501 Places

Disturbing wolf, Lille Zoo

Imagine coming face to face with this creature? I was calmly munching on my baguette when I turned round and caught sight of this monster lurking in the bushes. Well, I was so shocked I almost dropped my delicious snack. When you’re in France for a day trip you should be prepared for almost anything. But this? Welcome to the eerie, slightly unnerving and utterly splendid cardboard zoo of Lille.

Le Parc Zoologique de Lille is a very impressive municipal zoo and easily reached by a 15 minute walk from the city’s main square. It does have some real animals too; in fact I’ve paid to enter zoos that are considerably smaller. The red pandas at the entrance are a crowd pleaser, and the American and African sections provide a selection of alpacas, llamas, rhino, zebras and gazelle-shaped creatures (not all mixed together obviously).

Levitating lynx

But it’s the cardboard animals that caught our imagination. They are scattered around the park, sometimes occupying enclosures where you’d normally expect a living and breathing animal to be pacing around. It’s startlingly easy to follow the logic of the zoo owners. They sat down when designing a zoo and decided what animals they wanted. Maybe they even let a bunch of kids draw up the list. And then they set about acquiring those animals. Any that they couldn’t get their hands on (the polar bears must have been  out of stock), they merely created a cut out and hoped no-one would notice. A brilliant plan.

Look at the picture above for example. The lynx looks real enough, but if you look closely you’ll see the wooden sticks that betray him as a fake. And once you know about this one, you start to wonder about the zebra behind it (it’s real I can assure you).

Red panda - this time I know it's for real

Wandering around the zoo, stopping to admire the polar bears peeling in the midday sun and looking yellow with age, it did make me think: maybe this is a glimpse of the future? How many of these species will be around in 50 years? Perhaps the zoo of the future will only have cardboard cut-outs to show the curious children what tigers or sharks used to look like? Maybe they will add in CGI and sound effects to create a more ‘real’ feel to a zoo without animals? Although feeding time at the aquarium is going to be a tough one to pull off using a wooden dolphin.

Lille Zoo

Or perhaps it is the keeping of animals in captivity that will become a thing of the past as the next generation rejects such habits in favour of virtual interactions with the world’s most exotic species. Why stare at a crocodile on the other side of a fence in the zoo when you can fight one in mortal combat using just a set of goggles? If it turns out to be the future, the Lille zoo may just be remembered as a trail-blazer of its time. Cardboard koalas may yet be here to stay.

La Vieille Bourse, Lille

Planning a day trip from London? 90 minutes from the capital by train can take you to some interesting cities: Bristol, Southampton, Winchester, Canterbury, Stratford are just a few options. Until recently however, you would not have considered a French destination.

All this changed with the introduction of the high speed line that takes the Eurostar from London St Pancras to a long black hole under the Channel in less than 40 minutes. Lille is now perfectly accessible as the first major French city on the Brussels line, and is reached around 30 minutes after emerging on French soil.

La Grand Place, Lille

Lille is the centre of an industrial region and does not rank highly among the French tourist hotspots. While it may lack the surrounding beauty and interest of southern France, the city of Lille itself has enough to keep a visitor entertained for a day and probably a weekend. It’s a laid back city, and having been three times and arrived each time in mid-morning, it seems to me that the city doesn’t really wake up until somewhere approaching lunchtime.

Notre Dame de la Treille Cathedral in Lille

The city itself is filled with beautiful architecture that shows off Lille’s past as a major trading centre. The Vieille Bourse and the main square are worthy of lengthy exploration, and the Cathedral is a mix of the old and the modern, with a unique translucent front facade, offering a surprising appearance when viewed from within.

Little girl wonders through Lille street

Around the cathedral the narrow lanes offer a view of Lille from another time, and as with so many cities these lanes are now home to boutiques, craft shops and speciality restaurants. We had an excellent lunch at L’Assiette du Marché, and then treated ourselves to an oversized ice-cream by the main square. This region of France is well known for its waffle making skills, although by the time we were done with the ice-creams we were not in a position to take on a waffle. Always the way: too much food, not enough capacity…

Porte de Paris

There are a couple of museums worthy of note in Lille. The Museé des Beaux Arts is recognised as holding the finest collection of art in France outside of the Louvre, and it is well worth a visit. We arrived there at 4.45 and the lady at the ticket desk kindly gave us the €5 reduced tickets as they shut at 6pm. For someone who knows their art, you could easily pass half a day in here. The impressive building itself is well worth a look.

