Terrific museum We spent the best part of a rainy Saturday…read moreafternoon in this surprisingly good art museum. There was an extensive and varied collection of art and it was terrific value at €7. It would have been great if there had been some information in English.

I'm going to be very upfront in the beginning of this review, when I arrived at Palais des Beaux…read moreArts I was pretty burnt out with museums at this point, it was extremely cold, raining, and we were waiting in a line outside for like twenty minutes so the start to this experience was pretty miserable. Once we got into the building and through the security checkpoint, you could tell right away that this place was pretty beautiful. The building itself is 3 stories and each floor has something a little bit different to offer you. We headed down first and spent some time looking at the statues which were absolutely incredible, followed by the second floor which was a mixture of different pieces of art and a dome style room you could sit on beanbags and watch something. The main event of the show was upstairs where I couldn't even estimate the insane amount of paintings that fill the walls of the different colored rooms. The rooms themselves are all tall and covered from floor to ceiling with such incredible pieces, and everything you think you are done suddenly the red painted rooms turn into white rooms or green rooms and it just keeps going, it was truly remarkable. Overall, the Palais des Beaux Arts was a fantastic place to spend an hour or so learning about French art. Did I leave some stuff out? Yeah, because this was like my 23rd museum and at some point they start blending together. I loved how diverse the art here was and really did enjoy walking around, I highly recommend checking this place out if you are in Lille.

It has been closed for two years! There is no point listing an institution which is comprehensively…read moreshut.

A really interesting natural history museum, quite small. They have an absolutely jaw dropping…read moreamount of taxidermied birds. Bird x, female, in the winter. Bird x, male, in the winter. Bird x, male, in the fall. they also have a live ant farm, a specific species which picks leaves from trees and brings them into their habitat to cultivate mushrooms, which they eat as food. I'd love to post the but i can't (wrong format somehow!) Not exactly the NYC natural history museum but super worth it for the low cost of admission and very unique.

If you are after a very alternative and different museum, this may be one option - simply put, this…read moresued to be a hospital but the previous building and structure has been transformed to now house an art gallery or museum. The different angle alone may be worth the visit and a quick snap of the camera. In terms of what is on display however, this was less impressive (when compared against other museums in and around Lille). Relatively easy to locate on the map and not in the most inconvenient of places, even if this do not fancy this after a quick peek, there is very little to lose.

From the owner: Richesse de l'art flamand Cet hôpital, fondé en 1237 par la comtesse Jeanne de Flandres, est…read moretransformé après la Révolution en hospice, puis en orphelinat après 1914-18. Si l'édifice original est détruit lors d'un incendie au XVème siècle, les bâtiments actuels (XVème et XVIIème siècle) sont de parfaits exemples de l'architecture lilloise.

From the owner: Art sacré et contemporain à l'honneur Le Centre d'Art Sacré contemporain abrite sous sa crypte…read moremoderne, la collection du bienfaiteur et mécène Delaine. Cette exposition permanente a pour vocation de faire connaître au grand public l'art religieux, chrétien et contemporain. Ce lieu accueille également des expositions temporaires, toujours autour de l'art sacré actuel.

Excellent gallery space with bar, restaurant, gift shop, rentable special event space, and coat…read morecheck. Several stories high, vast rooms with clean lines and very high ceilings. Seeing the Saatchi Gallery's Silk Road exhibit there was a sublime and moving experience.

From the owner: Bouger avec la poste Naguère dédié aux postiers, ce bâtiment de 5500 mètres carrés répartis sur 3…read moreétages est devenu, en quelques semaines, l'emblème de Lille 2004 Capitale Européenne de la Culture. Les expositions et installations programmées dans le cadre de Lille 2004 ont été contemporaines (Robots !,Voitures du Futur, Game On, Audioframes) et pourtant grand public. En parallèle, les nuits clubbing ont rapidement marqué les esprits. Bref, un lieu immédiatement adopté situé entre les deux gares lilloises.

From the owner: L'Odéon : trois en un ! Bar, musée et restaurant. La formule, peu courante, fait les beaux jours de…read morel'Odéon rue de Puebla, près des Halles. Depuis mai 2009, cet établissement sur trois niveaux attire une clientèle des plus éclectiques puisque chacun y trouve son compte ! Les gastronomes d'une part, les titis parisiens qui se rendent au bar de l'autre et enfin, les amateurs de beaux objets. Car le lieu n'en manque pas, les instruments de musique mécanique exposés à l'Odéon sont en effet collectés depuis une vingtaine d'années. Ouvrez vos yeux et vos oreilles devant le Piano pneumatique, l'Orgue Gasparini ou l'Orgues Cubain, la Machine à sous jenning "à tête d'indien" ou le Phono de Bistro à monnayeur.