Lille: The Old Town

This walk route is quite lengthy and varied. A copy of Irene Reid's "Strolling Around Lille" book is essential to get the full picture. My photos are quite selective.

 

The walk starts in the Place de St Hubert near to Gare Lille Flanders and Rue les Canonniers.  On the left (above) is the Le Maison de Vieux Hommes It has some affinity with the almshouses we have in England. The Porte de Roubaix at right angles.

This is the view from the other side: rather more elaborate and colourful. The two plaques one of which commemorates the gate's construction in 1621 and the other its restoration in 1875.

We walked towards this rather strange structure, Deborence Island. It is named after an ancient forest in Switzerland and is entirely enclosed as an experimental site to see which plants settle there without any external intervention.

 

A bit further on there is a memorial to Louise de Bettignies, who is said to have run the largest spy network in the First World War. She was caught and sentenced to 15 years hard labour, dying just 3 years later.

 

The next milestone was also concerned with war. The Musee des Cannoniers was originally a convent, but in 1667 and again in 1792 the Cannoniers saw active service in defence of the town.

 

 

We continued onwards to reach the Place Louise de Bettignies and quickly discovered the house of Gilles de la Boe, a 17th century spice and cloth merchant. It is one of Lille's oldest houses.

Turning into Rue de la Monnaie we turned into Rue de la, the oldest street in the city, with its fine houses.

 

 

 

 

Further along the street we saw the remains of an ancient watermill.

 

The imposing Museum of the Hospice of the Countess of Flanders in rue de la Monnaie is next.

 

 

The next major landmark is the Cathedral of Notre Dame de la Treille.  Irene Reid suggests that visitors will either love it or hate its unusual design. I thought it was great. It was begun in 1854, but not completed until the 1990s. The facade of the Cathedral is quite unlike the nave and transepts of the rest of the building.  The Rose Window surrounded by the modernist facade is totally out of the ordinary. Sadly,  I couldn't find a better picture.              

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The rather contorted statue shows Achille Lienart who was Bishop of Lille from 1928 and then Cardinal from 1930 to 1968.  He died in 1973.

On the left side of the Cathedral there are a group of colourful  houses. The narrow houses have a gangway over what was once a canal. The charming figurehead above the window is very entertaining.

 

Two final images: 

 

The Sphinx above the door into  the Headquarters of the Freemasons in Rue Thiers. They are still a force in France .... and ...

A lovely balcony in Rue Esquermoise

Geneva

We are on our way home from a short but delightful visit which brought us into both Switzerland and France. Happily, we have enough time in Geneva to have a brisk walk around. We start at the Place du Molard which has a delightful tower on the corner: Molard Tower, built in 1591 and reconstructed several times The last renovation took place in 1906-1907.

 Looking back we spot this rather wonderful creature.

 

At the far end of the Place is a fascinating slender obelisk. A closer look reveals that the obelisk appears to be standing on four round balls - and there is a further larger one at the top.

In nearby Rue de la Croix D'Or there are some impressive buildings in an unfamiliar, but imposing, style. I suppose they are 19th century.

 

 

We head now towards the celebrated Cathedral, passing this lovely fountain ...

 

... and the covered passageway up to St Peter's Cathedral.

St Peter's Cathedral is a former Catholic Church built in the late 12th century, but later modified. It became a Protestant church during the Reformation. 

 

 

At the rear of the church are a surprising white tower and a fleche.

 

 

We couldn't resist climbing to the roof, which gave us a wonderful view over part of Lake Geneva and the famous Jet d'Eau

 

 

Also from the tower there was a great view down of the nearby roof tiles. I thought that the colours in this one were especially appealing.

 

We then passed an intriguing group of three cannons with three descriptive panels behind them. They were captured by the Austrians in 1814 and moved to Vienna, but later restored to their original position in 1815.

 

 

We continued along the Treille Promenade. It is famous for having the the longest wooden bench in the world: 120m! It is also where “Geneva official chestnut tree” (le “marronnier officiel” in french) is located. Each year, Its first leaf announce the arrival of spring in Geneva .

 

 

 At the end you emerge into a busy square dominated by the imposing Grand Theatre of Geneva.

 

 

We continued, passing this interesting building, now dealing in wealth management ...

 ... to reach the final building on our route which is the Statue of Philibert Berthelier at the bottom of this impressive tower. Berthelier was a Genevan patriot and an uncompromising enemy of the Duke of Savoy in his ambition to control Geneva. Berthelier was arrested in August 23, 1519, and was tried for treason.  After a summary trial, Berthelier was found guilty and was sentenced to death by beheading. The sentence was carried out on the same day.

