20-23 August We had four days in Lille, and even though I wasn't feeling well for the first couple of days, we were able to see quite a lot of this lovely town, and plan to visit there again next year. Our mooring was between the island and the city. There were a couple of restaurants opposite our mooring and lot's of people around. It was a great spot to spend a few days. There were two other barges moored there for some of the time we were there. Brian on Parahandy, who cruises solo for most of the time (a very fit and active 88 years old). And Peter on Phoenician, who finds female crew to join him - we met his latest crew, Lily. We had them over for drinks on Tuesday and then Brian joined us for a city walk on Wednesday. Opposite our mooring on the island was a zoo, and the island also hosts a Citadelle built by Vauban, which is still used as a military base by NATO. There were plenty of walking/running cycling trails and lots of people using them. We had a walk and a cycle around the island. They were also setting up a fair, but it wasn't quite open when we tried to visit it. The main square in town was very impressive with the Chamber of Commerce, The Opera House, and the Stock Exchange (in the middle) with many other historic buildings as well. From there to the train station there were more of the "Eldorado" statues, part of the same exhibition as the one we saw in Roubaix. The next interesting thing was the cathedral that was started in 1854, and completed in 1999, with a modern facade which looked amazing from inside. We went our to a recommended Estamet one night and had some Lille specialites. Howard took the platter which covered everything. Quite stodgy I thought. The other speciality from Lille is the Merveilleux de Fred. Merange with a cream filling and icing. Very decadent. Of course lots more to see, and plenty we missed on this trip too.
3 Comments
Suzanne Jessup
28/8/2019 12:27:43 am
Hi Deb,
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Ian
28/8/2019 09:04:15 am
Great photos, especially the barges and the sculputres. In case you didn't do these this time, inside the stock exchange is fabulous and the Museum at Lille is enormous and well stocked with goodies of all types.
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ian
28/8/2019 09:07:15 am
*sculptures
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August 2023
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