Marcelle . . . ‘mon amie’ featuring Lille, France

After requesting that my friend in Lille, France help me with my presentation, featuring her city, Lille France she provided me with a lot of useful information to base my presentation based from!
Sorry for the poor image.

“Ok so for fun activities in Lille;

“There is a market every Sunday in the Vieux Lille and Wazemmes, people of all walks of life come there are you can buy a nice roasted chicken. The products are all regional and artisanal and people are proud to support local farmers.”

“There is the zoo, which is free, a big difference compared to other cities. As soon as we have a little bit of sun, we go out to the Citadelle which is a gem of biodiversity and architecture in the middle of the city.”

“We have the Gare Saint Sauveur that has free expositions of art and culture, you can also attend concerts there.”

“We have a really good concert hall, called Grand Mix in Tourcoing. It is special because even though it is really small, cool bands come through there! That’s because Lille is on the road between London, Paris and Brussels.”

“For eating, there are many, many restaurants and there is an old street in Vieux Lille called Rue de Gand. This is an entire street of restaurants and bars, most of which are quite good!”

“Every year we have the Braderie de Lille, the biggest flea market in Europe. 2 million converge on the city, which is entirely closed to cars for the weekend. A smaller festival is Festival de la Louche d’or, which is a big soup competition. It is free for the public to taste all the soups!”

 

Marcelle also provided her personal favorite aspects of Lille:

“I love that festival because everybody comes and has fun and unwinds.”

“What I love about Lille, is that even if it is a small city, there is always something to do, somewhere to go, somebody to meet. People are warm and welcoming, a typical trait of the Nord Pas de Calais region. Everybody I know who has come to live here has made many friends and we love to help each other out, there is a lot of solidarity in the city.”

“Life is also quite affordable in Lille compared to other cities. There are also few big buildings, the city center is mostly old houses with some interesting architecture. We build our homes and shops and offices into these old buildings.”

After mentioning my desire to one day move to Lille, the city that captured my heart, Marcelle said “They are always looking for English speakers here!”, encouraging my hope of one day moving to France.