Specialists of congress, seminars, meetings on Lille

Lille's Bradery

The Braderie of Lille is a popular appearance which takes place every year in Lille.

Its origins go back up to the XIIth century. Nowadays, the braderie extends over more than 200 km of pavements and welcomes about 3 million visitors every year.
It is one of the biggest gatherings of France and the biggest flea market of Europe.

The Braderie of Lille is organized the 1st weekend of September and lasts (officially) from Saturday early in the afternoon to Sunday at midnight, continuously for "bradeux" (people sending things). The Braderie of the storekeepers takes place on Mondays mornings.

For these 2 days, the city is transformed into a huge "flea market" where the cultures cross themselves.

Sectors built up themselves by "speciality". We find for example a strong concentration of professional antique dealers Boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas and of associations around the Porte de Paris; while along the field of Mars and the banks of Deûle reign the amateurs emptying their attics. Syndicates and political parties are also present.

"Bradeux" promenades or nose about and eventually stop to eat a "mussels - fries", traditional dish of the braderie.
The restaurants of the city moreover challenge during the event: the one who will have in front of its signboard the biggest heap of shells of empty mussels.
Numerous animations (semi marathon on Saturdays mornings, concerts, merry-go-rounds, etc.) could also be discovered.

Lille 3000

In 2004, Lille became the European Culture Capital. This events changed a lot the fame of the town and of the "Euro-area".

With Lille 2004, the town was abble to reveal its wonderfull creativ energy and its dynamisme.
From December 6th 2003 to November 28th 2004, 2500 events in 193 villages in the area Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Belgium, welcomed more than 9 millions visitors.

Lille 2004 took its strengh from the artists and the inhabitants who transformed the estate during a year. Strong signs will remain present in the collective memory as well as in the reality. This breakthrough, lille3000 intends to open it more on the world and on the futur questions leaning on the skills and the assets of the metropolis of Lille and the area.

Lille3000 question multiple domains: The economy and the new technologies - through, for example, new textiles, one of the creative dynamics in the metropolis -, the lifestyle in town and the construction of town for tomorrow, the spirituality, and generally questions of society and civilization.

The first edition of this events took place from october 14th , 2006 to january 14th 2007, with "Bombaysers de Lille" - gorgeous meeting with India -, and 2 exposures unforgetable in the Tri Postal: "Futurotextiles", dedicated to textiles, and "Passage du temps", presenting François Pinault Foundation's Collection.

Nowadays, the Tri Postal impose itself such as the inescapable cultural center. This ancient industrial building, at first dedicated to mails' sorting, is ideally located in between Lille Flandres and Lille Europe, and now bacame a reference in comtemporary creation.

The second season of Lille 3000, in untitled "Europe XXL", will take place from Marsh 14th, 2009 to July 12th, 2009 and will have for prinpical thema the oriental Europe and Istanbul. The visitors will go to the discovery of young artist, writters, film-makers, musicians, dancers, designers, thinkers, cooks and new metamorphoses, installations, exhibitions, cinema, shows... Four months 100 % Europe-Istanbul!

Website: www.lille3000.com

Evenings clubbing and Life by night

Lille is a young town, welcoming an important student population. Center of a metropolis of more than a million inhabitants, it acquired a tourist dimension and an attractiveness increasing, due to the dynamism of its economic actors.

The night-life holds a more and more dominating place in Lille fame and animation. The night actors federated to promote Lille night-life, and created the association "Lille by Night" which regroup the following activities:

Night restaurants, Night bars, Dinners shows cabarets, Discotheques and the other leisure activities and services.

Find more information on the website: www.lillebynight.com

Markets

The market place of Wazemmes is a central place of the district. Every Tuesdays, Thursdays and especially on Sundays, the market of Wazemmes, square of "La Nouvelle Aventure", collects an important number of storekeepers and street vendors.

It is a place of intense life allowing the local residents and all the inhabitants of Lille to come to stock up with fresh produces (vegetables, fruits, meat, fish) and in small produces necessary for the everyday life.

The market is also strengthened by the Halle of Wazemmes situated between the Square of "La Nouvelle Aventure" and the Street Gambetta. They shelter more sedentary storekeepers proposing fishmonger's shop, cooked pork meats, cheese dairy, butcher's shop, dairy, fruits and vegetables, bakery, cellarmen, Asian specialities, produced regional, poultry, produced by the meeting, the oriental cake shop(pastry), the organic farming, the fair trade, the specialities of Spain, Italy, Portugal...

