Lille Is France Through A Different Lens

Lille is a French city without French roots. On the border with Belgium, it’s about as far north as one can go and still be in France. This gives Lille a different feel from other cities in France, especially when it comes to architecture. We found loads of interesting buildings, including government offices, cultural centers, apartments, and churches. A lot of our time was spent simply walking around and looking at these unique facades. We also took advantage of our summertime stay by frequenting several great parks and taking long walks beside the canal. A nice art museum rounded out our visit.

Lille is the 10th largest city in France with a population of 240,000, although it is the 4th largest metro area at 4 times that size. It is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region and part of French Flanders, which is the small area in present day France that was once part of the historical County of Flanders. They once spoke Flemish here, although usage has fallen off drastically in the modern era. Lille has been fought over and ruled by many different regimes in its past. This history gives it a unique character. Our two previous stops in Rennes and Rouen felt very similar, so Lille was a welcome change. 

We planned our visit for the height of summer and it couldn’t have worked out better. The weather during our stay in northernmost France was nearly perfect. There was abundant sunshine but temperatures stayed mild and pleasant, with highs in the 70s (21 – 26C) almost everyday. It was pretty glorious. We spent a lot of our time outside in a park somewhere just soaking it all in.

Parc De La Citadelle

With several rings of moats built around a defensive fort, the Citadel Park feels much bigger than the area it occupies. The park has a wide variety of landscapes, including forest, grassland, and wetlands. It’s a great place to find shade in the summer and it’s also a top spot for birdwatching. Water birds like coots, moorhens, herons, and kingfishers frequent the moats surrounding the citadel. We really enjoyed this popular spot and returned again and again.

Jardin Des Plantes 

We’ve visited a lot of botanical gardens throughout France but the Lille Botanical Garden has the first dedicated dahlia garden that we’ve encountered. There were so many different dahlia varieties and it was a real treat to see so many types in one place. The rest of the park had a variety of natural areas, a large fountain, a rose garden, a small succulent greenhouse, and a playground. But the dahlias were the star of the show.

Jardin des Géants

Another unique park we found is the Garden of Giants. The park is pretty small for giants, but it was interesting nonetheless. There were several “sculptures” of giant heads made from plants that reminded me of the natural version of Olmec colossal heads. There were also several metal sculptures, a handful of different natural paths, and a cafe. It was an interesting mix of wild and curated and worth a quick stop.

Canal Path

Another good place to get outdoors in Lille is along the canal running on the west side of the city. Mirrored by a multiuse path on each side, it’s popular with walkers, runners, and bikers. You can even cross the border into Belgium if you have the time, energy, and a bicycle. There are several spots with street art and the canal is a good spot to find cormorants fishing.

Palais des Beaux Arts

The large Palace of Fine Arts was an excellent stop with a lot of great pieces. It features a nice variety with impressive works from artists like Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Marc Chagall, and Édouard Vuillard. One of the more interesting parts was in the basement, where they had a sizable room with a dozen gigantic topographical relief maps. Originally used for war planning, these large-scale models of nearby towns show the detail of the rivers, farmland, buildings, walls, and include all of the slopes and hills of the surrounding areas. They were at least 10 feet by 10 feet and really fun to stare at and mentally plan an offensive siege (or the defense of one).  

Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame-De-La-Treille De Lille

The Basilica of Our Lady of the Treille is Lille’s version of Notre Dame. More commonly referred to as the Lille Cathedral, it’s a little different than most. The outside has the expected French Gothic architecture on three sides, but its front facade has been completely replaced with a more modern iteration that wasn’t finished until 1999. From inside the church, the front wall glows with a deep amber color. The remainder is more classical with tall vaulted ceilings and several small side chapels. 

The church has a summer concert series where they offer a free performance every Saturday evening throughout the summer. We were able to catch a tenor named Tarik Bousselma singing Italian opera favorites accompanied by Flore-Elise Capelier on piano. It was quite enjoyable, and quite popular. Taking the cue from the church concert we attended in Rouen, we showed up about 10 minutes before showtime. That probably wasn’t early enough, as when we arrived we found it already pretty packed. All of the seats in the center seating area were claimed so we were relegated to the obstructed view seats on the side. That didn’t affect our experience too much, as the sound was just as good, but it was harder to see.

Where We Stayed

We rented a one bedroom apartment only a few blocks from the train station directly on the edge of the downtown pedestrian zone. The apartment had multiple large windows and we could see the opera house if we looked down the street. The prime location in peak tourist season meant that this was the most expensive apartment we’ve ever had! Our total cost was $2269 for 4 weeks. (Lille won’t hold this title for long though. Spoiler: we’re going to be in London soon!) 

What We Spent

Driven by our top dollar apartment, our spending in Lille was on the higher side. In addition to housing, groceries and other staples also seemed about 10-20% more expensive than our last few stops. Our spending during our time in Lille came to $3350. Once I add in our recurring bills for the MLB package and insurance, our total spending for our 4 week stay came in just under $3600, or $128.25/day.

We thought Lille was an interesting stop and a nice contrast to some of our other stays throughout France. The art museum and cathedral concert were both great, but it was the outdoor time that we loved the most. I cannot emphasize enough how awesome the weather was during our time there. It really allowed us to take advantage of all of the parks and also be comfortable at home. Overall Lille was a solid choice for a summer visit.