From a city born among marshy islands to Flemish merchants, legendary giants, Louis XIV and a rather cheeky cannonball, Lille has quite a few stories to tell. Next time you walk through the cobbled streets of Old Lille, I want you to imagine something rather...
Textile fortunes, famous surnames, school aprons and summer holidays on the Opal Coast. This is a little history of Northern France — and quite a lot of personal memories. I didn’t discover Lille’s industrial families in a museum. I grew up around them....
What do La Redoute, Auchan, Decathlon, Kiabi, Pimkie and Promod have in common? They all have roots in and around Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing. And that’s rather extraordinary when you think about it. This corner of Northern France gave rise to some of the...
The Lille Christmas market 2026 returns to Place Rihour from 18 November to 30 December 2026, with around 90 wooden chalets selling gifts, crafts and festive food. Just around the corner, the famous big wheel lights up the Grand Place, remaining in place until 16...
Update – 18 October 2026: Is Lille safe? Yesterday, it certainly didn’t feel that way. I wrote this article just a few days ago to reassure visitors after images of protests in Lille appeared on British television. And now, here we are again. As I’m going...
