France for City Breaks - Lille

As the midday bells rang I pushed open the door to a forgotten Flanders. The place was packed—not with people just yet, but with a profusion of old advertising signs, shelves piled high with ancient bottles, antiquated kitchen utensils, faded pictures and a host of other curios. Step into ‘T Rijsel, an estaminet (inn) on a cobbled street in Lille’s old quarter and you are stepping back in time.

These estaminets, and there are lots of them in Lille, have become quite trendy. Typically they serve the sort of simple regional food that grandma used to make. And such is their popularity that you’ll find most tables taken soon after noon by an unlikely mix of white-collar workers and tourists. At ‘T Rijsel, unashamedly a temple to beer, you’ll sit at a tiny wooden table on a rush-seated chair and be given a handwritten beer menu in an old school exercise book. And it’s not just an exhaustive list of every known Flanders beer, there’s a short history of Lille to wade through too. Order a pression ambrée (a foaming draught beer that’s much darker than you’ll find in most parts of France) to be going on with, because you will want to spend some time flicking through the exercise books.

Over ‘three-beer pâté’ and soft black pudding with puréed apple I gazed around the crowded room. In one corner is a bijou bar with a rack of dried sausages next to the beer pumps. In another corner there’s an old bentwood coat stand with what looked very much like my grandmother’s old felt hat draped jauntily on top. And festooned all around the cornice are dried hops, a custom that dates back to a time when these inns were thick with tobacco smoke—the hops would soak up the smell of stale tobacco. Two waitresses scurried up and down the stairs bringing beers and precariously balanced plates of food to a chattering throng who, like me, were enjoying an animated and convivial Lille lunchtime.

WELCOMING

Lille is a city of more than 2,500 bars and restaurants, among them are many estaminets, each different, each welcoming. You could sample beers drawn directly from the barrel at Aux Trois Brasseurs—opt for a table at the rear rather than the noisy terrace—and try their house speciality, flammeküche, a creamy bacon and onion flan.

At Brasserie André there’s a wooden aeroplane propeller on the wall that was left as payment by American airmen after World War II. If you fancy a meat-fest, call in at Tord-Boyaux near the market hall and if, in the land of beers, you’d rather have wine, then drop in to La Part des Anges on rue de la Monnaie.

But Lille is not just a place to enjoy warm welcomes and good food—every September it plays host to la Grande Braderie, as it has done since medieval times. This giant street fair brings more than two million people from all over France to the city, as 100 kilometres of Lille’s streets are closed to traffic and lined with thousands upon thousands of stalls. There are many bargains to be had if you know where to look. But more of that later…

The ancient trading centre of Lille has reinvented itself over the last 20 years or so. Once an industrial capital known for its belching chimneys, it suffered hugely during the decline of coal, steel and textiles. Half a million jobs were lost as the chimneys exhaled their last. Today it is a bright and breezy modern commercial hub. Lille’s streets and ancient façades have been spruced up, chic shops thrive, and high-speed trains bring visitors from all over the world to explore a fascinating potpourri of architecture.

Abandon your car and explore the old quarter on foot. The best starting point is the place du Général-de-Gaulle—named after the city’s most famous son, born here in 1890. Despite its name, all the locals still call it ‘Grand’ Place’, and it tends to be the favourite meeting place for the Lillois. The rim of the large fountain is almost always crowded with people sitting watching the world go by.

Facing the fountain is one of the most attractive buildings in northern France, the Vieille Bourse—the old stock exchange—a masterpiece in the Flemish-Renaissance style. Rather than one building, it is 24 tall, terraced houses that form a square and the façade is as ornately decorated as a giant wedding cake. In the courtyard area you will find flower-sellers, second-hand bookshops and usually a few open-air chess players. Near the Vieille Bourse is another architectural stunner, the neo-classical Opera House—it looks particularly grand at night when floodlit.

Around the Vieille Bourse, cast your eyes up and see if you can spot the cannon balls embedded in the brickwork of a nearby building—supposedly remnants of the Austrian siege of Lille in 1792. There’s also an impressive bell with a rather tired looking bell-ringer mounted on the wall above a restaurant. Surrounding these curiosities is a wealth of stonemasons’ art—cartouches, corbels, caryatids, masks and medallions, cherubs, cupids and cornucopias.

To reach the heart of the old quarter walk along rue de la Grande-Chaussée with its fine houses and gilded balconies until you reach rue des Chats-Bossus. Now there’s a name that betrays the age of a city—the ‘street of the arched-back cats’. Cross the place du Lion d’Or and you come to one of the most symbolic of all the streets of Vieux Lille, rue de la Monnaie which once housed the Mint. The beautifully restored houses are now antique shops and design studios. Again, look up and you will see ancient shop signs, statues and more flamboyant decorations.

QUIRKY SHOPS

Just off this gem of a street is the place aux Oignons. Despite its proximity to the twice-weekly market in place du Concert (Wednesdays and Fridays) the name has nothing to do with onions, it is merely a corruption of the word donjon which used to be here. There’s another interestingly named street nearby, rue des Débris-Saint-Étienne, so called because there was once a church dedicated to Saint-Étienne that was destroyed during the siege of Lille by the Austrians.

