lille

last weekend i went on another nyu trip this time to the north of france, near belgium.  first we stopped in arras where we visited caves used as battle camps by british and french soldiers during the first and second world wars.  then we went to cambrai where we visited the factory where les bêtises de cambrai are made.  les bêtises de cambrai are candies.  bêtise means mistake in french and they're called this because the recipe was discovered by accident when the sugar was overheated.  the next day we went to lille, which is the fourth largest metropolitan area in france. 

the opera house in lille.

i found this church very interesting architecturally. when construction began in the 1850s it was designed as a neo-gothic church but it took so long to build that in 1991 they decided to add a modern façade instead of continuing with the neo-gothic style.  the result is that the interior is very traditional and reminiscent of the great gothic churches of france but the façade is modern, with references the characteristics of gothic architecture: the three doors, pointed arches, stained glass, and emphasis on height. the center section of the façade is made of white marble which allows sunlight to pass through it, which i found to be a delightfully modern reference to the gothic emphasis on light through cut-away walls with stained glass windows.