We arrived in Lille after a pretty straight-forward trip on the Eurostar from London. The weather was supposed to be similar to London (12 degrees) but we weren't prepared for the wind-chill factor. We couldn't find a city map at the train station to help us get to the hotel. Plan B? Georgina found a city map on a large billboard so - grab the iPhone and take photos of the map. Walk to the hotel totally under control. Too easy.
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| Off to discover Lille |
A quick trip up to our room, a change in to something slightly warmer (for both of us this time) and off for an afternoon stroll around the most beautiful streets, boulevards and squares of Lille. Even on a dull day Lille was showing her true beauty, especially the Grand Place, Lille's main square.
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| The Grand Place, Lille |
The history of Lille is quite overwhelming. It is a city that has been in constant "transformation" since 1066 (although the name may have been in existence since 640 AD). It seems that since this time the town was the victim of quarrels between the French and the counts of Flanders. Other 'influences' include the Austrians and the Spanish, and finally Lille became "French" in 1663. It's nowhere near as simple as that and from what we can gather involved many great conflicts and lots of re-starts for a city constantly under attack and destruction. In the end all of these cultural influences have created a truly beautiful city which has been declared a European Capital of Culture.
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| Chamber of Commerce & Post Office |
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| Opera House |
We spent the afternoon wandering her streets oozing with stunning architecture. Somehow we stumbled across the city Zoo quite late in the afternoon. As entry was free we thought, why not? As you can imagine for a smallish city-run Zoo it wasn't the best. The bird collection was small, but included a pair of Port Lincoln Parrots and a couple of Kookaburras.
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| Pt Lincoln Parrot |
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| Kookaburra |
We managed to include some timeout at a cafe in the main square with coffee, tea and people watching before heading back to the hotel. A huge day ended with a simple meal at the hotel and a fairly early night.
Next day started with a great breakfast at the hotel, followed by a 2-hour walking tour of Lille (hence our knowledge of her history!). Another cold day but bathed in sunshine so who could complain? A lot of the city has been restored quite recently (2004) including the old town with cobbled streets and a real blend of architecture which seems to work somehow.
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| Former Stock Exchange Building |
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| Old town, Lille |
After a quick lunch near the main square we headed to the Fine Arts Museum. Again, housed in a stunning building and containing a collection of art from 15th - 20th Century. This was not only beautiful, but a great escape from the chilly winds!
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| Museum of Fine Arts, Lille |
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| Streets of Lille |
We're doing our best to stick to our vego philosophy and have had pretty good options up until now.
Today we head off to Antwerp, Belgium by train and will meet up with Caron for the next chapter of our European adventure.