… right in the centre of Lille. The Hotel Continental, right opposite the Lille-Flanders railway station in the Place de la Gare, so it’s a shame that I’m travelling in and out from the Lille-Europe railway station so I had a 10-minute uphill struggle with the giant suitcase. Still, as they say, it’s all downhill from here.
I’m right in the centre of the city so that there’s plenty of food and facilities around (not like at an airport hotel) – in fact I had a good lunch of tomato, baguette and fruit from a supermarket, and an excellent tea from the Flunch just around the corner. And I’m 10 minutes from the station of course, where there are trains that go like stink right to the airport.
And the verdict on the hotel – well, 2 nights here with B&B is costing me the same price as 1 night at the airport and so when I say that the hotel is a little threadbare, I’m not complaining in the least. I’m having more than value for money here and that’s what counts.
And if they were to take up all of the depressing carpets and replace them with a good varnished wooden floor and paint all of the dark-brown woodwork with a nice cream topcoat, it would be 10 times better and I would love it.
So I’ve spent most of the day walking around.
My first encounter with Lille was in the early 1980s when it was a filthy, decayed old hole.
By the time I came back 10 years ago they had cleaned the place up amazingly, just like here at the Place Charles de Gaulle and it’s a vast improvement on how it used to be – so much so that I actually enjoy being here, and that makes a change for a major European city.
With the coming of the TGV here in 1994 there has been some astonishing rebuilding too.
That over there is Euralille, the new commercial centre. It consists of acres and acres of shops, a huge concert venue, piles of studios and apartments and a big student centre, one of the largest in Europe.
All in all, quite an impressive pile. And I bet that it’s been a long time since you’ve heard me say that about anywhere modern.
One place that I’ve always wanted to visit was the citadelle at Lille. It dates from the 15th Century when Flanders was an independent kingdom and was vastly improved by Vauban once the area had fallen to the French.
The walls are pretty much intact and the central barracks, vastly altered in the Napoleonic era, are in excellent condition – so much so that they are still occupied and so it’s not possible to visit there which is a shame.
So afterwards, I went for tea as I said, and now I’m back here going for an early night for I have a very early start in the morning.
