blogging around the world_lille

7/30/2019 Blogging Around the World_Lille

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Blogging AroundThe World - Lille

Cover Design: Cara WilliamsPhotography: Cara WilliamsCopyright 2012 by Cara WilliamsAll rights reservedBy Cara Williams

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CONTENTS Chapter 1: 3Chapter 2: 5

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Chapter One

Saturday 8th November 2012

Our 7am cab was early. Once we found the driver in the fog, we started our journey

to St Pancras International, for our 8.57am train to Lille.

One hour and 33 minutes later, we were looking at the huge, weird flower sculpture

outside Lille Europe Eurostar station.

The weather was miserable. It was cold, gray, foggy and raining. Luckily, the Sejours

& Affaire hotel was a 5 minute walk from the station. We couldn't check in until 5pm

however, so left our luggage and headed out to get our bearings.

Before we headed into town, mum wanted to

find a place to sit and eat her home made

sarnies (bless), so we found a seat for mum in

the large shopping centre adjacent to our

hotel, while I drooled over the macaroons in

the window of 'Paul'.

We started at the Grand Place, which is the

main square in Lille. Beautifully preserved

historic buildings

surround the

square, along with a myriad of cafes and pattiseries. I

loved the Cloche d'oR building, (left) and the Vielle

Bourse (which is the old stock exchange building).

Christmas was in the air, as Mistletoe and Wine played

on loop over a loudspeaker, while people stopped to look

at the huge Christmas tree and decorations, in the mainsquare. The purpose of this trip was to take mum to the

Lille Christmas Market (as I had heard that it was one of

the biggest and best in Europe). I was imagining Winter

Wonderland and much more, so I was surprised when

Faye told me we had just passed it.

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We decided to revisit the market later and went to see another place of interest in

the guide book; the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de la Treille. It is a national monument

of France and I thought it was stunning. I especially loved this stain glass window.

We then tried to find the Philip Oliver fromagerie, as I

really wanted to take some Comte home. The shop wasdown a gorgeous cobbled side street, but once I saw the

price, I realised it would be cheaper to get it from

Waitrose.

Philip Oliver was around the corner from another Lille

highlight; Meert.

Meert is one of France's most famous patissiers and the

tea house and patisserie on rue Esquermoise is beautiful.

It is best known for its waffles, but also sells a range of

cakes, breads and savoury snacks. It is a cross between

Valerie Patisserie and Harrods.

We would have had a cuppa in there but as it was raining, everyone else had the

same idea and it was packed, so we ran across the road for a drink in Basilica cafe

instead.

After a much needed coffee, we went back

to the Christmas Market, which consisted of

roughly 20 huts, selling random things like

plastic figurines, home made toilet roll

holders and baby rattles. There were also

jewellery stores, food stalls and plenty of

places to buy mulled wine. It was interesting,

but the complete opposite of what I

expected! The main thing was mum

managed to find two Christmas presents and

was happy with that.

we had allocated two hours for the Christmas market visit, but were ready to move

on after 20 minutes, so after a quick glance at the Eglise St-Etienne (the grandest

church in Lille), it was 5pm and time to check in to the hotel.

As we walked back, the festive lights had been switched on and they looked

amazing. There was an archway of blue lights over the main road in the city and all

the buildings were lit up in festive colours.

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Chapter Two

I had paid 228 for the Eurostar and hotel altogether (for 3 of us), which I thought

was good value. We had our own apartment, with two bedrooms, a bathroom and

small kitchen area. It was no frills, but suited us fine for the night...(except we were

on the 12th floor and the windows were not wind proof and there were ridiculously

high winds that night.

It is very rare that I feel cold, but I was hugging the radiator (at full blast) and wasstill shivering. The windows were rattling as the weather deteriorated, but we all

managed to have a short, unplanned pre-dinner nap anyway.

An hour later, we braved the wind and rain again to find a bistro that sold one of the

dishes of the region; Carbonnade flamande (small chunks of beef, stewed in beer),

waterzo (poultry or fish in a creamy sauce, served with baby vegetables) and

potjevleesch (literally small potted meat, a white meat terrine in aspic).

The guide book recommended a restaurant in the Rue St Etienne area, called La

Compostelle. The food looked nice but it was very expensive, and after checking out

a few other menus, we ended up in Flams.

It was a weird experience. The waitresses were not used to tourists and didnt speak

or understand English. The menu was so confusing and we noticed quickly that

rather than a variety of traditional Lille dishes and flavours, everyone seemed to

have the same thing.

We could not make any sense of the deals on the menus, or what exactly we were

ordering. It didnt matter because we all received the same thing; a thin crispy

dough (pizza sized), covered with a creamy, seasoned sauce and sprinkled with

cheese, sliced onions and bacon. It is served right out of the oven.

I felt cheated quite frankly. It turned out that I ordered an 'all you can eat' option,

where the waitresses give you unlimited 'Flams' for a set price. I only realised that

at the very end. I only managed one, as I didn't really like it, so spent 16e on, well,

not a lot.

It was only when the waitress gave us the bill that she told us they had English

menus!

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After dinner, we walked back to Grand Place and had beer in the Leffe Bar. It gave

us a chance to people watch. One of the waiters looked and acted like Mr Bean,

while we were served by a 'Meatloaf' look-a-like.

The weather deteriorated a lot in the evening and the wind picked up and it was

bitter. We headed back to the hotel for some warmth. The draft and rattlingwindows kept us awake most of the night!

Sunday 9th November 2012

We checked out at 9.30am and headed to the Wazemmen open air market, to

continue my hunt for Comte. It turned out to be quite a long walk, but it was worth

it, as we got to see more of the city.

The market itself was huge and packed with Sunday morning bargain hunters. There

was a wide range of meats, cheeses and fresh fish on offer; plus vegetables, fruit

and pastries. There were also various clothes stores, gadget stores and second hand

book stores.

There were lots of homeless people in the market area however and we didn't feel

particularly safe, so decided to go in search of a crepe, which mum had been

craving.

Although we passed endless creperies yesterday, of course, none of them were

open today, so we ended up in a patisserie to have the next best thing; a huge

French croissant. This place was good value, as we got an oversized croissant, pain

au chocolat and a tea/coffee each for 3e.

Next, we headed to the canal area in the NorthWest of Lille. This was a bit disappointing I

was imagining Venice, but it was a completely

bland and neglected part of town.

However, we discovered the best bit of Lille by

chance, as we walked down Rue de Gand. We

turned a corner and spotted a random, very

small upside down house on the grass. It was

quite a tourist attraction.

I have only just found out that it is part of anart exhibition. 'Fallen from the Sky", is part of the Lille fantastic exhibition by French

artist Jean-Franois Fourtou.

We walked down an alleyway and entered an area of narrow, cobbled streets, lined

with beautiful local bistros and cafes. We stopped at a few to see what was on the

menu and saw the Carbonnade and other regional dishes in each place.

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Although we had been looking for authentic food the

whole trip, it was the creperie that won the day. Mum

finally got her crepe and I had a nice afternoon glass of

wine.

Our last job was to buy a present for dad. We spotted alovely chocolate shop on our travels and bought dad a

box of mixed flavour, freshly made macaroons. I did try

one and they were amazing.

Sadly, it was then time to head back to the Eurostar

station, for our 5.30pm train back to London.

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