Tuesday 28 February 2012

glimpse of lille france


I was lost in action yesterday because of an eye problem I dealt with on Sunday but I'm back and feeling fine. I'm armed with latte and biscotti and I'd like to show you a few more photos, more like glimpses, of Lille which we visited last week, and tell you just a little bit about this French city.

The first photos are of the Opera House and the beautiful Hotel Carlton across the street. Alice Délice is one of my favourite cookware shops and luckily we also have it in Antwerp. I can spend hours in there, hours! It's located on the beautiful Rue Esquermoise street, next to the Place du Général de Gaulle square, also called the Grand'place (Lille is the birthplace of general Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)). We browsed a little in Habitat in the same street and I have to say that their shop in Lille is really nice. The window with the colourful nougat belongs to the gorgeous Meert chocolate shop/restaurant in the same street.

The photos below are of the Cathédrale Notre Dame de la Treille, built in the 19th century neo-Gothic style. It is a beautiful building, but I have to admit that the new facade from 1999 didn't appeal to me so I'm not posting photos of it.


To make a long story short, Lille is one of those cities that through the ages has been fought for and ruled by various kings/counts/dukes, Flemish, French or Spanish. In 1667 the French king Louis XIV, often referred to as Louis the Great or the Sun King, conquered it and had Vauban, the great military architect, design and build the Citadelle, located outside the city centre. This time we didn't visit the fort, which is shaped like a five-pointed star, but we'd like to do so when the weather gets warmer.

In the beginning of the 18th century, during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), the Dutch occupied Lille for five years. During the French Revolution (1787-99), its inhabitants had to defend the city against the Austrian invaders. They succeeded and the Goddess statue on the Grand’place, in the city centre, is a reminder of their heroism.

In the 19th century Lille became an industrial capital so well known for textile that it was sometimes referred to as the 'Manchester of France'. With the decline of that industry in the 20th century the focus was set on commerce. Today it's the crossroad of the Europain rail network, the Eurostar stops there and all other high-speed trains arriving from or going to Paris or other major cities in France. Lille is well known for culture and in 2004 it was designated as the European Capital of Culture.

photo credit:
LatteLisa

see Lille, part 1

19 comments:

  1. I'm glad your eye is better. Latte and biscotti sounds perfect. I could really do with some. These pictures are beautiful Lisa. Those goodies in the window look yum!

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  2. great pictures. I will def stop in Lille should I ever be in the area... I'm off to have another coffee myself :) happy tuesday! xx

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  3. These photo's are just as beautiful as your previous Lille post. It all looks so charming and I bet one can't stop taking photos of all the gorgeous details on the buildings.
    Glad you are feeling better :)

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  4. Please your eye is better. Love your shots of Lille, defiantly adding it to my To Visit In France list! P.S. I love Habitat!

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  5. Must be nice to visit Lille. A fine Grand Hotel , wonderful architecture, lovely shops ...

    ♥ Franka

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  6. Oh so sorry to hear about your eye, Lisa. Hope it's all better by now. And Lille looks like such a lovely city. I would love to visit one day. :) xoxo

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  7. These photos are beautiful! They make me want to travel immediately : )

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  8. Glad to hear your eye is better Lisa. Thanks for the photo tour through Lille! the architecture there looks splendid.

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  9. What a beautiful beautiful place! I've never actually thought of visiting it (total idiot, I know), but Eurostar always stops there on a way to Paris, so now I know one day I'll travel there instead of the city of lights. :) Thank you for the wonderful photos. Wishing you a super speedy recovery!
    xxx

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  10. So glad to see you back to blogging. Something was not right in the blogosphere these days. ;)
    Lisa, the cathedral photos are breathtaking! The way you arranged them makes them even more beautiful xo

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  11. Beautiful - and look at those goodies in the window! :-)

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  12. Glad to hear you are feeling better, and what a lovely surprise to see/hear more of Lille! If your first set of photos didn't convince me, these sure did! Even the store front of Habitat is beautiful!

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  13. Lille looks like such a charming city! So glad that you are feeling better..a latte and biscotti sound good right about now! Enjoy your day/night! xxoo

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  14. Okay, so I officially disappeared for the month of February, but now I'm back (I know, you missed me!) ;)

    And how lovely to come back to the blogging world and see your beautiful photos of Lille, and a great history lesson, too!

    But it's really not fair Lisa, you're already going to Paris in April...that's enough of France for you! You're making me jealous! ;)

    Okay, I'm off to catch up on your posts....and maybe post something of my own after this long hiatus...

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  15. Oh so pretty!
    I would love to see it some day :)

    And I envy you the spring, over here we had rain, snow and hail - all in one day! Oh yeah!

    Happy Tuesday evening :)
    Signe

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  16. sorry to hear about your eye, it sounds painful. I'm glad to hear you are feeling better. Your pics are beautiful + the detail in the historic architecture you have captured is wonderful. The shops amongst these old streets are rather enchanting + so lovely xx

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  17. The Cathedral is gorgeous! The little treats, the details of each building, and the streets - beautiful photos Lisa. I'm going to see if it's possible to visit Lille when we are there in June. (saving this info!)

    xx
    leslie

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  18. Wonderful photos, Lisa! I didn't know anything about Lille. Next time we drive from Antwerp to Paris we will have to stop and explore.

    Glad you're feeling better. Biscotti and latte definitely make things better!

    – g

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  19. Hope that your eye are a little better ;o) and what wonderful pictures - I want to go to France again NOW .... ;o)))
    Have a nice day - enjoy your latte and biscotti ;o)

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