More information about www.halles-wazemmes.com

Belfry of Lille – Door of Paris

The belfry of the City hall, inaugurated in 1932, is the highest of the region Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The project of its construction results from the destruction of the ancient city hall of Lille during the First world war. It was then necessary to reaffirm the power of the city. The architectural set, at the same time massive for the city hall, and exceptionally fine and huge for its belfry, was conceived by the architect Émile Dubuisson. For reasons of basic available funds and political choice, the building is slightly moved away from the centre with regard to the current city center. The brick-built red belfry and the concrete "way sculptured stone" peaks in 101 m of height (104 m with the lighthouse), asserting the political and commercial power of the regional capital. The red brick answers to the green plane trees which surround the building. The belfry welcomes a beautiful collection of contemporary works, which completes those who decorate the various town halls.

Close to the subway station: Mairie de Lille.

The Door of Paris is a door of the ancient ramparts of the city of Lille. In this place rose initially the Door of the Patients. On August 28th, 1667, after a seat of 10 days, Louis XIV enters the city by this door and receives of the "Magistrate of Lille" the keys of the city. One year later, to the treaty of Aachen, Lille becomes French. Louis XIV shows certain interest for the city and orders to the architect Simon Vollant, the construction of the Door of Paris to replace the Door of the Patients. It is built between 1685 and 1692. Its structure contains two different facades, the entrance and the exit of the city. A bent lane at the level 0 , with a drawbridge door allowed the access in city at the time of the fortifications. The bow could be separated into three parts: a central part and two wings each decorated each mythological figure framed supervised by two columns of Doric style. The size of this door evokes the military rigour. On the left, Mars, God of war; on the right, Hercule, symbol of strength. On the middle ground, over the arched lane, we can observe coat of arms sculptured by the city of Lille and just above the royal badge; but 32 meters higher, the baroque faces figures are present among which two angels, two allegories of the "Fame" sounding the victory of Louis XIV suggest the splendors of the court. In the center of the summit, the allegory of "Victoire" is represented in the middle of flags, his right hand raised, ready to put down a crown on the head of King Soleil, Louis XIV.

Palace of the Fine art

The Palace of the Fine art of Lille, one of the first French museums, shelters in its impressive building collections of European painting, an office of drawings, a department of Antiquities, from Middle Ages and Renaissance, ceramic from the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, French sculptures from the XIXth century and the Plans - Reliefs of the XVIIIth century.

The works of renovation, finished in 1997, allowed not only the increase of the museum (of a surface of 15 000 m², it is crossed 22 000 m²)) but also the arrangement of the basements where are settled the galleries dedicated to the Middle Ages and to the Renaissance and the room of Plans - Reliefs. A room of temporary exposures, an auditorium, a library and workshops were also created there. The "building-lame" situated behind the main building and sending back its reflection in its glass walls, shelters the desks of preservation and administration, the office of drawings, restoration workshops and the restaurant.

Collections all over the world reappointed by the Palace of the Fine art redraw a complete panorama of the biggest European artistic homes of the XIIth in the XXth century.
The department of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance presents big European masterpieces of the Romanic and Gothic sculpture and the silversmith's trade and from the Renaissance.
The department of paints counts more than 650 paintings among which rare set of North Mannerists, majestic paintings of altar, as well as collection of Dutch painting.
The office of drawings rich of 4 000 draws, help the museum of Lille to be a world reference for all the amateurs and the specialists of the kind.

The Palace of the Fine art of Lille, is also a cultural programming which is situated between periods and artistic disciplines, with regular meetings which incite to a discovery ceaselessly renewed by its collections and by its exposures by all kind of public.

Opera - Chamber of Commerce

In 1903, a fire ravages the opera. The municipality decides then to launch a competition for the construction of the new building. The prize-winner of the competition is the architect Louis Marie Cordonnier, whose inspiration draws towards the Garnier Opera and theaters from Italy.

The new theater of Lille was above all built to replace the previous theater built by the architect Lequeux who burned in 1903.

In 1914, while it is not still made ended, German occupy it and requisition a part of furniture and material of the other Opera of Lille, theater Sébastopol. It is the reason for which seats are at present red while the initial project planned blue seats (dominant color of Cordonnier's project, only the rosette of the ceiling keeps the track of this wish).

In four years of activity, hundred of representations will take place. The end of the war allows a restoration of the opera, which opens its doors again in 1923, for its " the first French one ". In 1998, the inspection of the conditions of safety of the building obliges the municipality to close the opera in the urgency, while the season is in progress. The delivery in correspondence will come along with a more ambitious project of improvement of the conditions of reception of the public and with the artistic hosts. The project is then entrusted to the architects Patrice Neirinck and Pierre-Louis Carlier. At the end of 2003, the reopening anticipates of some months Lille 2004, European Capital of the culture in 2004.