In most of the streets of the old quarter you will find quirky little shops, inviting bars, reasonably-priced restaurants and a good smattering of architectural gems. Among the must-visit shops are three within 100 yards or so of each other that offer different olfactory sensations.

Meert (pronounced ‘mare’) on rue Esquermoise has been making fine chocolates and pâtisseries since 1761. The façade and interior cast iron balconies of this majestic shop are listed as historic monuments. Step inside and the aroma of chocolate is heavenly, as is the house speciality, gaufre fourrée, a chocolate filled waffle that was apparently a favourite of Général de Gaulle.

Not far away on the corner of rue Esquermoise and rue Basse is a magnificent cheese shop, Les Bons Pâturages, run by Philippe and Fabienne Armand. In the window is a mouth-watering display of cheese tarts and inside you will find almost every type of cheese made in northern France. The smell of hundreds of ripe cheeses is almost dizzying.

HEADY SCENT

To clear your senses, cross the road and breathe in the heady scent of fresh cut flowers at Hervé Lemettre’s—interestingly, he calls himself a paysagiste, (landscape gardener) rather than a florist. All I know is that his corner shop is a work of art.

There was another work of art I wanted to search out. It involved quite a walk, but I eventually found, on rue Fleurus, perhaps the only example of Art Nouveau architecture in Lille. Architect Hector Guimard—best known for his wonderfully organic entrances to several Paris métro stations, designed the Maison Coilliot for a ceramic artist in 1898. The building is a national treasure, or it should be. I was disappointed to see it in quite a run down condition.

To raise my spirits I called in at the Palais des Beaux Arts on the way back to the city centre. This is one of France’s most important museums with a rich collection of wide-ranging art. You would need days to see everything, I took time to admire some exceptional works by Goya, Delacroix and Rubens before heading for lunch at another Lille landmark—Aux Moules. An apt lunch stop as locals claim that this eaterie has raised the simple mussel to the ranks of fine art.

You can find Aux Moules on rue Béthune and amid 1930s décor you can enjoy mussels, the favourite dish of the Lillois, in a variety of ways—moules à la crème, moules marinières, and moules à la bière are among the most popular. And if you happen to be in Lille over the first weekend of September you can expect to see a mountain of mussel shells more than six feet high outside Aux Moules. It is all part of a sideshow of one of Lille’s greatest events—la Grande Braderie.

GIANT STREET FAIR

This giant street fair that officially starts on Saturday afternoon and finishes at midnight on Sunday is an enduring image of Lille. It bristles with excitement, it is scattered all over the place and everyone seems to be having a good time. Around the Citadelle you’ll find a giant fairground with dodgems, a big wheel and candy floss sellers—the music is deafening, so you may choose to avoid it!

Traders are zoned, so call in at the Tourist Office or any Post Office for a free map that shows where to find your favourite collectable. The daily newspaper, La Voix du Nord, is good for last minute information. Dealers in old books, postcards and stamps can be found in profusion around the town hall and you will find tons of second-hand clothes piled high on countless stalls near the Champ de Mars. Serious antiques tend to be clustered around boulevard Jean-Baptiste-Lebas.

Disappointingly, the streets around much of the centre of the city tend to be taken over by a mundane collection of cheap clothes, crockery and kitchen equipment—a giant version of something you can find at any French market. My advice is to head for the fringes where you’ll find the bizarre and unusual.

A few years ago an antique dealer friend found a grubby oil painting of some cats on a stall down by the banks of the Deûle canal. After much haggling he paid what I thought was a lot of money for it. He took it back to England and had it professionally restored and the painting sold at Christies for 20 times what he paid! I bought a rusty enamelled street thermometer, a 1950s turquoise soda siphon from Lourdes and a Peugeot coffee grinder—all totally useless, but nice to look at.

SWEPT ALONG

Remember to haggle, it is expected. But be warned, you won’t be able to move anywhere quickly. You will feel like flotsam swept along on a sinuous tide of humanity. As you would expect for such a street festival, there is a traditional food and drink—moules frîtes, washed down with the local beer, Jenlain. Take time to recharge your batteries by adding to the mountains of mussel shells.

Once a favourite of students at Lille University, Jenlain has become the customary brew for Braderie weekend when tens of thousands of bottles will be consumed. Beware, this rich spicy brew is very strong; one bottle is good, two is dangerous, three insane.

All the restaurants do a roaring trade in mussels and there is a competition to see which restaurant can build the biggest mussel-shell mountain by midnight on Sunday—a form of advertising that would soon drive customers away if the mussel mountains were left to fester.

Amazingly by the time Lille wakes up on the Monday morning the streets have been cleaned by an overnight army of workers. The last of the traders pack up and leave and Lille reverts to its normal role as capital of Flanders—angel of the north.