Ripon

 

The first day of a short visit to the North East starting in Ripon. We started our walk around the City with a very informative visit to the Tourist Information Office in the Town Hall.

In front of the Town Hall is the large 12^th century Market Square, dominated by the 90 ft Obelisk erected in 1781.

We turned left and passed the rather lovely Wakeman’s House. In the past the Wakeman or Hornblower used the horn to sound the setting of the watch at 9pm. Surprisingly, the horn is still blown every evening – although not from the Wakeman’s House, which is now a café.

 

Carrying on in the same direction, we come to the sadly defunct Ripon Spa Baths. They were built in 1905 and a swimming pool was added in the 1930s. The entrance has lovely art nouveau details.

Now we doubled back passing the Town Hall on our right and following Kirkgate down to the imposing front of the Cathedral. The Cathedral was Romanesque in origin but little of that remains as a result of repeated collapses to the fabric of the building: it all now looks Perpendicular. Apart from one thing: it you look carefully at the crossing arch that a Romanesque starts on the left hand side, which the right is propped up by a series of slim pillars.

At the far end of the Nave is a wonderful decorative screen.

Undertaking a quite circumnavigation of the exterior of the Cathedral I came on the nearby St Agnes Lodge.

And then, on the other side of the road, was the Courthouse Museum.

We now headed Northwards, to pass the really grim-looking Police Museum.

Heading further north we came to the fascinating Leper Chapel ...

... with two sets of Almshouses nearby on opposite sides of the road.

We walked on to reach a long bridge and headed back via a different route towards the City centre, passing the Victoria Tower on the way back.

Portugal: A walk around Lisbon

The Fado Museum

We've just arrived in Lisbon and we weren't quite sure what to do when Ange came up with the inspired idea of walking from our hotel to the Fado Museum. It struck me that I could just take photos of whatever we stumbled across. (I am always on the look out, but usually I have some definite targets as well.) So off we went from our hotel heading south along Avenida da Liberdade towards the centre.

The first notable sight was this tram, adapted to operate as a funicular.

A little further along we were taken in by two men doing some work – presumably laying the cobbles that are such a feature of Lisbon's pavements - in bronze .

Next was the marvelous façade of the Rossio Station, built in the Manueline style in 1886-7.

We crossed Praça Dom Pedro IV (also popularly known as Rossio) with its tiled ground that made feel as though you were walking over waves.

The lower end of the square offered our first glimpse of the Castle of St George – where we started our first exploration of Lisbon 26 years ago. I read that it was much restored towards the end of the 20^th century.

We climbed up and followed a winding road passing beneath the castle. There were some very attractive house with tiled facades in the Portugese style. I especially liked this one.

We reached a viewpoint and enjoyed our first view over the enormously wide river Tagus …

… and descended to reach the Fado Museum. It was an interesting experience, starting with film clips of (presumably famous) Fado singers and guitarists trying to answer the question "What is Fado". They were generally inclined to mystification – head scratching, you can't be taught, you just sort of pick it up, and so on. We listened to several songs which we enjoyed and we learned that as well as a normal guitar, a round, deep 12 string model is in wide use.

Leaving the Museum we headed west a bit inland from the river. I was very taken by the upper storeys of this building, which had an art nouveau feeling. (I realised that there were probably other art nouveau buildings in the city and wished I had had the wit to do some research. Most unlike me!)

A little further along was the intriguing Casa dos Bicos (the House of Points).

It dates from the 16th century and was one of the few buildings not to be completely destroyed by the notorious earthquake of 1755. It is thought to have been inspired by the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara. The building is now a cultural centre.

We headed uphill now to reach Lisbon's cathedral (or Sé), which we remembered well from our previous visit. It is very awkwardly located with tram lines going right up to the entrance and round the left side of the building. We didn't go in, remembering it as rather plain.

We dipped back down to reach the large Praca do Comercio, or Palace Square, right on the waterfront. It is enclosed on three sides by colonnaded buildings in a uniform style. It was rebuilt after the 11755 earthquake. In the centre is an equestrian statue of King José I, inaugurated in 1775.

We left the square through the Triumphal Arch which was not completed until 1873. This is the view from Rua Augusta.

Further along the street in a turning on the left is the rather wonderful Santa Justa Elevator. It was opened in 1902 and links the lower and upper parts of the city.

We continued along Rua Augusta and at the top went to the left to re-enter Rossio square. These nymphs were my final shot of the day.

Conditions: bright and mild, becoming cloudy.

Distance: somewhere between four and five miles.

Rating: four stars. A wonderful open-ended ramble.