Lille's town hall belfry is a child of the twentieth century. After the old town hall was lost, the architect Émile Dubuisson built a new one in the 1920s and early 1930s in a working-class district south of the centre, and its belfry, rising about 104 metres, is the tallest civic belfry in Europe. Built of reinforced concrete and brick in an Art Deco reinterpretation of the Flemish tradition, it is part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France, a group that celebrates the towers built by towns to symbolise their freedom and civic pride.
You can climb the belfry for a view across the city and the flat Flemish countryside, as far as Belgium on a clear day. At its base, the giants Lydéric and Phinaert, legendary founders of Lille, guard the entrance in stone. The neighbourhood around the town hall is lively and multicultural, a contrast to the elegant old town further north.
Lille itself is a city of over two hundred thousand people, the heart of a metropolitan area of more than a million, with Flemish and French heritage layered on top of each other. The Grand Place, the Vieille Bourse, the citadel built by Vauban, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts, one of the richest art museums in France, are all within walking distance. Food is hearty and northern: moules-frites, carbonade, potjevleesch, and waffles from Méert, a pastry shop since the eighteenth century.
For riders, Lille is a city stop rather than a riding destination. Traffic is heavy, cobbles are common, and the city has a low emission zone. Park the bike and explore on foot or by metro. Fuel is easy to find on the outskirts. From here, the ride options include the mining basin to the south, the Flemish hills to the north-west around Cassel, and the Belgian border, only a few minutes away, with Tournai, Kortrijk and Ypres all close by.