A while back I wrote an article for Past Times, about my field of expertise—the Grande Braderie of Lille (flea market) in France, the first weekend each September, with more than 10,000 stands. Here, I would like to note some great things about my home besides flea markets, if you ever decide to come here…which you should! Lille is a great base of tourist operations because it's only about an hour away from Paris, Brussels, Holland, and the U.K, which all radiate out from here. At the moment it is most famous for being the subject of the biggest hit movie in France ever ("bigger than Teetaneek!"), Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis. The film is about the strange indigenous culture here: french fry vans (baraques a frites) on almost every corner, incomprehensible accents and expressions, warm and friendly provincial Frenchmen.

In fact, Lille is a well-equipped city, because it is big but also because it is a port-of-call to so many travelers who come through on their way to somewhere else. It has the best museum outside of Paris, the Musee des Beaux Arts de Lille; it has a fully automated metro (useful, because when there are strikes, as there often are in France, the metro in unaffected) and a tramway line, as well as high-speed TGV trains to Paris, Brussels, and London; it has a city center with everything you could want in walking distance—the two French department stores, Printemps and Galeries Lafayette…Leonidas and Meert chocolate shops (as well as many others)…two very big book- and multimedia stores, Le Furet du Nord and La FNAC…boutiques in both the Old Lille and the pedestrian shopping district (provincial France’s first Gap!)… opera, and restaurants a-plenty, as well as two train stations joined by a shopping center. Also in Old Lille is l'Hospice Comtesse, a 13th-century private hospital which is now a Renaissance museum. It is housed in an old castle, classified as a National Historic Monument. Nearby are the Vieille Bourse, a 17th century used-book exchange, and the Notre Dame de la Treille Cathedral.

A lot of the local businesses around are not-so-little; the Decathlon sporting good stores you see all over France, as well as Auchan supermarkets and Paul bakeries, actually come from here. Paul has an excellent lunch menu, although not all Pauls serve sit-down lunch, and only one (the big one in Grand’ Place) serves dinner. One small and exclusive local boutique not to be missed is Charles and Charlus, a leather goods store like Longchamp or Coach, but better quality and with competitive pricing. (There are also Longchamp, Lancel, and Vuitton shops in Lille, as well as a Dior boutique in Printemps.) Arche is opening a new store on rue Nationale in early September of '08.

The best thing about going anywhere in the area is the amazing architecture you see all about you, starting at the Grand’ Place (the town square,) and if you take the tramway to the end of the line in Roubaix (about 30 minutes), you will see nothing but mouth-watering 19th century Flemish townhouses, side-by-side, for the entire ride. Roubaix, once a booming industrial city, is now an active arts center with the famous Piscine museum (an old municipal pool with it original mosaics, and even its changing-rooms, intact), as well as the Conditionnement Publique (the public wool-treating hangar which now hosts the annual 24-hour/day, weekend-long, Braderie de l’Art marathon, where you can go buy art as it is made. There are also the Ballet du Nord, and La Plus Petite Galerie du Monde (ou Presque)—The Smallest Art Gallery in the World (or Almost.) The big design school in Roubaix, l’ENSAIT, is responsible for so much of the vitality the arts scene has. There are also a textile museum and a folk art museum. (A big outsider art collection within the museum of modern art is in nearby Villeneuve d’Ascq.) In Roubaix you also find (very rare in France) a really good set of factory stores (in an old factory, called the factory), which is l’Usine (Petit Bateau, Genevieve Lethu, Helly Hansen, etc.)…A discount coupon for the Usine, valid for the whole year, is found on the back cover of Le Ch'ti, a free and comprehensive guidebook published by the business school each year. (Ch'ti, besides being the aforementioned guidebook, also is the name of the local beer, the indigenous people, and the local argot.)

What souvenirs to bring back home with you (besides antiques and collectibles, and chocolate, of course?) How about a french-fry-shack coffee table book, Baraques a Frites (also available through Amazon?) Shops like Plein Ciel, on the rue de Paris, sell delectable paper goods and writing instruments, an art-de-vivre specialty of France. Right next door is Graphigro, which sells fine arts supplies, and a few stores down is Anny Blatt, which sells pure washable wool yarns for less than you could ever hope to pay in the U.S. Across the street from Anny Blatt is Du Pareil au Meme, which sells cheap & chic children's clothes. And so on, the shopping is so densely compacted in Lille! Also, before you go back, be sure to pick up some thick, glossy fashion and decorating magazines (more like catalogs or books) which provide inspiration for years and years! Here's hoping you do decide to visit my hometown, whether it's for the big and beautiful Braderie de Lille, or whether it's just because. Give me a call, we'll have lunch!

Abby Dousset
Tiny's Antiques Barn on Ruby Lane
http://www.rubylane.com/shops/tinyantiquesbarn

View Abby's original Past Times article:
http://owners.rubylane.com/court/nlarticle/,article=nl20070416.html