After three days enjoying Lille’s northern lights it was time for me to leave too. As the midday bells rang I thought back to ‘T Rijsel and realised that the little estaminet was not so much a forgotten Flanders, more a microcosm of modern Lille. For like that cosy little restaurant, this city is also a higgledy-piggledy collection of styles and a fascinating accumulation of historical footnotes where business people and tourists alike gather to enjoy good food and traditional beers in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

As a short break destination you really should sample Lille, it’s the real deal.

FRANCOFILE

AROUND THE REGION

Lille is the administrative centre of the Nord-Pas-De-Calais region, which is also home to Dunkerque and Calais. The region, so close to Belgium, is one of variety; where rolling hills meet miles of coastlines and vast areas of unspoilt countryside and a network of waterways. Fairs and festivals are part of daily life and there’s a rich heritage on show, from museums and historic monuments to the legacy of World War II.

Flanders food and drink

Flanders may not be a picture book vision, but it yields many culinary surprises that set the north apart. In Lille they drink more beer than wine and have a sweeter tooth than their southern neighbours. Eating out is an everyday affair and the city is brimful of good quality reasonably priced restaurants. The most common dish is the ubiquitous moules frîtes, but there are many Flanders specialities to seek out:

Maroilles: the quintessential Flanders cheese said to have been created by a monk more than 1,000 years ago. It is strong, some say too strong, powerful, soft and oily with a slightly sweet taste. Guides to cheese recommend a Châteauneuf-du-Pape as an accompaniment. The Lillois will have none of that, preferring a good strong ale.

Puant de Lille: if you think Maroilles is strong try this lillois speciality—the name means “Lille’s Stinker”. It is a Maroilles that has been soaked for three months in brine. It really does stink, but the stronger it is the more the locals love it.

Flamiche: a leek pie found throughout Flanders.

Goyère au Maroilles: a gorgeous concoction. Unlike most soft cheeses, Maroilles is widely used in cooking and rarely to better effect than in this rich cheese tart.

Gâteau Battu: a tall, butter-rich yeast cake baked in a jelly mould and served with jam for breakfast.

Gaufres: waffles made from a bewildering number of recipes, some containing beer, are to be found everywhere in Flanders. Waffle irons come in a variety of shapes and sizes, one of the more popular being heart shaped. Normally served with a fruit jam, a sprinkling of sugar and, if you’re lucky, a generous dollop of rich cream.

Search out some bottles of local beers, likely as not they will be brewed over the border in Belgium, but it’s all Flanders to the locals. Look out for bottles of Silly Pils, a great talking point and a smooth beer to boot.

How to get there

By train:

Eurostar from London Waterloo to Lille takes around 1hour 46 minutes.

By Eurotunnel/ferry:

Travel from Folkestone/Dover to Calais. Lille is an hour’s drive along the A16/A25.

Where to Eat

A bewildering choice, but for estaminets (inns) try:

‘T Rijsel
25 rue de Gand
Tel: (Fr) 3 20 15 01 59
Inexpensive—lunch should only cost around 20€.

Aux Trois Brasseurs
22 place de la Gare
Tel: (Fr) 3 20 06 46 25
Four types of draught beer served directly from barrels at this Lille favourite. Inexpensive.

Brasserie André
71 rue de Béthune
Tel (Fr) 3 20 54 75 51
Budget around 30€.

Au Tord-Boyaux
11 place Nouvelle Aventure
Tel: (Fr) 3 20 57 73 67
Budget around 30€ for a traditional Flanders meat fest at this cosy place.

For a change from beer try the wine bar on rue de la Monnaie:

La Part des Anges
50 rue de la Monnaie
Tel: (Fr) 3 20 06 44 01
Cost around 30€

For a quick bite try the northern speciality, flammeküche at the obviously named:

Flam’s
8 rue de Pas
Tel: 3 20 54 18 38
Exceptional value.

For a speciality pork restaurant try:

Le Passe-Porc
155 rue de Solférino
Tel: (Fr) 3 20 42 83 93
Expect to pay around 25€.

For mussels go to:

Aux Moules
34 rue de Béthune
Tel: (Fr) 3 20 57 12 46
Great value at lunchtime and in the evenings.

À l’Huîtrière:

3 rue Chats-Bossus
Tel: (Fr) 3 20 55 43 41
Expensive—a weekday lunch is over 40€, but it does have a Michelin star.

Where to Stay

For large and luxurious try:

Carlton Hotel
3 rue de Paris
Tel: (Fr) 3 20 13 33 13
www.carltonlille.com
60 rooms in four-star luxury near the city centre. Rooms from 169€.

For good value you can do no better than the family-run:

Hotel Flandre Angleterre
13 place de la Gare
Tel: (Fr) 3 20 06 04 12
www.hotel-flandreangleterre-lille.com
Near TGV train stations. Double rooms from 76€.

Don’t Miss

Grande Braderie de Lille
2-3 September
www.mairie-lille.fr

Lille3000
14 October-14 January 2007
www.lille3000.com
The city will be celebrating the culture of different countries in lille3000, starting with a celebration of all things Indian.