Lille

We went to Lille for the day on Saturday. It is very easy to go to the Eurostar station at Ebbsfleet. It only takes 20 minutes to get there and you pre-book parking so when you arrive at the carpark it welcomes you digitally by name! I love that.

We were going with the vague thought of Christmas shopping, but the Christmas market was disappointing. Lille however was not. It has some lovely old streets and buildings would be worth going to for at least a long weekend. We wandered around the streets looking and taking photos (well I take them and Andy kindly waits for me!) Here are a few (quite a lot) of them, and I have a few more to share too! There was a great art exhibition we visited in an old hospital-very old-13th century I think. It was just my kind of thing. Also the lights were very pretty. But here are some moments from the day.

 The sun illuminated the sun, and shone through the fountain too.

 A fish made from trailed paint caught my eye.

 I loved the graffiti covered models in this shop window. The shop sold spray paint. I always thought that paint for graffiti was got by less legitimate means. 

 \Lille is filled with pattern.

This is in the Musee de L'Hospice. The combination of shadows on the stairs and the blue and white tiles looked most attractive.

 Tile detail

 Santa was there, overlooking the market and despairing. I suppose it was not that bad, and we did buy a tiny Jesus and Mary and some quite strong mulled wine, which caused us to need to sit on a bench for some time to recover. It is just that they advertise it as a reason to go there and there are so many other great things to do instead. I want to go on the weekend where everyone, or nearly, sells things from their houses on the streets. It sounds totally mad and eccentric.

 Glitter ball on the big wheel. We didn't go on it, as it was scarily high and probably very cold.

 Cute sign. I am not sure what it means though. Maybe that it is safe not to hold the adult's hand here as it is a big square? Or maybe it is a lesson in perspective.

Jazz cat.