It took me a while , worse when you have family about an hour from the city. But often said, living and visiting are two different things . When in the area stayed with family and this time again, however, did it in reverse order, went to see Lille and its sights, (stay tune for posts), and then went to see family. We did it again by car, the best way to travel me think, and tried them all. I took my local D768 to the D16 to get to the N24, and then go out into the N175, A84 to Caen, then A13 to near Rouen ,then took the A29 past Amiens to A1 to A25 into Lille, almost 8 hrs with stop for gas/petrol and our dog Rex 723 km, Tolls R/T 63 euros, gas/petrol R/T 133 euros, cheap!! If taken the route without tolls would have been almost 13 hrs !! Let me tell you about this is Lille !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
We went straight into our apartment the Adagio Access Vauban Lille, 17 Rue Colson, right in center walking distance to all and we walk the beat on a 2 km radius to see it all or well most of all. The apartment was very nice, and very friendly folks, clean, great underground parking for 8 euros a bargain! allow our dog Rex for 6 euros per night and all wonderful even got a towel for our dog from the aparthotel!! Another great experience in lodging! webpage: https://www.adagio-city.com/fr/hotel-8411-aparthotel-adagio-access-lille-vauban/index.shtml
As we arrive in late afternoon, we went out anyway to see monuments and got caught in dinner time so we try a new place for us, Chez Max, 164 Rue Solférino very close to our apartment and great reservation and welcome with wa! ter for our precious dog Rex. Here I had the carbonade flamande local dish, with pears filled with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, all wash down with a rose from Provence the Domaine de Figueirasse delicious, We shall return. Webpage: https://www.chezmaxbistrotlillois.com/
I like to tell you several posts on the sights of Lille and al. However, on this initial post would like to tell you a bit of the history of Lille, which I like.
Lille is the prefecture of the Nord department 59 and capital of the Hauts-de-France region in my belle France. An important cultural center at the crossroads of the Picardy and Flemish areas, its name in Old French is L’Isle and would refer to its supposed primitive location near an island in the swamps of the Deûle valley where it was founded. Its surroundings belong to the historical region of Romanesque Flanders, a former territory of the county of Flanders which is not part of the West Flemish linguistic area. Lille is located about 15 km from the border between France and Belgium, Also, 93 km from Calais, 100 km from Brussels, 205 km from Paris, and 696 km non stop from my house. Unlike most medieval towns, Lille therefore did not develop in a circular fashion around a hyper-centre, but by building entire districts and absorbing neighboring towns. First comes the historic heart which today constitutes part of the districts of Vieux-Lille and Lille-Centre.
In 1549, Charles V promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction which conferred broad autonomy on the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands of which the County of Flanders was a part. They became fully Spanish in 1556, when Charles V passed the Spanish crown to Philip II of Spain. In 1581, the seven predominantly Protestant provinces in the north of the Netherlands seceded and constituted the United Provinces by the Hague Act. The ten Catholic provinces, or Southern Netherlands, of which Lille is one of the capitals, remain under the rule of the Spanish crown. In 1635, the Franco-Spanish War broke out and the suburbs of Lille were ravaged by the French army in 1645. It ended in 1659 with the Treaty of the Pyrenees which gave Artois to France while Lille remained to Spain. Still today the fixed border between Spain and France, King Philip IV of Spain died in 1665 and Louis XIV claimed Flanders in the name of his wife, Infanta Maria Theresa of Austria. In 1667, in eight days (August 19-27), Lille was taken by the French armies led by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, simultaneously with Douai. Its attachment to the Kingdom of France was formalized on May 2, 1668, by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The same year, Vauban, appointed governor, improved and extended the fortifications of the city encompassing new districts created by a new extension of the enclosure up to the Citadel. In 1672, Charles de Batz de Castelmore d’Artagnan was briefly governor of the city. In 1708, the citadel capitulated to John Churchill Duke of Marlborough after more than three months of fighting during the War of the Spanish Succession, following the Battle of Oudenaarde and the French defeat at Wattignies. The city remained in the hands of the European coalition until the Treaties of Utrecht of 1713 then returned to the Kingdom of France.
In 1789, Lille, which remained deeply Catholic, did not experience a real popular revolution. In 1792, the French revolution pushed out the Austrians, then present in the United Provinces, to besiege Lille on April 20. On October 8, 1845, the Goddess Column was erected commemorating this event. On May 25, 1902, the Universal Exhibition of Lille opened, in reality more of an international exhibition than a universal exhibition proper. It lasted until October 20, 1902, During the Great War or WWI, the city is occupied by the Germans from October 1914 to October 1918 ,The 5th British Army commanded by General Birdwood liberates the city on October 17, 1918. The taking of the pocket of Lille on May 31, 1940 delivered the city to the Nazis. It is attached to the Nazi command in Brussels and does not come under the Vichy regime. After furious fighting between routed Germans and French forces in the interior, Lille was liberated on September 3, 1944, again by the British.
The City of Liille on its heritage : https://www.lille.fr/Que-faire-a-Lille/Decouvrir-Lille
The Lille tourist office on its heritage : https://en.lilletourism.com/discover-lille-1.html
The Hauts de France region on Lille : https://www.tourisme-en-hautsdefrance.com/decouvrir/les-villes-des-hauts-de-france/lille/
There you go folks, a dandy city of the Nord that is North of France. I was finally back to Lille and it was great with many family memories flashing but glad I did it now. Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Lille !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 