Things to Do in Lille

The center of Lille, the Grand Place (or, as it's officially called, the Place du Général de Gaulle) is a magnet for tourists and a meeting point for locals. Celebrations, ceremonies, Christmas markets - it all happens here.

The plaza is surrounded by grand buildings in the Belgian style, including the La Vieille Bourse (once the stock exchange, now a peaceful enclave for booksellers and chess players) with its riotous fruit and flower ornamentation. 

The focal point of the square is a monument depicting Deesse, the goddess particularly associated with Lille. Her statue commemorates the siege of the city by Austrian troops in the 18th century, and the bravery of the Lillois in refusing to yield their town to the invaders. 

Far from being a museum dedicated to pools, Musée La Piscine in Roubaix is in fact an arts museum houses in a former indoor, Olympic-sized swimming pool. This somehow peculiar location was chosen because it features an outstanding art deco interior, having been built in 1927. The swimming pool remained in use until 1985, and was given a second life as an arts museum in 2000. Musée La Piscine holds items that date back from 1835, most of which were collected from a textile factory that once stood next door. Elements of literature, science and fine arts were added to enhance the collection of historic textiles and to form an extensive exhibition dedicated to the fruitful alliance between applied arts and industry. Some of the most famous paintings and sculptures found at La Piscine include works from Rodin, Picasso, Claudel, Gérôme, Stark, van Dongen and other contemporaries – which, of course, are complimented by the architectural marvel that is La Piscine.

The National Studio for Contemporary Arts located in the Lille suburbia acts as both a teaching establishment and a museum; its goal being to give northern France residents and visitors easy access to the arts of all forms (cinema, photography, applied arts, musique, living arts, etc.) in a state-of-the-art building. Its genesis is to integrate audiovisual techniques to its productions, making Le Fresnoy an exclusive place for locals to experiment with various practices – the museum creates over 50 pieces every year. In a nutshell, Le Fresnoy is kind of like “dance studio meets movie set”; every movement, every pain stroke is subject to technological embellishments. Because of its unique mission, the museum has welcomed several world-class art exhibitions over the years, and continues to be acclaimed by other museums around the world. The museum also houses a cinema and regular exhibitions aimed at children.

There are few Frenchmen who occupy the imaginations of their countrypeople like Charles de Gaulle, General of the Free French army in WWII, long-reigning president and still casting a long shadow over French politics. He was born in Lille in 1890 and his grandparents' house, where he was born and spent holidays as a child, has been turned into a monument to his life.

If you're not a de Gaulle-ophile, there's still a lot to interest you about the Maison Natale de Charles de Gaulle, which is set up as a recreation of 19th-century middle-class dwelling and focuses not only on de Gaulle's development and achievements, but on the history of industrial Lille.

The Science Forum (commonly known as Forum départemental des sciences de Villeneuve-d'Ascq by locals) is a museum dedicated to broadcasting the scientific and technical culture located in eastern Lille. It has a very specific, hands-on approach that strongly encourages visitors to make their own scientific experiments in order to fully grasp the power and extent of science in the most whimsical ways possible. The newest exhibition, which will be hosted until March 2016, focuses on nighttime; what happens after nightfall, as far as biology, astronomy, neurology and anthropology are concerned? What does a naturally dark sky looks like, away from the city’s bright lights? How does sleep actually work? On the other side of the museum is Enigma, a vast room where visitors get to become a detective for a couple of hours, questioning the scientific aspect of various situations, and ultimately coming up with several plausible answers. How does a magician escape jail? How could we live in a world without fuel? And although the museum’s exhibitions are clearly directed at children, they will also be very interesting for parents eager to learn about the world’s greatest scientific discoveries.

The Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse is the town museum of Lille. It's housed in an old hospital founded by Jeanne, Countess of Flanders, for the poor of the city in 1237. Most of the building dates from the 15th-17th centuries, and retains a warren-like feel. 

The collection features 17th and 18th century art; woodwork; ceramics; tapestries and musical instruments. But being the town museum, it also focuses on the history of Lille, particularly its revolutionary history, and the story of the hospital and the monks that ran it. 

The ground floor is devoted to a recreation of a Flemish house and the hospital as it would have been centuries ago. 

As the highest municipal building of France at 104 meters high, the Lille belfry (which is attached to the town hall) is certainly a must when in the north of France. Both the belfry and town hall are reminiscent of Flemish architecture with their typical triangular gables and red bricks – understandably, so, considering the border to Belgium is just a few kilometers away. The belfry was built in 1932 as part of the reconstruction of the town hall, which was, unfortunately, torn to pieces during the First World War. And although it is not in use anymore, the belfry contains a headlight that was once used to inform the population of imminent municipal gatherings. Because of how it dominates the city, the belfry offers unobstructed and unparalleled 360-degree views of Lille, and even surrounding areas on clear days. The city hall and its belfry have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005.

Lille's Museum of Modern Art (now called LAM) was founded on the savvy eye of Roger Dutilleul, a collector who began picking up work by Picasso and other soon-to-become influential painters in the 1900s. His son inherited his collection and used it as a basis for today's museum. 

As well as Picasso and Braque there are works by such luminaries as Modigliani, Miró and Léger, as well as a sculpture park (more Picasso!) and a noted collection of art brut. 

The Cathedrale Notre Dame de la Treille takes its name from a 12th-century figure of the Virgin that has been long revered in the city. The cathedral was built by wealthy inhabitants of the city, starting in the late 19th century; building didn't finish until the 1990s! Sadly, the Virgin is no longer inhabiting the cathedral - she was stolen in 1959, and her church now gets by with a replica.

The cathedral features eight chapels in the neo-Gothic style featuring scenes from the lives of Christ, the Virgin and the saints. There's also a towering organ and, unusually, a great deal of 20th-century stained glass, including an asymmetric rose window.  

Lille's Fine Arts Museum (Palais des Beaux-Arts) is giant—only the Louvre tops its size among France's museums—and its collection is suitably illustrious. Instituted in 1801 as part of Napoleon's push to bring art to the masses, the museum is housed in a splendid Belle Époque building dating from the late 1890s.

It's in Vieux Lille, the Old Town of the city, that the Flemish dash to Lille's character can be most clearly seen. The red brick buildings and narrow cobbled lanes have a distinct Belgian feel. 

The quarter had fallen into disrepair, but now it's been cleaned up and houses the regular Euro-old town collection of bars, boutiques, and restaurants. 

This is where many of the city's premier sites are located: the town museum located in the 13th-century Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse, the Cathedrale Notre Dame de la Treille, and the birthplace of Charles de Gaulle. But sightseeing aside, this is a trés pleasant place to lose yourself on a sunny day, stopping only to test out another restaurant or ogle some designer fashion.