The Free-Lilleing Gwan

Ha, apologies for awful pun, couldn't resist!

As you may have guessed, today we took a trip to Lille. I had been planning to go by myself on the train, as it was my day off, but the others finished all their work by about 10.50 am (grrr they should be working hard on my day off dammit!) so a bunch of us were able to go together in the car - Lille is only about 45 mins - 1 hour drive away, or about 35 mins by train.

We split up pretty sharply upon arrival into groups of girls and guys, and me and the two other girls hit the shops all afternoon, resulting in the purchase of a white H&M top for me - I'm coming over all summery...

Didn't get to see any of the touristy sights really - don't know what there is in Lille to be honest. We parked near the art gallery, which looks pretty big but don't know what's in it, and walked past the train station, which is the Eurostar terminal and is really central if you're ever considering Lille by train... This was also next to a big shopping centre, Eurolille, which we didn't have nearly enough time to explore! (The boys called just as we were walking in, which was half an hour before we were due to meet up, asking if we wanted to go home early because they were bored - fat chance!) We also walked through what I think was the Grand Place, which was really pretty. I really like the way French towns are arranged around a nice central square - they all have the equivalent of Prague's Old Town Square somewhere in them, although not always as picturesque and thankfully not nearly as tourist-choked! I love the narrow, joined-together buildings with all different façades, so pretty! There was also a great big cathedral, although it wasn't the most attractive building I've ever seen.

Anyway, I'm definitely going to go back when I get half a chance and see the sights and maybe do some more shopping, even though the budget doesn't really allow...