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Bradt Lille City Guide
Ref: BRA092
Laurence Phillips provides an award-winning ideal insiders’ guide to Lille. Packed full of all the practical information needed for a short city break or even day-trip, travellers will be entertained by both Phillips’s wit and the charm of the many places featured in this compact guide. Features include a background to Lille’s history and culture, a walking tour of the city, local cuisine and festivals.
• Winner of the Best Guidebook Award 2004, British Guild of Travel Writers
• A cornucopia of gourmet restaurants, cafés, specialist shops and hotels
• Complete range of entertainment options, including nightlife, museums, art galleries and sightseeing ideas in Lille and the surrounding district
• Top tips for Eurostar, tunnel and ferry travellers
Book Reviews
Winner of the British Guild of Writers 'Best Guidebook award' - Lille: The Bradt Mini Guide, by Laurence Phillips
Announcing the judges choice, TV travel presenter, Judith Chalmers OBE, told the audience at the Savoy .....
"We enjoyed the guide and Laurence Phillips' quirky personal writing style. We felt this book stood out against the others for its unique writing style and you do feel that Laurence really does have a true love of France and all things French that is reflected in the content of the book. When you read it you really feel you want to visit the destination."
"Best guidebook"
-- The Sunday Times
"Entertaining and comprehensive look at Lille... This pocket-sized guide would be perfect... for daytrippers and those wishing to travel light."
-- The Observer
"Small but comprehensive, this is all you'll need."
-- Food & Travel
"..excellent and handy guide."
-- Living France
Author's Note, by Laurence Phillips
Lille 2004 – the show must go on!
What a year it has been. And the parties, wow the parties. Readers who have the updated mid-2004 reprint of the Bradt Mini Guide to Lille, will know about the phenomenal success of Lille 2004, with up to a million people taking to the streets for the concerts and celebrations of the opening weekend.
Trust me, the Monde Parallele weekends were just as wonderful, with many events and installations set to become annual or permanent fixtures. At the time of writing this update, I can tell you that the mayor's team is in negotiations with the landlords of the Tripostal building that has served as cultural HQ, exhibition centre and party venue in order to seize it for the city and its people. Whatever happens, at the end of November we'll have to say goodbye to the quite brilliant and inspiring design exhibitions at the Tripostal - eclectic isn't the word: see Buckingham Palace designed as a council estate, discover high-tech tickling and eco-friendly funerals and trainers that can power your washing machine. If you can get to the show before it closes you'll not regret it. As to the future of the venue: watch this space!
Anyhow, the bumper chapter on Lille 2004 is still worth reading, even though Lille officially ends its year as European Capital of Culture on November 28 (final street party of the year, by the way, is November 20). The show goes on well into the New Year with big names including Picasso, Matisse and Jean-Luc Goddard amongst the draws for winter and spring 2005.
Cinema takes Lille 2004 all the way to summer. A major project at Le Fresnoy contemporary art studio sees reality TV meet the world of movie-making with a live link (until June 30) to the home of acclaimed director Jean Luc Goddard at work on 10 new films. Another film project is to be visited in Bavay, until April 15. On the site of the old GalloRoman forum, Cyberforum is a digital evocation of the past.
Of course the dozen Maisons Folies community arts centres, born out of old industrial, military and religious buildings, will continue to provide a permanent cycle of exhibitions, performances and events across the region. Addresses and info. on the Maisons Folies are in the book and, take it from me, they are really worth the trek away from the obvious tourist trails. The Hospice Havre in Tourcoing is stunning, the Fort de Mons a thrill to behold and the Wazemmes building simply brilliant whether you want to enjoy an art show or a Turkish bath!
Of course, the major museums of Lille and the surrounding district are still dealing some spectacular cards.
Outside the city centre, the final three major art shows of Lille 2004 stay open into the New Year. The highly acclaimed Mexique/Europe Allers-Retours 1910-1960 features over 250 works by Mexican artists and their European counterparts. The exhibition will be drawing art lovers to the Modern Art Museum at Villeneuve d’Asq until January 16. I caught the show the day before it opened and it is brilliant, replacing the Museum's usual permanent collection but including some of Villeneuve d'Asq's regular treasures nonetheless - the Modigliani stays! - and showcasing the very best of Mexico.
Meanwhile, in nearby Roubaix, the unforgettable La Piscine (a firm favourite with so many readers - judging from your emails) hosts a presentation of Picasso’s work with textiles, theatre costumes, jewellery and ceramics until January 9. Across the region, in Le Cateau Cambrésis, a new exhibition in Henri Matisse’s hometown celebrates the influence of fabrics and patterns on the artist’s work. The display was unveiled at the end of October and will run to January 23.
Christian de Portzamparc, architect of Lille’s most recognisable modern building, the L-shaped Credit Lyonnais Tower, better known as the “ski boot”, which perches above the Eurostar station is honoured with a major retrospective exhibition at the Palais des Beaux Arts. Portzamparc: Pluriel et Singulaire opened in October and continues to run until January 10 next year. A parallel exhibition on contemporary housing is staged in Tourcoing until December 6.
Also in Tourcoing, over 100 privately-owned works by contemporary artists have been loaned to the Musée des Beaux Arts, on show until December 6. In St Omer, the remarkable Musée Sandelin reopened this month with its centenary exhibitions. A splendid private house, the museum offers a tantalising glimpse into lifestyles and tastes of other ages, from table appointments to military and archaeological collections. Belfries of Culture - a season of monthly exhibitions in town halls - continues across the region. A Millet-themed show at Auxi-le-Chateau runs to November 26, and Guardi and Manet are the subject of an exhibition at Steenvoorde from December 6 – 26.
Lille 2004 has seen some spectacular performances, from the re-opening of the Lille Opera House to amazing street entertainment. The opera and ballet programme continues throughout next year and beyond. The city bids a flamboyant farewell to a year of circus performances with Cirque du Soleil installed on the Esplanade, November 15 – January 2.
Laurence Phillips is an award-winning travel writer specialising in European cities and travel guides for food lovers. He also contributes regularly to major newspapers, magazines and BBC radio programmes, and is a well-known playwright and lyricist – including work for the RSC.
£6.99
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