I would never have thought I would find Lille a city worth visiting. From a grey, industrial town in the far north of France, bordering Belgium, Lille has become a beautiful, lively, young university town that mixes historic charm with a modern, cosmopolitan energy.
It is one of those cities with a long mining and industrial tradition, with a bad press, but which has managed to reinvest and regenerate itself. Those of us who come from industrial cities know the work and effort involved in all this reconversion and this expansion of Lille can be seen in the construction of the Eurotunnel, the installation of the high-speed train, the impressive rehabilitation of the old town and the construction of a business district.
To stroll and lose yourself in it is to let your eyes marvel at the rich baroque or gothic architecture of red brick and stone, while savouring the delicious vanilla gauffre from the famous @Meert patisserie, which dresses up the old Flemish-style buildings.
The old town, @Vieux-Lille, with its cosy and sophisticated air, its cobbled alleyways such as Rue de Monnaie, lined with elegant boutiques, modern art galleries, cafés with lively terraces and patisseries wafting aromas of freshly baked croissants and warm gauffres, transport you to bustling, commercial Lille in the 17th century where elegant bourgeois women dressed in dark-toned silk or velvet gowns, stiff corsets and tight-fitting sleeves, could not hide their satisfaction and pride after catching up on local gossip and fashion trends.
What better way to enjoy the many, varied, cozy and original modern art shops that contrast on the ground floor of the extraordinary and colourful buildings that invite you to visit them to enjoy the art that you feel in Lille. An ancient city that has managed to bring a breath of fresh air to become a bastion of alternative culture and is undoubtedly an example of the transformation of the city where the modern and the old have been able to connect harmoniously.
Thank you Lille for being an example of overcoming!
