CHRISTMAS MARKET 0 - other shops 10 by JSBLONDON
We chose Lille because for our week-end because it had a large Christmas market, but we were sorely disappointed. The market was very over crowded ( well what did we expect) you got carried along with the crowd so it was difficult to stop and look at any thing. I would have feared for any small child if I had one with me. The stalls are all in those contrived ski chalet style huts and there was nothing I had'nt seen at other smaller less crowded markets. All in all we could not wait to leave the market.
However the shopping in the rest of Lille was fantastic. Such a great selection spead over lots of streets easy to walk about, window shop and browse before deciding what to buy. There are all the european usual suspects including Zara ( 2 shops ) H &M , Kooki, Mango, Etam + C&A . French Stores Pritemps etc plus loads of smaller local boutiques & traders not forgetting Hermes & Luis Vuiton. It was very busy because of the tourist in town for the market, but still impressive and enjoyable.
I plan to return in a couple of weeks after Christmas and bring some friends for a great shopping week-end.
