Roubaix is not an obvious destination for a visitor to France. Its part of the metropolitan area of Lille but a city in its own right of almost 100,000 people. Its very much a former industrial city that is trying to cope with post industrial decline and is now one of the poorest cities in France. In the 19th century it was a major centre for the textile industry but like many places this industry has vanished leaving little in the way of prosperity for the current population. So why go there you might be thinking?
It all started with an article I read in the Guardian several months before our trip about an art gallery and museum that was housed in an art deco building that used to be a swimming pool. 'La Piscine' was described as an absolute gem and the few pictures I'd seen online were intriguing.
I'd booked a hotel in the centre of Roubaix with secure parking and we arrived mid afternoon, parked up, checked in and after a brief freshen up headed straight to the museum.
La Piscine – André Diligent Art and Industrial Museum (to give it its full name) was opened in 2001. It was originally a municipal swimming pool, built in 1927, that closed in the 1980's. An imaginative conversion has repurposed the building as a museum and retained the beautiful art deco architectural features. The main gallery has retained part of the pool and the showers and changing rooms the whole being bathed with light from the stain glass windows.
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| La Piscine |
Its a really beautiful building to be inside and the old building has been connected to a more modern extension to house a small but impressive collection of late 19th century to mid 20th century art, sculture and textiles.
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| Some of the art at La Piscine |
We immersed ourselves in the art for a good couple of hours before wandering through the streets of Roubaix back to our hotel. The industrial heritage of the city has left reminders of a more prosperous past and the most notable example of this the Hotel de Ville - a large and rather grand building in the main city square.
We feasted on delicious flammekueche that evening - a pizza like speciality of the Alsace region. It doesn't have a tomato but has a very thin crispy base topped with crème fraîche or white cheese, lardons and onions.
It was a fleeting visit to Roubaix but the visit to the museum had been one of the highlights of the trip.
For our last night we were staying in Flanders but heading across the border to Ghent in Belgium. We had first visited Ghent back in 2018 when the city was having its annual summer music and arts festival which takes over the whole of the centre. I wrote about our visit in a blog post: The Last Leg
This time the city was quieter but not quiet. Its only an hours drive from Roubaix to Ghent and by mid morning we'd arrived, parked up in a residential street just outside the centre but close to our accommodation to make checking in later a bit easier. We walked into the centre in about 15 minutes travelling by canals lined with old and new buildings, past bars and cafes, until we arrived at Saint Bavo's Cathedral, the home of Van Eyck's religious masterpiece the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. I viewed this last time we visited and was quite shocked to find that admission to the part of the cathedral where it is now on display had risen to 16 euros. Rather than spend 32 euros to see a painting we just wandered through the streets enjoying the hustle and bustle. We came across Graffitistraat - or Graffiti Alley - a narrow lane that's been taken over by graffiti artists.
The street is a riot of colour. After walking up and down cobbled streets, passing the old castle and along canal sides lined with old houses and warehouses, now repurposed as shops, hotels and restaurants we stopped for a sit down and a hot chocolate.
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| Gravensteen, the castle in Ghent |
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| Mrs B enjoying a Belgian hot chocolate |
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| houses on Kranlei, Ghent |
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| Waiting for a boat tour at Korenlei |
Boarding an electric boat with other tourists we were given a tour of the canals and waterside views of the historic buildings with a commentary from our boatman (in three languages) who was knowledgeable but also very, very funny. It was a mash up of an hour of history, boating and stand up comedy and great value.
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| Boatman...or stand up comedian? |
Lunchtime had arrived and we had one important choice to make. Brussells or Liege? My preference is for a brussels waffle (they are a bit less sweet and seem crispier) but I'd happily demolish a liege waffle if pushed. We headed for the appripriately named Waffle House on Graslei, the historic quayside lined with old buildings and skipping any savoury options went straight for the sweet waffles. Mrs B went for a cherries and cream topping, I opted for ice cream, fresh cream and chocolate sauce. It was delicious!
