The city of Lille is situated in northern France and we spent a long time exploring this magical city on a cold and wet Sunday afternoon in June. Isn’t it strange then that despite the wealth of 17th and 18th century architecture, with its palaces, courtyards and alleyways, that it was this doorway that captured my imagination so?
Le Barbue d’Anvers is a famous restaurant that occupies an 18th century building next to the old Hotel de Beaurepaire. I loved the doorway at the end of the cobblestone courtyard, tucked away in a corner of Rue Saint Étienne.
It is a great looking doorway. Sometimes, things just appeal to us for reasons unknown.
ReplyDeletedoorways are gates to.. sometimes to real stuff, other times to past glories. It is a beautiful shot and great that the restaurant refers to Antwerp!
ReplyDeleteanni
what a nice cozy surroundings for a restaurant!
ReplyDeleteBlog about life and travelling
Blog about cooking
Hi Emm :)
ReplyDeleteGreat photo and lucky lucky you getting to spend some time wandering around exploring such places. I clicked on your link to the restaurant and got to see what's behind the door. Ahhh such atmosphere!
The door itself is quite beautiful but I think that and the combination of the frame really draws my eye. Also are the things to the right stacks of chairs? It creates a very interesting shape, I like it.
ReplyDeletegreat shot! :)
ReplyDeletethe doorway looks charming and if only those walls could talk, i'm sure they have many interesting stories to tell.
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful, Emm! How I wish to have a dinner there. One day, I will make it to France :)
ReplyDeleteSo much history here because they don't make doors like that. My curiosity wonders what lies beyond the doorway. It's interesting to see stacks of chairs outside.
ReplyDelete@ Clueless in Boston: true, it is often hard to explain why travel moves us so!
ReplyDelete@ Anni: that was exactly it. The doorway was so mysterious.
@ Ola: definitely!
@ Suzy: we felt very charmed the whole weekend. It was lovely.
@ Melissa: yes, those were chairs as the dining spills out into the courtyard in the evenings.
@ Tina: Thnak you!
@ Life Ramblings: Indeed! The history of the town goes back over hundreds of years.
@ Ivanhoe: I would absolutely recommend it and France has such a wide variety of towns.
@ AVCr8teur: definitely! It is almost as if yu can toch the ghosts of festivities past!
That's one of the things I love so much about France - some places look as if they hadn't changed in the past 50, 60, 70 years. I really like this photograph!
ReplyDelete@ Dominic: Thanks! I loved this scene too. In fact, I think I might have falen in love with France!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great place to enjoy an evening meal and few ice cold beers...
ReplyDelete@ William: I would definitely like to spend some more long summer evenings in Lille!
ReplyDelete