Une Belle Journée à Lille

Photo © Anne-Marie Minhall

A lovely day out in Lille for lunch.

Travelling by train.

A birthday present from a dear friend.

I was really excited.

For everything.

The sun is shining as we leave on the Eurostar from St Pancras.

The skies are just as blue as we pull into Lille Europe Station.

One hour & twenty two minutes.

We arrived ten minutes early as well.

A perfect start to a perfect day.

Beautiful Flemish buildings including the old stock exchange, built in the mid-17th Century by one Julien Destrée. It's one of the city’s most beautiful monuments. The courtyard is home to bookshops & on Sunday evenings in summer, tango demonstrations.

There's the Notre-Dame Cathedral de la Treille located in the heart of the city. Then, a short walk away, there's the Place du Général de Gaulle which is a must-see. Nicknamed Lille’s “Grand Place” ..

Lunch is here ..

https://www.le-braque.fr/en/

It's a tasting menu with five, (oui, cinq) glasses of wine to accompany.

There were beguiling & lovely descriptions of each course. All of which I have mainly forgotten because I was too busy tucking in.

Everything was delicious. Striking to look at. Plus the two chefs in the kitchen behind us looked very relaxed despite the busy service.

There was Champagne as an aperitif followed by a slightly cloudy fizz - a real game changer. Then there were wines from the Alsace & so much more .. We had oniony Amuse-Bouches, unbelievable bread & butter, soups, oysters, crackling, smoked taramasalata, cheeses, ice cream, meringue (with parsley!) .. 

We were the last to leave. Lots of chatter but the staff were fantastic & didn't mind at all (we're no bother). In fact, we were joined by a new friend at our table before we left.

Photo © Anne-Marie Minhall

AMM