Jim's Holidays: Lille March 2023

The Eurostar from London to Lille is a quick and easy journey dropping us in the centre of Lille and an easy walk past the Opera square to our apartment arriving just before 4 pm. It's a nice home with kitchen / living area with the bedroom up steep steps in the mezzanine in the roof with another mezzanine with 2 beds above. A quick shop for supplies including an iPad lead then a glass of wine and nibbles before going out around the old town. As it turns out our street is the trendy one with lots of bars which is very handy where Debbie has a large G&T and I randomly choose a bier au pression which I think was one of the Flanders extra strong as after 2 pints I’m feeling like I’ve had 4 pints by the time we leave. Back home which watch the news which has the Paris and Lille pension age change protests mainly setting fire to rubbish bins.

Tuesday we visit the Notre Dame cathedral which is modern but in a gothic style and very impressive. We wander round the park encircling the old citadel and down to the river. Get to an excellent vegan cafe for lunch and then to the grittier Wazemmes district with it's big food market although mostly closed for the day as late afternoon. We wander past the museum of the Palais des Beaux Arts which is an amazing old building with a modern glassed reflecting building behind it. At the Charles de Gaulle or main square with the book stall little square wtih youngsters playing chess. Back home to relax before going out straight into a demo with protesters going down our street closely followed by riot police. Wandering up to the main square there's a crowd of civilians and riot police watching a burning barricade. Police cars, vans and motorcycles are everywhere with roaming bands of riot squad patrolling the streets. Surreal and worrying. Back at our street which is now free of police we sit outside a bar watching the world go by.

It's raining when I pop to the boulangerie to get my morning baguette but stopped by time we go out to the Palais des Beaux Artes. Full of beautiful pictures and sculptures plus an amazing room of relief maps of the old Flemish towns. We buy frites from the very popular frites shop then wander around trying to find a tower to climb, unsuccessfully. Back home by mid afternoon for more lunch and to relax. We cook dinner then wander into the main square again to see more minor disturbances but no fires tonight. The disturbances are all the fully tooled up riot police stomping around and police vans and cars speeding back and forth with sirens and lights on. Back to some sanity where we live we go for drink at the next door African Children bar where we listen to African music and watch highlights from the 2022 World Cup. A good vibe here and a nice way to spend our last night/

Thursday we leave the flat after breakfast and drop our bags at hotel near the station for free. We wander into the Henri Matisse park which I thought may be a nice little place but it's a bit scraggy and home to rough sleepers' tents. We hear a bit of commotion at the edge of the park and go over to have a look just as dozens of kids, and I mean early teens, run towards us. Then a tear gas canister lands 6 foot from us so we along with the kids run into the park. Having ministered water from my bottle to a couple of kids with streaming eyes they tell us that they were demonstration at their college, which was shut due to today's general strike, and then the police just charged at them and indiscriminately fired CS canisters at them. Nice. We go back into town visiting the hospice museum and wander back through old town. It's difficult finding decent vegan and gluten free food so we picnic on scraps next to the hospice. In town there is a very large demo marching down the main streets which is all organised and the police steer well clear. I guess tear gassing a few dozen 14 year olds is easier and safer than confronting thousands of grown ups. At the station we eventually have something nourishing (veg soup) before boarding the Eurostar opposite the park where we were tear gassed a few hours ago. The train races through Flanders flat fields and I'm wondering if I’ll be cycling down any of them in 2 weeks time en route to watch Paris Roubaix. We're back home without incident with a slight delay and the kids descend to celebrate the next day which is when I can travel London for free!

Photos not necessarily in time time order