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A Day In An English Garden

May 21
Thu 10:30 AM
Location
Mosaïc le jardin des cultures

Rue Guy Môquet
Houplin-Ancoisne

How to find us
"10:30, at the entrance of the car park of the Mosaïc"

Estimated attendance
 11  people attended.
5.00 5.004

Who organized?
Christophe Leprêtre and Neda

The Rain Garden
is a little corner of Britain in France designed by a landscape designer John Medhurst.
Seeds and bulbs brought by une Britannique vivant en France have since developed into a true English forest. Amongst the greenery there are hidden characters from English literature and even their famous red phone booth from which the chimes of Big Ben may be heard.

Location
Mosaïc le jardin des cultures
Rue Guy Môquet
59263 Houplin-Ancoisne
map

Tariff
5eur (4eur for groups), free audio-guides in English

Meeting Point
10:30, at the entrance of the car park of the Mosaïc
If going by bike from Lille, 09:00, departure 09:15, at the entrance to the car park of the Parc de la Citadelle
If going by metro/bus from Lille, you may like to meet up at Gare Lille Flandres and travel together

Lunch
There is a restaurant on the site. Alternatively bring your own food for a luncheon on the grass.
(Note: The restaurant may be very busy as it's a bank holiday. The nearby town of Houplin-Ancoisne oddly doesn't have a single shop and only one very expensive restaurant.)

How to get there
By bike
10km ride more or less along the canal. This is not exactly a scenic route, more like Lille in its industrial glory, but it is possible to follow the canal most of the way with occasional ride through urban areas. Once out of Lille it is all lovely and green. It took us about 1h and 15min of easy pedalling on our plain town bikes with sporadically getting lost and asking for directions. It was a pleasant ride.
In case you don't have a bike but would like one for a day there is a very affordable Bike Rental service, from 1.5eur/1h to 6eur/day, at various points in Lille. Bikes can be reserved online, by phone or at the rental location. You will need to use your own bike lock though, which can be bought at any supermarket.

By public transport
A half an hour ride from Lille.
Metro Line 1 depart Gare Lille Flandres 09:31, arrive CHR B Calmette 09:40, then bus No 324 depart 10:00 CHR B Calmette, arrive Houplin-Ancoisne - Mosaïc 10:20 (return bus from Houplin-Ancoisne - Mosaïc at 14:40, 15:40 or 17:25)
Don't miss the 10 o'clock bus as the next one going to Mosaïc during holidays is in the afternoon.
Once you get off the bus few meters down the road turn right and follow the sign for Mosaïc. On the left hand side you will see the entrance to the car park. That's our meeting point.
All info about metro/bus lines and timetables is here http://www.transpole....

By car
16km drive from Lille
We will meet at the entrance to the Mosaïc car park. Parking is free of charge.

Additional Info
In the case it should rain there are umbrellas free of charge at the ticket office. Of course in this case we'd leave bikes at home.

If you find the suggested outing interesting and wish to join us please respond by Wed 20th May. We hope to see you there smile

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Who attended?

  • 11 attendees
    • Christophe Leprêtre (+2 guests)
      “ What a lovely day indeed. Everything was nice. I can't wait to attend another event! ”
    • Neda (+3 guests)
      “ What a lovely way to start the new meet up season! The weather was just right, not too hot for the bikers, yet sunny and warm for a stroll in a garden. The MosaÏc proved to be a perfect setting to spend such a day in a lively company. There were quite a few new faces this time, all friendly and chatty. The day started fairly early with a pleasant bike ride along the canal before meeting the rest of the group at the garden. There we enjoyed plants, images and artworks coming form far corners of the world. The 'official' part of the meet up finished with a lunch on the lawn but the day wasn't over yet. On the way back to Lille, we dismounted our bikes at Corfou for a beer break and continued later to Auberge du Temps Jadis for a 'light' dinner of le meilleur welsh de Lille, as it was proudly stated in the menu. An excellent day! ”
    • “ A very nice day, 4 of us starting by bike from the citadelle, and then along the Deule and in the country, with good smell of starch, sewage water unit, aso (it's a joke!), it was good smell of Spring flowers, and then we met the remaining of the group in the park. It was very interesting and funny. And then come back by bike.....up to a glass of beer.....and then up to an excellent welsh ! A quite sportive and dietetic day but so funny ! Thanks to Christophe and ....specially his assistant ”