Lille - long weekend, what to do & where to go

[andrewc]

Just booked a long weekend in Lille , 2-5th November, staying at https://hotel-brueghel-lille.com/en/ in the city centre


What's to do ?   I'll be doing lots of walking around & visiting the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_des_Beaux-Arts_de_Lille , anything else that's a must see ?


I'm hoping for decent beer bars & hearty Northern food,  so any recommendations welcome. 

[yoav]

Go and see the Roubaix velodrome. Roubaix, a suburb of Lille, is a bit of a dump but the velodrome is an icon of cycling. Don't forget to visit the shower block under the grandstand.

[Canardly]

Lille used to have a very good Philharmonic.

[Wowbagger]

My daughter had a colleague whose parents lived in Lille. They invited a few of the cliquey teachers there for a long weekend. This particular family kept a very fine cellar and they were pissed most of the time I think. I don't know that Lille is particularly noted for its wines but I recall being told that there was a lot of champagne around.

My googling discovered this 14-year-old Guardian article (good vingate,2004...) about Lille being the European Capital of Culture. I don't know if it will be o any help.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2004/feb/08/lille.france.observerescapesection

[pcolbeck]

I think they are supposed to have a spectacular flea market on Sundays if thats your kind of thing.

[andrewc]

So, Last morning in Lille, a nice place to visit, lots of shops, bars & restaurants, old quarter is quaint & pretty. Musee Beaux Arts was good (and free as it was the first Sunday of the month) Lots of English being spoken, but no stag or hen parties that I’ve seen. Lots of homeless & beggars, it seems worse than central Paris. 


All told a good destination for a quiet, civilised weekend.

[pcolbeck]

Hey we overlapped ! We were in Lille Wednesday to Friday last week after three days in Strasbourg. I liked Strasbourg better but Lille was nice too.

[Canardly]

I was somewhat taken aback to read that some 9 million people in France earn less than 1008 euros a month. (including households with 3 million kids).

[telstarbox]

Subscribing.

[pcolbeck]

I was somewhat taken aback to read that some 9 million people in France earn less than 1008 euros a month. (including households with 3 million kids).

May not be as bad as it seems. If that's in the South there are far less heating costs plus there seems to be a generally higher density of population in the middle of cities so less transport costs (and public transport is far cheaper anyway). Also property seems a lot cheaper. I'm no expert and am prepared to be completely wrong but that's my gut feeling ie they aren't blowing a lot of money on some of the things we are.

[giropaul]

I was somewhat taken aback to read that some 9 million people in France earn less than 1008 euros a month. (including households with 3 million kids).

As the Chancellor’s boast about how many he has taken out of taxindicates,  it seems a huge number in the UK earn much less than that.

[andrewc]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewclark/albums/72157701855956981


Photos from my long weekend in Lille.

[rafletcher]

I was somewhat taken aback to read that some 9 million people in France earn less than 1008 euros a month. (including households with 3 million kids).

That’ll be declared income. The favourite sport of the French seems to be avoiding tax. Plus rents are cheap, many will still live on family farms and feed themselves. It’ll change as th3 kids who’ve left for the cities and live a completely different life come on stream.

[citoyen]

My googling discovered this 14-year-old Guardian article (good vingate,2004...) about Lille being the European Capital of Culture. I don't know if it will be o any help.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2004/feb/08/lille.france.observerescapesection

Last time I went to Lille was 1997 so your information is a bit more up to date than mine, at least. We stayed in a very nice hotel and had dinner in a very nice restaurant but that’s about as much detail as I can recall.