We walked around for about 35 minutes but the old legs were suffering so me and my friend found a convenient bar/cafge to sit and wait whilst the ladies went off to have a further look round and perhaps visit a few shops. Whilst the girls visited the ‘Cathedral Notre Dame De La Treille’ the boys sat in the warm bat enjoying a few glasses of something whilst watching the crowds going by. At one time a group of about eight SWAT type troops came by carry sten guns or similar and so presumably this was to deter any terrorist attack, this might have been set up as there had been an attack in London on the Friday evening. We all enjoyed some food a bit later on, and did I mention, another glass of wine before heading off for a 90 minute coach tour of Lille Town. During this tour we went past several old buildings and fantastic Hotels and also the area surround the main original train station which is next to the much newer TGV and Eurostar building. A taxi driver told us that the placement of the TGV/Eurostar Station helped bring back life to Lille which was dying from people moving to Paris or other locations whwre there was work. Lille is now a very bustling town Lille and is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region in northern France, near the border with Belgium. A cultural hub and bustling university city today, it was once an important merchant center of French Flanders, and many Flemish influences remain. The historic center, Vieux Lille, is characterized by 17th-century brick town houses, cobbled pedestrian streets and the large central square, Grand Place.
The population of the towns is about 1.1 million and so one of the Largest of the French Towns. The traffic as a result of the market was severe and parking would have been a nightmare if your were planning to drive there and park and look around and were were lucky we had booked the Hotel. with a car park. Following the coach tour we headed back to the Hotel for a quick change and then off to the next restaurant called Le Pubstore Restaurant, which was recommended on Trip Adviser which is run by an Italian who had lived 10 years in Australia and now runs a restaurant in Lille and so his English was very good. The menu was not large but sufficient for our needs and the plate sizes so large that none of us were able to finish what we had been served. The atmosphere for the pub was nice and it soon filled up and so we were glad we had an early sitting. Back to Hotel for one last goodnight drink and then off to bed for an early night, although it wasn't to early.
It was nice day and we took quite a number of photos.
