Things to do in La Madeleine

La Madeleine is a commune of some twenty-two thousand people on the northern edge of Lille. The boundary is a street, not a gap. What gets explored from here is Lille itself.

What Lille holds

This is the capital of French Flanders, and it looks the part.

• The Grand'Place. A ring of Flemish gables around the Vieille Bourse, twenty-four identical merchant houses built in 1652 around a courtyard that now sells second-hand books and hosts chess games.
• Vieux Lille. Brick and stone lanes behind it, derelict forty years ago and the most expensive address in the north today.
• The Palais des Beaux-Arts. One of the largest general art collections in France outside Paris.
• The Citadelle. Vauban's five-pointed star fort, finished in 1670 and still army property.
• The belfry. The town hall tower, listed by UNESCO with the other Flemish belfries.

How the city is used

Lille is a walking city, and the phone-led routes that start here cover the old town at your own pace. The kitchen has a Flemish accent: carbonade, potjevleesch, waffles, and beer closer to Belgian than French. It also works as a base.

• Brussels. Under forty minutes by fast train.
• Paris. An hour, which makes a day trip plausible in either direction.
• London. Around eighty minutes through the tunnel.
• The Braderie. The first weekend of September, when the city becomes the largest flea market in Europe and eats mussels in the street.

Practical

• Weather. Northern and Belgian in character: mild, grey and wet more often than not. May to September is the usable stretch.
• Getting in. Tram lines R and T stop in La Madeleine at Romarin, Botanique and Saint-Maur, three minutes from Gare Lille Flandres. The commune has its own regional rail halt as well.
• The metro. Lille's two lines are driverless, the first automatic metro in the world when they opened in 1983, and they run late. They serve Lille rather than La Madeleine.
• Money. Prices sit well below Paris. A set lunch runs twelve to fifteen euros, a beer about three, a museum entry around seven.
• Tipping. Service is included, so loose change is the whole custom.
• Closed days. Sunday is quiet outside the Vieux Lille brunch trade, and several museums shut on Tuesday.