adventures in Lille (part 2)

[part 1]

The Christmas market at Lille was a disappointment. It was very small

and featured too many items that were junky and cheap

and very little handmade or unique or that felt like something special. I bought a few small things, but nothing that made it feel like it was worth the long (and expensive!) trip from London.

Not that the day overall wasn’t fabulous. The ambiance was festive

and French.

There were, however, some horrors. I fear this poor snowman is still traumatized by the Nazi occupation:

I don’t want to know what is happening to this reindeer to make him look so surprised:

This guy, I can believe, breaks-and-enters for a living:

Lunch time! The speciality of the traditional bistro Aux Moules is, as you may have guessed if you know restaurant French, mussels. Who would I be to argue with specialities?

After:

Holy god, were they delicious.

After lunch, it was time to ride the ferris wheel.

Look, there’s the market:

Not many vendors at all. It took Shirley and me only a hour to do a long slow first sweep, and then only another hour to do another sweep later in the day, to ensure we hadn’t missed anything interesting. (We hadn’t.)

[part 3]