar trains stop here. The voyage to Brussels takes about 40 minutes, to Paris about an hour, and to London about an hour and 25 minutes following the new high speed train link to London St Pancras which opened in October 2007. Coming in by ferry from Calais, train connections run fairly regularly, though it can be hard to get accurate times online. The journey took about an hour and a half. (SNCF website allows one to check train timetables) Lille is also linked by TGV (fast trains) to Lyon (3 hours), Nantes (4 hours), and Marseille (5 hours).