Place de la Republique, Lille

Another museum/art gallery that is worth seeing is the Musée de La Piscine de Roubaix. It’s a 20 minute metro ride out of the city, but it offers the chance to see a sizeable art collection in an old municipal swimming baths; not something you’ll get to do every day.

Musée de La Piscine de Roubaix

Finally, don’t miss the zoo – it’s an easy walk out of the city centre and situated near to the Citadel. Admission is free and they have a reasonable selection of animals, including a rhino and a couple of red pandas. Once you’re finished with the zoo there’s a pleasant walk to be had on the circular path around the Citadel itself.

Carving by the entrance to the Lille Zoological gardens

Lille is a poor cousin in terms of France’s efforts at promoting its tourism destinations, and perhaps the national tourist board should make more of an effort at the London day trip market. We left London at 8.30am and returned before 8pm, having spent over 8 hours wandering this historic and attractive city. It can be done for £49, which compares well with fares for similar distances in the UK.

Musee des Beaux Arts, Lille

Camambert in filo pastry

St Malo city wall

Having focussed much of our efforts of our trip to northern France on reaching Mont St Michel, I then looked at a map of the nearby area and wondered where we might take a drive. The city of St Malo appealed, not least when I took a look at its shape on Google Earth and saw its perfectly formed old city, contained neatly within a high city wall. St Malo it was to be!

St Malo city wall

Around 50 km from Mont St Michel, St Malo holds a strategic position on the north west coast. Ferries sail to the Channel Islands and across to England, but in years gone by this was a vital sea port for the French, and was almost destroyed by fire in 1944 during the liberation battles that were fought along this entire coastline.

Old stone houses typical of St Malo

We arrived in mid-morning, and headed straight for a croissant and coffee. Before 11am the sun stays well hidden behind the high walls of the tall buildings, and the long shadows keep the morning cool and breezy. Speaking of the wind, however calm it might feel within the shelter of the city, once on the walls (for that’s where you’re bound to head soon) the breeze increases significantly, especially on the western flank of the walls.

It is easy to stroll along much of the old wall and admire the views both inwards at the old city, and outwards at the crashing waves. There is a fortress at the northern end of the city, accessible only at low tide across a rocky causeway. We made it across to the entrance but sadly were not able to wait for the site to open.

St Malo: Tide in - no access to the fort

St Malo: Tide out - all clear to walk to the fort

As with much of our experiences along this coastline, there was a thriving tourist trade that was overwhelmingly dominated by domestic visitors. The city is full of attractive looking restaurants (including what looked like a very impressive sushi bar) and really was worthy of a whole day of exploration. In fact, Ryanair fly to nearby Dinard, and should folks from southern England wish to spend a weekend in this area courtesy of a cheap flight offer, they’ll be in for a treat.

St Malo cathedral

I don’t profess to be a photographer with that ‘special eye for a picture’, but I do think we timed our entry into the city’s cathedral to perfection. As we walked into the hugely impressive building and allowed our eyes to adjust to the dim light, we looked up in wonder as the sun shone through the stain glass and cast the most dramatic light patterns across the dark red sandstone bricks. No doubt it’s something that the regular visitors to the cathedral take for granted. But for us one-time tourists, it was a truly spectacular light display.

Patisserie in St Malo: Time for a break, but which to choose??

Bayeux tapestry

I went to visit the Bayeux tapestry when I was 15. Booooooring! I have a vague recollection of wandering through the darkened room in which it is hung, but I’m fairly sure my main aim was to get out into the sun as quickly as possible. What interest could an ancient wall-hanging possibly hold for a teenage boy?

Fast forward 26 years, and I was there again last week, travelling with my wife and making a detour to Bayeux for the purpose of visiting the famous tapestry on our way through Normandy. And how different it was this time! It’s the same building, probably the same audio commentary, although the computer graphics in the hall upstairs are no doubt new.

