We were both very bad this morning and slept in very late. We made it down for breakfast at about 10:30…then back to the room and got ready for the day. We first headed to where we had been told there was a big food market. Some interesting sights along the way.
Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. But the street was very pretty.
And we saw one of the old city gates, Porte de Roubaix.
Then we visited the Hospice Comtesse Museum.
This medieval hospital was founded by (and named after) Countesse Jeanne of Flanders in 1237. The first area we visited was the area where the nun’s lived and worked. We saw the kitchen with its massive fireplace,
the refectory wit its massive table,
the quarters for the prioress,
and the pharmacy...
with a privy in the corner.
Upstairs was a very large room that was probably the bedroom for the nun’s. It had a lot of interesting displays.
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| A Celestial Globe |
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| A Linen Press to press linens |
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| Corbels |
Then we visited the chapel with it's magnificent ceiling,
and the medicinal garden.
The buildings surrounded a large courtyard.
We then headed over to the Cathedrale Notre Dame de la Trielle. Construction on the current building started in 1854 so it is very new by France standards. We walked up from behind the building and it looked very Neo-Gothic. But when we got to the front it was transformed. The front was very modern looking. Apparently, they ran into some financial difficulties near the end of the construction. So, they dropped the original plans for a Neo-Gothic front façade and decided on this much more modern look.
There was a massive main door that looked like the iron gates of a prison or a medieval fortress.
The main feature of the front is a massive flat front panel between the two large doors. This panel is constructed of 110 translucent panels of marble, only about an inch thick. From the front it looks quite white.
On the inside,
with the sun shining from the outside, it has a peachy-pink glow. Most interesting and unusual.
We spent a lot of time wandering around the inside of the cathedral. The interior definitely had a more gothic feel with many columns and a very high, arched ceiling.
There were many lovely stained-glass windows.
Other photos of the cathedral interior.
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| John the Baptist Baptizing Jesus |
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| Peace be with You Statue |
A model of the cathedral as it had originally been planned, before the marble front was installed instead.
Lots of people out enjoying the fresh air in the plaza in front of the cathedral.
From there we walked some more streets on our way to an area just outside the old section of town.
with interesting art...
and along a couple of canals...
complete with a cormorant drying its wings.
There we saw a monument to the carrier pigeons that were critical means of communication during World War I.
We also stopped by the Citadel. It is an old fortification that was built in the mid-1600’s and is still used by the French military today. Because it is still in use we couldn’t go inside and they don’t like photos of military installations or personnel so we didn’t take photos of the main gate that was staffed by soldiers. We did wander around the surrounding area a bit.
Lots of flowers in this area.
The city is hosting a run today so some of the streets were blocked off. Here they are setting up for the finish line.
We didn’t stay around for the runners to come through the section we were at but did hear the crowd roar when we were about half a block away.
On our way to the Grand Place.
Late afternoon we had lunch at a salad bar just off the main plaza. With our very late breakfast we are planning on just two meals today.
Next stops were
a book market,
the Opera Plaza, with the opera house,
and the Rang du Beauregard, a 17th century row of elegant homes.
It was a lot of walking today with Mary’s phone registering over 12,000 steps for her. We will sleep well tonight.
All evening, we
saw people running outside our window.
It didn’t look like the regular, organized run…but it was definitely
organized. Looked like just locals joining
in what looked like a community run. Old
folks, young kids, kids being carried on parents shoulders, people just
strolling. We noticed the running at
around 6:00pm. It was still going strong
around 10:30 when we finally went to bed.
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More Lille France
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