Lille in France has been Flemish and French during its 900-year history and is known by the French as the “Capital of Flanders.” It’s famous for being the birthplace of the first anti-tuberculosis vaccine, its Palais des Beaux-Arts Museum, its beautiful old city centre, for being the third-largest river port in France and La Braderie, an annual flea market, which is the largest in Europe.
The city is easy to get to by car or train from Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris. You can even hop off the London to Paris Eurostar.
What to do
Vieux Lille (old Lille)
Grand Place/ Place du Général de Gaulle
This beautiful old square has a very Flemish appearance and has buildings from the 17th century arranged around this focal point of the old city.
It is all set up for the quintessential photo.
The old stock exchange, Vieille Bourse, is one of the older buildings and has chess games to watch, or participate in, and a fascinating book market. This marketplace hosts many city events, (when we were there they were promoting French rugby) including the annual La Braderie flea market and festival and a Christmas market.
Leading off from the Grand Place the central square are multiple cobbled streets to wander full of independent stores, bars, patisseries and restaurants. This is where you lose several hours and gain several kilos.
Cathedral Notre Dame de la Treille
The cathedral of Lille took 150 years to complete and was finally finished in 1999. The half ancient, half modern church houses a collection of religious modern art canvases.
Charles de Gaulle Birthplace and Museum
The recently renovated museum is housed in the birthplace of de Gaulle and home of his grandparents. Charles de Gaulle is an iconic if controversial French leader. Leading the Free French Forces during WWII, he helped to restore democracy to France following the war and became prime minister and subsequently president until 1969. This house is where he spent much of his childhood and the 19th century home captures that period with its collections and décor of the time.
The star shaped citadel dates back to the 17th century and is worth a visit and a walk around the ramparts and surrounding woods (approx. 16 kilometers). Unfortunately, the centre of the fort is closed to the public as it is home to France’s Rapid Reaction Corps.
The small city zoo is found within the citadel park area and is very popular. For a reasonable entry fee, you can see the more than 70 species of animals.
This beautiful grandiose building is home to one of France’s largest art collections, appropriated mostly by Napoleon and the entrance fee is ridiculously cheap, starting at 7 euros. In the galleries you can find Rodin, Reubens, Goya and other European artists work on show, huge canvases on display that never fail to impress, even if it’s just for their size! In the basement the museum has a fascinating collection of 18th century maquettes (model cities).
Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) Belfry
This is a great place to get an overview of the area … if you are up to climbing the 400 steps.
What To Do (the Outskirts of Lille)
A modernist villa just 20 minutes’ drive outside the city. Built in the early 1930’s it has been recently renovated both inside and out and is well worth the trip with its stunning décor and beautiful grounds.
LaM, the museum of modern and contemporary art is again approximately 20 mins drive from the city. It has over 4,000 art works from Picasso, Modigliani, Miró to Calder. The art is both inside and outside the museum in the beautiful parkland.
Cost of admission to the museums seemed very reasonable.
Shopping
It’s difficult not to shop in Lille! From the main shopping area with all the chain stores to the cobbled streets of the Old City, it’s a shopper’s dream. Big names (such as Hermès, Vuitton etc) and small vintage and quirky boutiques are all close to the city centre.
Not only clothes though, as you will find wonderful patisseries such Aux Merveilleux de Fred. This store not only has a line to get in but also a crowd of people watching the construction of the Lille favorite, the Merveilleux (translation: The Marvelous). It is a meringue sandwiched with cream, covered in cream and the dusted in chocolate shards. Who doesn’t want that! We located cheese stores by smell, such as Quentin Fromagerie de Quartie, where they showed us local cheeses and sealed our purchases, so we didn’t leave cheese smells in our luggage.
A 20-minute metro ride will take you to Roubaix, known as “The Capital of Good Deals” by the locals. Here you can find a couple of outlet centers including a new designer McArthurGlen development.
Be aware that all stores are closed on Sundays.
Where to Stay
There’s a great choice of hotels in Lille from the 5-star L’Hermitage Gantois, Autograph Collection to the chains such as Holiday Inn Express, Hôtel Mercure Lille Centre Grand Place and the smaller independent hotels.
Where to Eat & Drink
This is France, so there are more great restaurants than you can “shake a stick at!” The popular menu staples are moules (mussels, when in season), carbonnade de boeuf (beef in beer), potjevleesch (a meat and veg terrine) and The Welsh, purportedly imported by the Welsh in the 16th century. This dish isn’t good for anyone who is gluten or lactose-free (brown bread soaked in beer, topped with ham and covered with mustard flavored cheese sauce and baked in the oven) but I enjoyed the delicious smell wafting from other people’s tables.
Bloempot was opened by a Top Chef France finalist. The quirky restaurant is very popular so book well ahead.
Le Barbue d’Anvers is a fabulous restaurant situated in an old atmospheric building. A really good, but small, menu with a large selection of beers and wine and lovely staff.
Chez Max Bistro was a local find with a small but delicious local menu. The staff were again friendly and helpful. Loved the local vibe of this place.
The Queen Victoria, a traditional British pub that covers sports events (we were there for the rugby) and holds weekly quizzes. A great atmosphere with a good selection of beers on tap.
There was also a Scottish & Irish pub in the vicinity if you want to tour the United Kingdom.
Gluten and Lactose Free options are not readily available, but I found the restaurant staff very helpful and accommodating in the restaurants where we ate.
Most kitchens seemed to close at 2 p.m. on a Sunday.
Lille is a city well worth visiting for a couple of days, whether for shopping, culture or just the delicious food.
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Read more about France here in Dispatches’ archives.
Photographer/writer Jackie Harding was born in the United Kingdom. As a long-time expat, she lived in Boston for 12 years and in the Netherlands for the past 10 years.
Trained as a nurse in the U.K., she worked for nine years in the United States as a special education teacher’s assistant. Since moving to the Netherlands, she has discovered writing and photography.
Contributing to Dispatches since 2016, Jackie has written about her travels around Europe as well as about expat life and issues.
She also covered the Women’s March Amsterdam.
She’s married to British businessman Martin Harding and is the mother of two international adult children.
