Tourist information -
Lille
Lille , by far the largest city in the north, is
the very symbol of French industry and working-class politics. Its
mayor, Pierre Mauroy, was the first Socialist prime minister appointed
by Mitterrand in 1981. In every direction the city spreads far into
the countryside, a mass of suburbs and heavy industrial plants.
Lille exhibits most of the problems of contemporary France: some
of the worst poverty and racial conflict in the country, a crime
rate rivalled only by Paris and Marseille, and a certain regionalism
- Lillois sprinkle their speech with a French-Flemish patois and
to some extent assert a Flemish identity. But there is also classic
French affluence. The city has a lovely centre, Vieux Lille, some
vibrant and obviously prosperous commercial areas, modern residential
squares, a large university, a brand-new métro system, and
a very serious attitude to its culture and restaurants. Although
you may not consider Lille a prime destination, if you're travelling
through this region it's worth at least a day and a night.
The focal point of the city is the Grande-Place (otherwise known
as place du Général-de-Gaulle), which marks the southern
boundary of the old quarter, Vieux Lille . To the south is the central
pedestrianized shopping area which extends along rue de Béthune
as far as the adjacent squares of place Béthune and place
de la République. On Saturdays, especially, the area is so
jammed with shoppers that you can hardly move, and crowded outdoor
cafés add to the street life. The major festival of the year,
the Grande Braderie, takes place over the first weekend of September,
when a big street parade and vast flea market fill the streets of
the old town by day, and the evenings see a moules frites frenzy
in all the restaurants, with empty mussel shells piled up in the
streets.
The central Grande-Place is just a few minutes' walk from the gare
SNCF (originally Paris's Gare du Nord, but brought here brick by
brick in 1865). Despite being the fifth-largest city in France,
the centre of Lille is small enough to walk round and, unless you
choose to visit Villeneuve-d'Ascq on the outskirts, you won't even
need to use the city's efficient métro system.
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