First stop in France: Lille

While Lille had been on our radar for a while, from fellow travellers and from the film Welcome to the Sticks, it only became a destination because it was the first stop for our Flixbus from London. We originally chose the bus to save money, it turned out to be real-life lessons about borders in more than one way.

• I had half expected our cheap bus to go on the ferry, but it went in the tunnel, which I had an idea from the series The Tunnel. What I had not realized was that every single vehicle got loaded onto trains in batches, exactly as in the case of a boat ferry. If the Channel was not a border between countries, there would have been a regular tunnel, or even a bridge a long time ago.
• It turned out that one of the young women on our bus was from Syria. She didn't have the right papers to enter the EU. Free movement of people is a frequent topic in our book group readings. In this case, the whole bus suffered a delay because the bus had to take her back to a bus stop in UK territory, so she could get back to London. John, while frustrated by the delay, commented - you couldn't pay for such a real-life experience.

Lille center is very handsome, Flemish, lively, with lots of young people. We were there on the last weekend of their summer cultural program "Utopia" to honor the relationship between man and nature, the environment and the climate issue. It was refreshing to see ideas such as climate justice on poster boards and solar energy as installation art.

Our Flixbus departed from Victoria Coach Station, an amazing art deco / modernist building. I was very happy to pull out my phone and capture it in a photo.


The bus left an hour late, and then took a scenic route through London, crossing the Thames at least twice, before getting on an expressway.




Welcome to the Euro Tunnel.


We completed French/EU border formalities before entering the tunnel.


I took this photo after the bus was loaded onto the train, but before the train started moving.


I ventured out of the bus to use the train's toilet. This is the "air lock" between train cars.


Lille was pretty lively the Thursday night we arrived.


Saturday was more lively; folks enjoying a beautiful Fall day. This is La Vieille Bourse (The Old Stock Exchange). The courtyard is a book seller's market.






The Cathedral.


The old citadel in Lille is still used by the military, but the outer areas - like the moat - are parks and running trails and a zoo.






The belfry of the striking Art Deco Hôtel de Ville de Lille.


There are several Art Nouveau buildings around town. This one was our favorite.




Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille.


Several fun runs and good weather bring in the crowds on Saturday evening. Being GMT+1, plus DST, the sun did not set until 7:30 pm.






A Utopia public art installation along the avenue to/from the train station.


At night the buildings on the main square were lit up in blue and yellow in support of Ukraine.










A Utopia art exhibit at the former Saint Sauveur Train Station.