To Lille for a Nexus 7
 

Introduction

Okay, so during this summer I started noticing my iPad crashing more and more during apps which were running into the, quite frankly, pathetic 256MB RAM limit, so I decided it was replacement time. Since I am not a patient person, I figured I'd not wait for the MS surface and buy a Nexus 7 in one of the European countries it was already being sold (Belgium was not one of them).
A quick look at train schedules showed me France was the easiest (going to Holland would mean taking the unreliable Benelux and Germany meant ICE or Thalys which was too expensive on short notice). The reason I went with Lille is because I know it quite well and is also relatively close to where I live (about 60km away), which meant it could easily be done in a day trip.

Going to Lille

As usual, I was leaving from the construction site (Gent-Sint-Pieters) however this time I left at a sensible hour instead of dark o'hundred like I usually do.

http://i.imgur.com/clCmKl.jpg
above: construction

Since I was at the station a bit early, I popped down to the station Starbucks and had breakfast (2 croissants and a frappuchino). After breakfast I went to the platform again to wait for my train, where there was a *ahum* pleasant surprise:

http://i.imgur.com/LpEEul.jpg
above: delayed train

At this point, I started to worry since I had a fairly tight connection in Kortrijk and missing my connection meant 1h of waiting in what is not an interesting town at all. After what was more like 15mins, the train finally pulled into the station. Unlike last time however, it was a fairly modern and comfortable train.

http://i.imgur.com/yxBxvl.jpg
above: inside the train

http://i.imgur.com/dph4Bl.jpg
above: the outskirts of Gent

Clearly the train driver knew he was running late as he really put the hammer down, however it wasn't enough to prevent me (and quite a lot of other people) to miss my connection to Lille. Now, I should explain at this point that up to about a year ago, the hourly IC Antwerp-Gent-Kortrijk continued onwards to Lille, however for one reason or another (likely political or financial) the train now terminates at Kortrijk and requires a transfer to the train to Lille which I had just missed. Lots of swearing and arm-waving occured on the platform, as people started to try figuring what to do during that hour.
Kortrijk has an 8-platform station (ie: quite big), however all it has is a couple of vending machines, no shops or anything. So I sat down in the morning sun and fired up the NMBS app to look for alternatives. Which there weren't. So I just basically waited an hour on the platform while browsing the web a bit and tweeting about how the NMBS messed up again.
When the train from Lille arrived, it just sort of sat there doing nothing for the better part of 30mins, then people were allowed to get on board.
Departure time came, nothing happened. It turned out we were waiting for the next IC from Gent to arrive so passengers could make their connection. This really pissed me off as the previous one had left me stranded for an hour. But anyway, I was finally on my way to Lille and arrived at Lille-Flandres about half an hour later.

More soon

Thanks so much for going out of the way to buy one of the products my team worked on. :)

Wow you have a lot of patience. I missed a similar connection and broke down and cried. I then got a taxi and claimed it back on company expenses which they werent pleased about!

Ahh. SNCB/NMBS strikes again it seems...

Hope you managed to get a Nexus!

Now, where were we? Ah yes, I had just arrived in Lille-Flandres and after extiting the station, immidiately made a right turn to head towards Euralille and Gare Lille-Europe. After a 1hr wait in Kortrijk which hasn't got a toilet in the station, I was quite desperate for a pee). So I hoofed it towards the Gare Lille Europe. After a quick lav break (€0.5, which is reasonable given the cleanliness), I headed back outside and took a few pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/MZ52gl.jpg
Above: modern architecture

http://i.imgur.com/jGLbal.jpg
Above: Gare Lille-Europe

http://i.imgur.com/2eriVl.jpg
Above: Art, apparently

After taking some pictures, I entered the station again and headed for the métro. Now, I'm guessing most of us here are familiar with the people-mover type trains they use at airports (the so-called "VAL"). Well, Lille has that as a subway system, because they were invented there. VAL used to stand for Villeneuve d'Asq à Lille. It was later changed to Véhicule Autmatique Léger, but anyway, we're getting off topic a bit.
So I bought my ticket and boarded the métro, then the automated little train really put the hammer down. After a quick line change at Lille-Flandres (where I arrived in the first place for those keeping track :P) I made my way to the city centre.
After getting out at République Beaux-Arts, the first thing I saw was heavily armed policemen (armed with MP5 and FAMAS guns). Needless to say, someone important was in Lille at this time. After being told in a very friendly manner by one of the armed agents that I was walking where I was not allowed to for some reason, I made my way to the Palais des Beaux-Arts.

http://i.imgur.com/PWidzl.jpg
Above: Palais des Beaux-Arts

http://i.imgur.com/HSqdal.jpg
above: the (very Parisian-looking) building they were guarding.

From here on out, I made my way to the Grand Place, basically out of memory, since I know Lille quite well. Because my dad lived there for the better part of 8 years.
On the way, I also spotted this:

http://i.imgur.com/bus9wl.jpg
Above: 2012 Lotus Elise for those of you who don't know (on Belgian plates)

After some more walking, I made my way to the Fnac and started looking for the tablets department. After finding it, I found a Nexus 7 demo unit and was a bit surprised by how small it actually is (more or less half an iPad).

Then I walked around some more, taking some more pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/BlGlQl.jpg
Above: a post office

http://i.imgur.com/yG73Cl.jpg
Above: the old stock exchange

http://i.imgur.com/yG73Cl.jpg
Above: Place Rihour

http://i.imgur.com/63M6vl.jpg
Above: the street between the Grand Place and Place Rihour

http://i.imgur.com/zNRlZl.jpg
Above: Lille's Belfry (it should be said that those in Gent and Bruges are nicer :D)

http://i.imgur.com/4fAG0l.jpg
Above: Lille City Hall

http://i.imgur.com/qTZJzl.jpg
Above: Porte De Paris

http://i.imgur.com/YCeqgl.jpg
Above: Parisian-style houses next to the Porte De Paris

Since it was well past noon at this point and I was lazy, I walked to the nearest métro station (Lille Grand Palais), took the métro to Euralille, and went to get a sandwich at Paul. Afterwards, I had a walk around Euralille for a bit and did some shopping as I needed some socks.

Around 5pm, I made my way back to the Lille-Flandres station, took a few more pictures and then took an uneventful train ride home. The train doing the Kortrijk-Gent rotation did look like it had just had a rave party happen inside it in one of the carriages.

http://i.imgur.com/vhZMMl.jpg
Above: the front of the Lille-Flandres station, which used to be the Gare Du Nord in Paris, but was then moved to Lillewhen the current Gare Du Nord was built.

http://i.imgur.com/YOb8yl.jpg
Above: Inside the station, to the left is a TGV towards Bordeaux St-Jean.

And finally, the reason for the trip:
http://i.imgur.com/z77UBl.jpg
In the mean time it has been rooted and is now running ParanoidAndroid.

Hope you enjoyed my second TR here.

Ha, this makes me laugh - I've never had luck on that route. Last time I tried to return from Ghent to Lille, I ended up getting stuck in Kortrijk and having to take a taxi back to Moeskroen and a bus over the border (having missed the last connection of the day). At least it's comforting to know it's not just my bad luck...

(It's also where I was told off for trying to use 'Rijsel', rather than Lille, when attempting to speak Dutch. Ah, linguistic politics...)

That would be because Moeskroen is part of Wallonia where one speaks French :p

And up to a few years ago (can't be more than 2) the trains ran direct, but for some reason the NMBS decided it was a good idea to cut the direct service.