But I was fascinated by the accounts of King Edward of England, of Harold going to France and signing over England to William the Bastard (as he was then known), and how his breaking of that oath led to the Norman invasion of England. The Bayeux tapestry tells the story of this turbulent period through a series of images along its 70 metre length. Long since added to the UNESCO World Heritage list, the site receives many thousands of visitors who walk slowly along its length, admiring this intricate storytelling tool, produced in the 11th century for an illiterate population. It takes around 20 minutes to walk the length of the tapestry and hear the commentary that explains each scene.

Our visit to Bayeux got me thinking. Why are history and geography in particular so much more interesting to me now, as a fortysomething, than they were when my brain was better equipped to absorb the mass of information presented to me in my school years? I really didn’t appreciate the wonders of nature or the rich layers of history that my poor teachers were trying to pass on to me. It was all about getting us through the exams, and not about the real magic contained in the substance of those stories and those pictures behind the facts.

Now, with nothing more than interest and the desire to learn for pure enjoyment’s sake, I can go back to those same topics that I studied with dread and immerse myself in the lavish worlds of past rulers, in the great struggles of revolutionaries, and be astounded at the forces of nature that shaped our world.

Do we miss a trick with the youngsters in our education system? Is there a way to create that enthrallment early in life, or is it just the way of the world that we only learn to make sense of science, history, language and the natural world around us when we live a little more of our lives. I am convinced that any subject could (and should) be made far more relevant to children as they are put through our education system. Even maths can be made sexy!

As we shuffled slowly along the length of the Bayeux tapestry, large groups of French school kids hurried impatiently past us, eager to step outside again and uninterested in this ancient artefact. And I wondered whether they’ll be back again in time, just like I had to good fortune to return and look at the same scene through very different eyes.

Restaurant in Honfleur, Normandy

In the UK we grow up with a love-hate relationship with our Gallic neighbours. We love to hate them, and tell countless jokes at their expense. I’m fairly sure it’s mutual. Travelling to Paris several times in my teenage years, the stereotype of the rude arrogant Frenchman was reinforced, as we were looked down upon and offered the worst in service.

But in recent years we’ve visited France many years and have come to appreciate the fact not only does it offer so many great places to visit as a tourist, but the people are actually, well, very hospitable.

Having just returned from a few days in Normandy, I was once again impressed by the high standards of service and the warm welcome that we received at every stop. There are certain things that are worth remembering. Firstly, I’ve found that it always pays to make an effort at speaking in French. My ability to converse in French is very limited, but for restaurants and hotels I can get by without too much difficulty. Once you’re seen to try, invariably you’ll be greeted cheerfully with a fluent English reply.

Secondly, remember that it is almost obligatory to greet the staff when entering a premises. Even if you are just browsing, it’s polite to offer a Bonjour to the assistant. Do that, and you’ll start on a good footing.

I always thought that the English were obsessed with courtesies and etiquette, but was surprised that the French seem to out-do us in this regard. As a recent example, we sat in a restaurant in Honfleur on the Normandy coast and were the only non-French diners during the whole evening, although the others were also tourists. We sat and observed as each diner got up to leave and bade farewell to everyone else in the restaurant. Indeed when it was our turn, we offered our Au Revoirs and Bon Soirs, and were cordially sent on our way by the staff and remaining customers. It was very nice to observe. I’ll try that in Pizza Express next time and see what reaction I get.

We’ve encountered similar hospitality in other parts of France, and it leads me to think back to my teenage years and whether it’s the French that have changed or whether it’s me. Yes, I’ve heard others say that the reception given to foreign tourists has improved over the years, but I am sure there’s more to it than that.

To receive hospitality you have to be wanted. In some parts of the world the fact that you have $$$ is enough to be wanted, but this was not the case here, where the tourist market is 90% domestic French. An effort at fitting in, a tacit acknowledgement that you are a visiting guest and a little bit of respect goes a long way to ensuring a warm welcome. I am sure that I got the welcome I deserved in my early years.

Will I cheer for the French when the World Cup starts? No, of course not. Some rivalries are just meant to be. But for anyone thinking of visiting France for the first time and concerned about a reputation for surly and unhelpful service, I would put your mind at rest. The welcome in France is as warm as anywhere else in the world; it’s up to us to behave in the right way to receive it.