A few days ago, I took a little break and traveled solo to Lille, North of France for a day.
I arrived by train very early and had a walk around before all the shops opened.
I arrived by train very early and had a walk around before all the shops opened.
I had previously been to Lille to do some shopping and generally have a nice day somewhere new, but this time I made plans to have a little sightseeing time by myself.
At 9.30 am on the dot, I entered the Tourism Office and asked for a little touristic guide to help me with my task. It only costs 3€ and is packed with general informations about the history and things to see/do in town. It includes a few walking tours suggestions and I opted for the "Old Lille" one.
The tour started at the Palais Rihour (which is actually where the Tourism Office is) and I immediately walked back to the Grand'Place. Here in Continental Europe, we are big fans of Grand'Places. There is a huge and extremely famous one in Brussels, Belgium, that you shouldn't miss out on but you might find interesting to know that there are many (MANY) more places all around Belgium worth checking out as well. They all date back to the Middle Ages if I'm not mistaken.
The Grand'Place in Lille is actually called La place du Général De Gaulle, after a former French President. He was born in Lille in 1890, says my guide. All around me, I had a look around and read about the architecture of the different buildings situated on the Place. Amongst them all stands The Old Stock Exchange. It is composed of 24 little individual houses and inside the courtyard is held a little market of second-hand books.
Speaking of books, I had a little window shopping session at Le Furet du Nord which is just opposite the Vieille Bourse. It's your average book-lover own mecca. I found a cute canvas bag that I would have bought if I was the kind a girl who hoards canvas bags and I felt drawer to this book cover every time I saw it on the shelves and tables. I walked up all the stairs to the highest floor and had a look at every aisle but didn't buy anything - go me!
Back outside, I headed to the Place du Théâtre where, you guessed it, you can find the Opera house and also the Chamber of Commerce. Opposite those buildings stands the Rang de Beauregard: I loooved learning about this little row of houses!
The Rang de Beauregard faces the Chamber of The Commerce on the Place du Théâtre (I'm getting so geographic on you haha! - I don't want you to get lost!) It is a uniform row of private houses that were built in 1667 to complement the style of the Chamber of Commerce. They are all standard three-story houses built only with brick and mortar and based on the same plans. I know there's nothing really exciting in here but I kind of like houses and order so when you mix those together I can become crazy...
Well, things got serious as soon as I left the Place and all those buildings to ...check out more walls at Rue de la Bourse! You see, two hundred years ago, the Austrians gave Lille a few little gifts before their departures...
Can you see? Can you see? I had never seen those before on my previous visits to town. Those little random spots are actually canon balls stuck into the walls...
Don't mistake my intentions, I also visited a few shops like the Zara Home one in this last picture.
I felt awesome. I loooove doing tours with a guidebook and you can see why it is so great: I would never have in a million years noticed this if I hadn't decided to go on a trip. As you can imagine, I live very close to Lille and I can hop on and off the train to visit as easy as I like as it is so cheap and fast. The magic of my approach is that, living so close, you wouldn't do the whole "I am a tourist, let's discover stuff" thing, you simply wouldn't have the time and if you would really be a tourist, you would prefer to do it somewhere far away or new to you.
Let's get back to it and follow the hand...
The iron arm leaded me to the Rue de la Grande Chaussée which is one of the most elegant streets of the city where Hermès and other luxury brands have a boutique. At the end of the street, I had a look at the Huitrière, a fishmonger shop and oyster bar well-known for its art-deco frontage.
Don't you think this is getting long? I'm tired just thinking of all the things I still have to tell and show you!
And this was just a morning in Lille...
Find me on social media so you won't miss the second part of this travel post! ♥ The Grand'Place in Lille is actually called La place du Général De Gaulle, after a former French President. He was born in Lille in 1890, says my guide. All around me, I had a look around and read about the architecture of the different buildings situated on the Place. Amongst them all stands The Old Stock Exchange. It is composed of 24 little individual houses and inside the courtyard is held a little market of second-hand books.
Speaking of books, I had a little window shopping session at Le Furet du Nord which is just opposite the Vieille Bourse. It's your average book-lover own mecca. I found a cute canvas bag that I would have bought if I was the kind a girl who hoards canvas bags and I felt drawer to this book cover every time I saw it on the shelves and tables. I walked up all the stairs to the highest floor and had a look at every aisle but didn't buy anything - go me!
Back outside, I headed to the Place du Théâtre where, you guessed it, you can find the Opera house and also the Chamber of Commerce. Opposite those buildings stands the Rang de Beauregard: I loooved learning about this little row of houses!
The Rang de Beauregard faces the Chamber of The Commerce on the Place du Théâtre (I'm getting so geographic on you haha! - I don't want you to get lost!) It is a uniform row of private houses that were built in 1667 to complement the style of the Chamber of Commerce. They are all standard three-story houses built only with brick and mortar and based on the same plans. I know there's nothing really exciting in here but I kind of like houses and order so when you mix those together I can become crazy...
Well, things got serious as soon as I left the Place and all those buildings to ...check out more walls at Rue de la Bourse! You see, two hundred years ago, the Austrians gave Lille a few little gifts before their departures...
Can you see? Can you see? I had never seen those before on my previous visits to town. Those little random spots are actually canon balls stuck into the walls...
Don't mistake my intentions, I also visited a few shops like the Zara Home one in this last picture.
I felt awesome. I loooove doing tours with a guidebook and you can see why it is so great: I would never have in a million years noticed this if I hadn't decided to go on a trip. As you can imagine, I live very close to Lille and I can hop on and off the train to visit as easy as I like as it is so cheap and fast. The magic of my approach is that, living so close, you wouldn't do the whole "I am a tourist, let's discover stuff" thing, you simply wouldn't have the time and if you would really be a tourist, you would prefer to do it somewhere far away or new to you.
Let's get back to it and follow the hand...
The iron arm leaded me to the Rue de la Grande Chaussée which is one of the most elegant streets of the city where Hermès and other luxury brands have a boutique. At the end of the street, I had a look at the Huitrière, a fishmonger shop and oyster bar well-known for its art-deco frontage.
Don't you think this is getting long? I'm tired just thinking of all the things I still have to tell and show you!
And this was just a morning in Lille...
Stay tuned for the rest of the tour... soon!
