La braderie de Lille

We just spent a fantastic weekend in Lille, celebrating our wedding anniversary and visiting the Braderie de Lille.

For those that don't know, the Braderie is an enormous flea market festival dating back to the 12th Century that takes over the entire city. It's the largest in Europe.

It is a fabulous mix of antique furniture, objet d'art, bric a brac and ephemera. The whole event has a wonderful festival spirit - which even a little rain this morning failed to dampen.

Every festival in France has - as you might expect - a gastronomic backbone, and what I love is that it is always so proudly regional. The Braderie is no exception with every restaurant, cafe and bar turning over the regular menu to serve solely Moules Frites (mussels and fries) accompanied by the finest local and Belgian beers. Stacks of mussel shells form impromptu art installations within the main eating quarters.

The surprise of the weekend was to find just how beautiful this city is. It's the fourth largest in France (behind Paris, Lyon and Marseilles) and has a medieval history. The architecture shows the best of this part of Europe - tall houses with shutters and iron features (similar to Holland and Belgium) with many cobbled roads called pavé (which remind me so much of the famous cycling races of this region!). Today, Lille is a very popular university city, so the population is young and there really creative feel about the place.

Our top 5 things about Lille :

1. Of course the Braderie, which you really must put in your calendar to visit at least once!
2. Meert. We had a late breakfast lunch in this fantastic shop/cafe/restaurant.
3. The beautiful houses in the Vieux Lille (that's old town Lille). Charles de Gaulle was born here (his home is now a museum).
4. Le Merveilleux, home of the best chocolate/meringue combo you'll ever taste.
5. The moules-frites and beer. You'll definitely reach your limit by the end, but it's fun to enjoy this local tradition - the beers really are wonderful, if a little strong!

There were so many things that we didn't get to see: the Vielle Bourse, local parks and the neighbouring Roubaix to name a few, but we'll definitely be back here again one day very soon.

Comments

[Laurane]

I'm currently living in Lille for my studies (I'm French) and I LOVE this ity. Next time, you're in town you have to go to la rue Masurel for a lunch at 'tous les jours dimanche", to check out some great beauty products at "Ombres Portees" and stop for a delicious cake or Macaroon at "Patrick Hermand's"

[Eva]

I would LOVE to go to this! I lived in Lille for 7 months about 10 years ago, but just missed the braderie. I'll have to make a point to go back some day. If you go back, the modern art museum and surrounding park in the nearby Villeneuve d'Ascq are a great place to visit.

[Decoratorsnotebook.wordpress.com]

I went too and had such a fun time! Lovely photos especially the one of the little old cars. What did you buy?

[Agata]

I was there Sunday...the mussels and fries are just so great! I love the city, but I was a bit disappointed about the market. I didnt see much unique/original things, but many just shop "sales".

[celine]

we were there the previous w/e and I so love the town too, so much to do and look at.