Ville de Lille

I just got back from an absolutely wonderful solo trip up to Belgium. For whatever reason (I tried asking, but no one seemed to really know why) most French students were given a break last week, leaving me plenty of time to relax, and to travel. So after some careful planning I hopped on a train Wednesday morning and rode 5 hours to my first stop, the lovely city of Lille.

 

Though I only had half a day there until I moved on to my next location, I definitely did my fair share of sight seeing. The Musee des Beaux-Arts was a favorite. Not only did it have a wide variety of art- ranging from really really old to pretty contemporary and including ceramics, statues, and paintings- but I was also able to check my backpack and walk around free of all the extra weight.

  

I also got to browse through a used book sale that was set up in the middle of an old building's courtyard. The vendors were offering everything from yellowed and fading postcards to glossy neon colored comic books. There was even a man with huge boxes of worldly coins for the collectors out there.

The brisk weather made it a perfect day to just wander the city, and though it definitely was no Bordeaux, I did enjoy my visit to Lille. It was a nice mix of working city and quintessential 'french' culture with plenty to offer to a tourist passing through.