2023 - September - Little

There are various beautiful cities in France, but obviously many of you have not yet mentioned the capital of Flanders, Lille.

Basically, that's a good thing, because who likes crowds of tourists? Life is colorful enough here in Lille anyway. The city is above all young; of the approximately 230,000 inhabitants, 67,000 are students. That's why there is a wide range of trendy bars and restaurants for young people who love going out. In general, French people of all ages appreciate chatting with a drink outside of their own home, which is why there is a lot of dining options.

We also really enjoyed our time in Lille. We also had wonderful summer weather. So it's easy for me to give you a few tips in the form of a travel report.

1. Grand Place and Place du Théâtre

The city of Lille impresses above all with its cityscape. To explore Lille, start at the Grand Place. Here you can find a lot of sights in one place.

As the name Großer Platz (Grand Place) suggests, it offers a large area that was previously used for trade.

The Old Stock Exchange (Vieille Bourse) is a special reminder of this. Built in 1653, the complex consists of 24 identical houses built around a courtyard. This fact initially caused confusion for me, because visually everything looks like a single building.

Either way, it's worth visiting the inner courtyard, which is possible every day except Monday. Trading continues to take place here, albeit somehow inappropriately. Old posters, books and magazines are offered at various flea market-like stalls. Everything looks somewhat makeshift, but the sales tables are covered every evening and re-arranged the next day. Does anyone ever buy anything here? What's interesting is that chess games often take place between or in the middle of all this junk, which are then watched with interest by onlookers.

Now back to the Grand Garde: The Column of the Goddess (Colonne de la Déesse) is clearly visible here. When we visited, she was holding a large rugby ball under her arm. Rugby actually seems to be quite important here. The Rugby World Cup is currently taking place here. That's why many shops have the typical balls with their rotationally elliptical shape in their shop windows.

The Théâtre du Nord, on the other hand, is not quite as striking, standing somewhat crouched next to the much more prominent building with the inscription "La Voix du Nord" on the Grand Place.

You will find many other beautiful buildings on the square, which would be too long to list. But you might spot a small plaque with the portrait of Charles de Gaulle on the floor. In fact, after World War II, the Grand Place was renamed Place du Général-de-Gaulle. Charles de Gaulle, the later President of France, was one of the key contributors to the liberation of Nazi Germany. This makes the citizens of Lille particularly proud, because he was born in Lille in 1890.

After this excursion into political history, back to the Grand Place or the Place du Théâtre behind it: here is the very eye-catching Opéra de Lille and the equally impressive Chamber of Commerce (CCI de Lille) with its high tower. This is not accessible, but the building's reception hall is (from Monday to Friday). It is worth it!

2. The Old Town

At first we felt like we were in a historical open-air museum when we walked through the old town of Lille. None of the buildings here appear to be newer. There are many beautiful alleys and corners to discover and of course they are all also first-class photo spots.

It's best to go to the Porte de Gand or through it. Behind the gate you will find a well-preserved city wall that is nice to walk along.

It's also worth taking a look at the citadel. You can't enter it because the military is housed inside, but you can walk around it or stroll along the water.

3. The Hotel de Ville and an elevator ride

The Belfry of Lille Town Hall (Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Lille) is an attraction with its height and is even a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other belfries in the region.

Various descriptions of sights recommend taking the elevator up. What was absolutely confusing was that the wrong tower, namely that of the CCI, was often shown in these tips.

In fact, the slim, tall shape of the towers is quite similar. The CCI was completed between 1909 and 1921 and is 76 m high. The town hall (Hotel de Ville), on the other hand, is located just outside the bustling city center, between newer buildings. The belfry, i.e. the tower, was built in record time between 1929 and 1931. And the height here is 104 m.

What is interesting is that an internal elevator was used for the construction work, which was repeatedly extended as the work progressed.

But how we got the tickets is an adventure in itself. First of all, the tower is not open every day, but only Tuesday to Sunday. The somewhat blurry sign on the door didn't tell us that tickets should be purchased at least 24 hours in advance. We only found out about this through another sign that was in front of the door on Tuesday.

Let's keep it short: phone calls later, fortunately we were still in the building and one registration later on the way up. Where here means that you have to walk to the 4th floor. Then the elevator (finally) comes into use.

The view from above makes up for everything, even if the fun cost 6 euros per person.

4. The churches

As you walk through the old town, Lille Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de la Treille) should fall at your feet by itself. She has such an extraordinary appearance that you can't miss her.

The construction period took almost 150 years and so it is clear that there were different builders during this time and concepts were repeatedly thrown out of the window. What began as a neo-Gothic church in 1854 was completed with a modern facade in 1999. The bell tower on the south side was temporarily built to be free-standing. It has remained that way to this day.

You can experience another surprise at the Église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine à Lille. We discovered them when it was 33°C in Lille and the walk was a bit more strenuous. Since every church always provides cooling, we were happy to enter and then experienced something completely unexpected: Suboth Gupta's "God Hungry" installation. Hundreds of cooking pots, milk jugs and other cooking utensils seem to have poured into the church. It's completely crazy, but also absolutely worth seeing.

5. A little break in the marina - Le Port de Wambrechies

If you've seen so much of the city and need some peace and quiet, a trip to Le Port de Wambrechies could help. It takes about 30 minutes by bus from the city center to reach the sleepy little town.

You shouldn't expect too much, because the highlight here is the peace and quiet.

6. What we didn't see

There are a lot of things that would have been just as worthwhile, but were actually overlooked because of the nice weather.

Here is a list of them:

Palais des Beaux Arts

La Villa Cavrois

Musee La Piscine

The birthplace of Charles de Gaulle

Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse

After all the information, a final question: Is Lille an insider tip?

I think so, but don't tell anyone!