Lille the Eurostar stop no one gets off at

We decided to go to Lille as our only French city to visit on this trip due to it’s proximity to Belgium and Netherlands. Only thing we knew about Lille was that it’s one of the stops on Eurostar between London and Paris.

20160813025306 — We left Bruges on a Saturday and observed the invasion of weekend visitors from the train platform.

20160813025403 — We also observed the often ~~colourful~~ tacky wardrobe choices of our asian cousins

We didn’t time our visit to Lille very well, we arrived right at the beginning of a 3-day long weekend. Most of the stores and restaurants in our immediate vicinity were closed. This worked out for us as we were feeling antisocial after being tourists in Brussels and Bruges. We were happy to just stay in our pajamas all day and only go out to forage for groceries when we ran out of food supplies.

20160814005119 — With such lovely views from our airbnb apartment, who would want to leave?

20160813104150 — All we needed was ~~love~~ dessert

We did manage to pry ourselves off the couch and walk into town after couple days of hibernation. We were rewarded by the relaxed vibe of Lille and lack of tourist hordes in the city centre.

20160815052829 — Lille centre has a used book market to browse through

20160817060507 — Passing the time in Palais des Beaux Arts

20160817054109 — So different from the crowds at the Louvre

DSCF41461 — There was also a great exhibit on a french cartoonist at Palais des Beaux Arts

Our only meal out in Lille was at Le Barbier Qui Fume which specializes in smoked meat and then we had merveilleux for dessert. The French sure knows how to make dessert!