Grand Things, Bob, Larry, the surprising facade and the Posers

March 26 -28, 2015

A friend from London had suggested that if we were looking for a city with a great old town centre, with some good restaurants, great architecture and lots of shopping, that Lille, France was our place.  We decided that we would spend three nights in Lille, and take some time to relax and wander the streets.

The centre piece of the old town is the Grand Place.   It's not as Grand as the Grand Place in Brussels, but it's pretty cool. The buildings in the Grand Place date back to the mid 1600's.  Originally the town square was home to a vibrant wheat market, today it is lined with retail shops, restaurants and cafes.

Vieille Bourse, the old stock exchange building, dates back to 1653.

During WWI, Lille was occupied by the Germans from 1914, until it was liberated by the British on October 17, 1918.  During the battle to capture Lille, the Germans destroyed over 2200 buildings and homes.a  That's not very nice.  You would think if you were trying to occupy it, that you would want to save as many buildings as you could....

In 1792, the Austrians unleashed a cannon ball siege on the city of Lille.  La Colonne de la Deesse (the Goddess) stands in the middle of the Grand Place in memory of that attack.

Place du Vieux-Marche goes regardless of the weather, it is located in the interior courtyard of the Stock Exchange tower.

A chess game breaks out in the courtyard.  

Back detail of Saint-Maurice church, construction began in late 14th century, and was finally completed in near the end of 19th century.  Take your time boys....

We found a really cool furniture store, Roche Bobois,   The designer is from Paris, and there are some really, really cool things.  The kids loved this bubble set.

Lille Chamber of Commerce

After a few days of lighting up the credit cards in the shops, we decided that we needed a little culture, so we headed to Le Palais Des Beaux Arts de Lille.  In 1809, the museum opened, and at the time it was one of the first museums in France.  Napoleon was the guy that gave instructions for it to be built.  Well done little man.

Cool exterior to a building, on route to the museum.

This massive structure is in the middle of a traffic circle on the way to the museum, very cool.

Not your typical traffic circle.  Don't pay attention to Stacey photobombing my pic....

Exterior of the museum.

Interior staircase in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille

Now they are just showing off.

A rather grand entrance way.  We look at one of these for our entry way, but they don't come in  North American 120 volt, three prong plugs, so we passed.

Unmistakeable, a Larry Van Gogh original.

An artist was working on an exact replica of one of the paintings.

Fin hiding behind Spartacus.  Probably not the first man to hide behind the great Thracian Gladiator.

The boy and his audio guide wander the room.

B and Spartacus having a "no blink" competition.  "Damn he's good."  You could hear her mumble, as tears rans down her face.

B having a moment with a painting.

Bob Monet piece, just hanging there.

We all really enjoyed our time at the museum.  It's France's second largest museum after the Louvre, but it didn't feel overwhelming, and there was no one there, which was a real treat.  After years of museum travel, I finally got this one right, and checked my coat so I wouldn't over heat in the first room!

That's pretty close.  The car on the front side of the dark one is parked just as close.  You have to tap and bump your way out of your space.

After the museum, we enjoyed the work of some other brilliant artists.

Our last stop in Lille was the very surprising, Basilica of Notre Dame de la Treille.  Work began on the cathedral in 1854, and it was completed in 1999.  I was a little disappointed when I saw the front facade.  I was very puzzled as well, as the modern facade didn't seem to work with the surrounding buildings. The back and sides, look like a traditional cathedral, but the front is very contemporary.  The interior is a wonderful blend of traditional and contemporary design.

The rosary window and wall of light, is fantastic on the inside.

The use of coloured streamers that run down the supports posts is a truly wonderful touch.  There was also a fabulous art exhibit along the wall.  very, very cool place.

A great snap courtesy of Bronwyn.

On either side of the stained glass windows, are amazing tapestries.

A couple of posers, posing in front of the massive cathedral door.

Lille ended up being a real welcome break midway through our trip.  We didn't have to run ourselves to the ground trying to see the highlights, and we were able to eat well, do some shopping, and gain a tiny bit more culture, thanks to guys like Bob Monet, and Larry Van Gogh.