The chamber of commerce and industry of the Metropolis of Lille is one of the six CCI of the North department. Its siege is situated square of the Theater and its building is classified as "Historic Monument".

Its belfry peaks in 70 m, its carillon plays the sight of the p'tit quinquin. Of neo-Flemish style, it is also decorated with plant motives and with volutes making reference to the style of Lille of the XVIIth century.

Restaurants and Brasseries

All the conviviality of the inhabitants of Lille meets itself in the regional gastronomy. Delicious and generous, it arises at the same time from an exceptional soil, from proudly protected Flemish traditions and from a touch of French lifestyle.

Among the numerous culinary specialities, the Flemish carbonnade, the waterzoï and the potjevleesch make the originality of the Lille tables. Without forgetting famous mussels-fries culinary emblem of the big Braderie of Lille.

Fair, amber, brown or white special beers from the Nord-Pas de Calais are characterized by their pronounced taste and a strong density in alcohol.

Cheeses, in particular Maroilles come then and its cousin the Vieux Lille.

As for the local sweetnesses, the vergeoise (fair or brown sugar elaborated from the syrup of beet) is the honor, whether it is in the sugar pie, the caramelized cream, the filled waffles or the babeluttes of Lille.

Finally, any good meal ends by a juniper berry, a brandy of cereal flavored in the bays of juniper.

Terrasses

In city center, the brasserie "la Chicorée", on the square Rihour, offers you one of the biggest terraces of Lille. Very sunny in summer, covered in case of rain and warmed in winter, you can sample the North dishes all the year round!

On the pavements of the Vieux-Lille, the street of Ghent opens you its terraces shielded from cars during every summer's evening... For full of life and atypical evenings!

Shopping and city center

First pole trading in the North of Paris and benefiting of a rich trade past, the metropolis of Lille knew how to keep a true commercial tradition. Here, the shopping is just like the North cities: full of life and friendly.

4 654 storekeepers and craftsmen offer everything to satisfy all the budgets and all the wants.
Le Vieux Lille is the district the most convenient to the discovery of the big brands of luxury, the fashion and the design. There are many antique dealers and the art galleries.
In the center and the pedestrian streets, the place to department stores and to international signboards, among which Gallery Lafayette since 2007. On the Grand Place, the "Furet du Nord" is one of the biggest bookshops in Europe.
In the sector of train stations, the Euralille shopping mall shelters hundred of shops, of restaurants and a hypermarket.
In the multiethnic district of Wazemmes, bargains are for the honor in general stores and stores discounts of the sector of the street Gambetta.

EuraLille

Inaugurated in 1994, it is the third business district of France after The Defence and The Part-Dieu. Euralille extends on about 110 hectares and groups more than 740.000 m² of offices, businesses, accomodation, as well as an important program of green spaces and public places. Euralille benefits from numerous infrastructures: two park north-European TGV(HST): Lille-Flandres and Lille-Europe, of a beltway, a streetcar, and the longest network of automatic subway to the world..

The shopping mall includes a Carrefour hypermarket, and other signboards as for example Micromania, Score Game, Nature and Découvertes...

A second project, Euralille 2, is in progress on a 22 hectare ground between Lille Grand Palais and the train station Saint-Sauveur. This new district will be composed of equipments, offices, 600 accomodations and some green spaces, among which the one will be lived (says "inhabited Wood").

Le Printemps

Brand new blow for le Printemps in Lille. New concepts, new brands, renewed spaces: since 2007, the signboard reaffirms its "up-market" location to offer some more of fashion and more luxury. 20% of supplementary surface assigned fashionably and an increase of the offer of brands of 30%. Two big typologies of products also made their appearance: tanning and shoes; high watchmaker's shop and high jeweller's shop.
And for those who need with a fresh eye to see clear in the new tendencies, there is a Personal Shopper: pros accompany you in the store, advise you and guide you.

Les Galeries Lafayette

In Lille, the fashion lives stronger! Gallery Lafayette chose this metropolis in the international brilliance to share their vision of the Department store of tomorrow. Reception, surprise and passion are their commitments to make of every visit a striking experience of the fashion. New: Welcome Desk, where you can order a product, buy a gift card, reserve a taxi or a hotel.

Casino Barrière

The group Lucien Barrière inaugurated, on November 1st, 2007, a casino, settled up to the first half of the year 2009 in the space Atrium of Euralille. On 1800m², it has 150 gambling machines, 9 gaming tables (1 stud-poker, 4 English roulettes and 4 black-jacks), of a restaurant of 60 place settings, a bar lounge and of a scene of show. Shows are proposed from 8 p.m. every Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays. In 2009, the casino will invest a brand new building, drawn by the architect Jean-Paul Viguier, including a 4-star hotel, a concert hall and a pole of restoration.