We still had some time left before we could check in to our Airbnb and returned to continue our wanderings around the old city of Ghent. We walked out along one of the canals that led away from the centre towards the Rabot, a watergate at the end of the Lieve canal. Meandering back through quiet side streets we returned to the busy centre. Weekend revellers were already thronging the streets and there was a lively buzz, with a few stag and hen parties on boats drinking fizz. Ghent has a large student population too and the city has a reputation for letting its hair down and whilst it was evident a lot of alcohol was being consumed everyone seemed good natured.
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| The Lieve |
The last time we visited Ghent we stumbled across a cheap and cheerful reestaurant that served spaghetti in a number of permutations. I googled the name and found they were still open although in larger and newer premises close to the heart of the city. We thought we'd give it a try again as our memories of our previous visit were good- of inexpensive and simple food cooked well. I'm pleased to say they haven't messed things up - keeping to a winning formula of serving plates of spaghetti with various options and as you would expect in Belgium a good selection of beers. As spaghetti can be a messy meal choice for any diner they supply bibs to ensure you can leave not looking as though you've participated in some weird art project and ended up covered in bolognese sauce.
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| Spaghetti ready.... |
After a day of pounding pavements the food and drink ticked all the boxes and I even left room for a ice cream afterwards. Walking back after our meal we came across a square where a pop up bar, seating and a stage had been set up and a trio were playing some gypsy punk tunes on base, fiddle and guitar. That evening Belgium were playing in a Euro 2024 group game, so the streets were heaving with people out to a) have a good time and/or b) watch the football. As we were quite tired we left the revellers to it and walked back to our apartment for, by Ghent standards, an early night.
The next day we had a return shuttle trip booked for late afternoon so that gave time for us to have one quick walk back into Ghent before we left the city and drove the short distance to the popular and attractive seaside town of De Haan on the Belgian coast. It was a lovely sunny day and we arrived to find a seaside town full of day trippers enjoying the sun, sea and sand. De Hann is an attractive seaside town. The seafront has a long promenade above a sandy beach, lined with pieces of public art.
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| The seafront and beach at De Haan |
Behind the seafront and the attractive apartments that lined the promenade was a small town with some interesting art deco style buildings.
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| De Haan |
I called in at a patisserie and treated myself to a last sweet confection which involved meringue, cream and strawberries and, when I finally came to eat it was predictably messy.
After a sandwich at a cafe by the seafront we walked a bit further along the promenade before making tracks and heading to the shuttle for our return crossing. I had forgotten that French supermarkets close on Sunday afternoons so plans to stock up on cheese and wine were somewhat thwarted but fortunaly we did find a small Belgian supermarket open just along the coast and I was able to grab some beer and a piece of Vieux Bruge (a gouda like cheese) to slip in the cool bag.
So ended another fabulous trip though France. It remains a country I love for its culture, food and heritage, but, like the UK, it is a country undergoing political change. Whilst we were there a snap election had been called by Macron and I saw posters of would be parliamentarians lining the streets of many of the places we visited. What struck me as an observer was that almost all the candidates appeared to be white, male and middle aged. I haven't a clue how well represented women or people from minority backgrounds are in the French parliament (National Assembly) but certainly the profile of candidates I saw advertising themselves didn't seem to reflect the demographics of the country. Its clear too that far right populism is making inroads in French politics, tapping into the resentments of people who feel their problems (which are real) can be solved by blaming migrants. Its sad to see Europe (and parts of the UK) falling prey to this surge in right wing populism. Its also ironic that at the time of our visit the world was remembering D Day and honouring the brave men and women who sacrificed so much to keep Europe free of facism - which as sure as night follows day is a consequence of the populist ideas being spouted in France and other parts of Europe.
We returned to the UK with our own election in its last days, and at least at home, the majority look to be rejecting the far right's siren call.
I will return to France in the future because there's still more to discover and I hope I find a society that is more at ease with itself, challenges simplistic solutions to complex problems and retains a spirit of tolerance. In the mean time I have some beer to drink and some wine to sample which should keep me going for a few months.
