The weekend in Lille and was quite low key. Got there late Friday night (and here I thought when I booked I was able to max time there!) so first thing Saturday was to book the guided walking tour around town...for 2.30pm. Meantime, as I knew that nothing ever opens on Sunday, I needed to take advantange of shopping time there, not that I have much to buy.. oh... just a few Longchamp bags!


The town itself is quite charming, again, the old cobbled stone streets and high-narrow shops or townhouses. This was the typical architecture of Lille. Breakfast was at the famous Paul's, which actually originated from Lille. We went the the only Paul's Restaurant that opened last year. And with pride, I was able to translate the menu to get my breakfast! Not too difficult - Bacon & Eggs!! After breakfast, it was just walking around town, light shopping and looking for the Longchamp store. Once that was settled (I got 2 new bags! ;p ) it really was just wondering, loitering and shopping.

The walking tour was quite good - covering the history of the city, architecture of buildings and significant sites. We started at Place Rihour for the Office de Tourisme then onwards to the Place General de Gaulle (market square since the 11th century) with the beautifully-restored Vieux Bourse building (Stock Exchange), the Théâtre Salengro and a fountain was erected in 1842 to celebrate the resistance of the town to the Austrian siege of 1792 . La Vielle Bourse was constructed between 1652 and 1653, and formerly the centre of trade and commerce in the city of Lille. There is a market in the cloister every day except Monday, when the building is filled with book stalls.

Along the way you can see the buildings decorated in Flemish style with murals and various colours on a building. A L'Huîtrière is a Michelin star restaurant serving fresh seafood since 1882. The original site was just a few doors down, a contrast to the expansion at the current site that is at least 4 times bigger.

At the Vieux Quartier with its seventeenth-century buildings, was Musée des Hospice Comptesse, a hospital-convent turned museum, founded by Jeanne de Constantinople, Countess of Flanders in 1237. A battered copper cauldron stands before the hearth in the kitchen, monumental carved furniture stands solid in the parlour and paintings evoke Lille through the centuries. The place had lots of old pieces and showed how the hospice was used.

Final stop was Notre Dame de la Treille, a neo-Gothic cathedral. The entrance was given a modern facelift, and the coolest thing was the facade of the cathedral made from translucent marble which lets the light flow inside the building. This results in an unusual atmosphere for a church.

And for the rest of the day? Shopping at rue de la Monnaie and gawking at the designer brands at rue de la Grande Chaussée. I did manage to buy a dress though! :)

The well researhed me found a place to have dinner - T'Rijsel at Rue de Gand (a typical estaminet, with traditional Flemish food). I had the chicken baked in cheese (the famous smelly Lille Maroilles cheese). It was actually quite delicious - think roast chicken with cheese sauce - but got a bit too heavy in the end. Downed everything with flavoured beer... can't recall what flavour!

Day 2 - bright and early to Wazammes market. I had read about this being a massive market, so wanted to check it out. It was massive alright... and it sold everything you can think of! Clothes, homewares, fruit & vegies, electronics, flowers... EVERYTHING! Not what I was hoping for, and it was packed! With lunch looming, there were the famed roast chicken. Our mouth were watering, but it would be difficult to eat without utensils or even a place to sit. But heck, it was France, so we bought a whole chicken and a baguette and walked to the Palais des Beaux Arts and found seats at the park entrance. Imagine - tearing chicken with our hands and eating like barbarians (well, not really, but it was finger lickin' good!).

Were initially planning to go into the museum, but alas, someone got lazy. With the rest of the afternoon/evening ahead of us, it was quite boring. We were FULL, and everything was closed. So just strolling with nothing to do. Went to the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall), some random park, the Eurolille shopping centre with a massive Carrefour (closed!). Also managed to fit in afternoon tea at Meert at my insistence that we had to try it. This was the first patisserie store opened in France, and was famous for its waffles or 'gaufre'. This is not he usual round/square waffle you imagine. It is flat, oblong with vanilla cream smacked in the middle of 2 pieces... so yummy!! But at the shop I just ordered a berry cake with tea... mmm...

And after more walking and boredom, we forced ourselves more food with a quick snack before heading to the Eurostar... you can imagine the relief when boarding the train home. I must say this is the first time we wanted to go home so eagerly!!