Not much to see in Valenciennes

[Deleted]

My title is completely unfair, because I don't really know what there is to see in Valenciennes. I spent exactly one hour there today walking around and did not see anything stunning. To be fair, I must say that when I was driving out of town I suddenly saw all sorts of things I would have liked to investigate but I was on Streets with traffic behind me and no place to stop the car. If I ever get stuck in Valenciennes for more than an hour, now I have an idea of where to look. As usual, I took a few photos to document my visit.

I found a place to park just on the edge of the pedestrian zone and along the tram line and began to wander.

One end of the central square is where the spire is.

I noted the post WW2 architecture on one side of the square and looked it up afterwards. Apparently Valenciennes was pretty much intact after WW1 but in 1940 all of the résidents fled ahead of the German invasion. Unfortunately, the French troops were there first and the pillaged the city. Then a fire started, and there was the matter of a fuel depot. The entire downtown area was destroyed by fire so by the time the German troops came to occupy the city, they just occupied ruins.

On the other side of the square is the impressive town hall, probably carefully restored.









A few blocks away, another part of town was being torn down to be replaced... by something.

[Deleted]

There are two tramway lines ln the city and they both start from the university campus (10,000 students).



The Magasins Modernes clearly used to be the showcase department store of the city, long ago.





I read that it is supposed to be "redeveloped" as a shopping mall, sooner or later.



It is right across from the train station, which looks quite nice actually.

[Deleted]

unfortunately now a real estate agency







I hope a lot of these buildings last long enough to be renovated rather than demolished.



The Chamber of Commerce complex clearly dates from three different periods.

And then it was time to leave Valenciennes...

[mossie]

That fountain looks super ornate, but they really knew how to build train stations in those days.

[whatagain]

I spent several nights in the 'grand hotel' or something like that.
Valenciennes is a city of northern France : there used to be money at a time, there is no more. The city is relatively clean and is becoming better - let us be optimisitic and hope that the demolition will give place to something nice - I seem to see that the facades are being kept - always a good sign.
For the rest : there is nothing to do there, obvisouly. A correct city, with some nice places here and there. No more no less ...

[bixaorellana]

That was a nice interlude! There are some lovely art nouveau touches in your pictures along with other remnants of the past -- great to see those after reading about what happened in WWII. But what is most striking is the square and other evidence of a city going about its business with respect to the past, but no intent to preserve it in aspic. Well, maybe that spirit got a tad out of hand on the Chamber of Commerce building.

Did you find out what the spire commemorates? I really like those living room lamps in the square and the totally goofy topiary. Thanks for stopping and sharing what you saw where there was "not much to see".

[gabriele]

I find that photos of places in the north of France taken when the skies are overcast tend to show towns and cities not at their best. People are indoors so normally 'public' places appear deserted and the light is not kind to gray stone or to the bright brick buildings. Were the lighting better (nothing you can change, obviously) and re-populate the streets and squares and places that appear only 'so-so' might offer more incentive to look further.
I am so used to the construction used in le Gran Sud that I had to force myself to see beauty in the north and west (La Rochelle heading north) because I was judging it unfairly. So now I check my preferences at the start of a new 'visit' and it helps me see beyond.
The "Hotel de Bruxelles" looks intriguing and I can almost imagine what the rooms look like...and mentally start the plot to a story of someone staying in a seedy rented room there while waiting for....no, haven't gotten that far. But the New Wave of French cinema has made me a believer in the idea that there is a story worth telling in every nook, cranny and corner of France had one but the eyes to see, the ears to overhear, the mind to suppose.
I did find the restaurant downstairs from the hotel has a good reputation:

The Plat du jour for Feb 28:
Poultry Waterzoï with Vegetables and Potatoes 12,90 €
March 1:
Roulade de porc au lard fumé et Maroilles, 12,90€
polenta et carottes Vichy
March 2:
Carbonnade flamande à la bière de Jenlain, 12,90€
pommes de terre croustillantes et bâtons de
carottes glacées

Well that sounds interesting enough to make a stop worthwhile. Here's their
site should anyone want to know more:
www.lunico-valenciennes.com/
other, incl. reviews:
www.lafourchette.com/restaurant/l-unico/59244

I looked it up because I wanted a street address to see if there was anything about the hotel upstairs...

Seems it is now flats/apartments. The entrance is to the side of the resto...one can see through the glass in the door stairs (very simple ones) leading up. Enlarging google, the windows closest to the stairs on the premiere etage have lovely white curtains with a cut design, very art nouveau (full windows, the kind that open outwards and the curtains obviously cotton or linen by their drape).
Sign on the door: STOP PUB. I'm guessing it's instructions not to leave advertising circulars (which do clog up the small French personal mail boxes, or so I've experienced in places I've rented).
So I've enjoyed your and my visit to Valenciennes. A local hotel Puss in Boots (but in French) isn't far away and it looks very nice and under 100 euro the night (prorating from earler rates on the website. They have a listing of local places of interest including a museum and such, not to mention the most useful train station (should I ever come back to France I will have to take some trains somewhere...
I think this is one thing I really love about your travels Kerouac, they make me want to explore more, if only in my own mind. Should I ever win the lottery I might escape to France for the 90 days and see if I really could find a strange place to stay and see if I could get an actual story out of it. But until then, what I imagine is usually better than what is available on US tv....

[Deleted]

Feb 28, 2017 15:32:42 GMT bixaorellana said:

Did you find out what the spire commemorates?

I looked up the spire and it was put there to symbolise the old belfry of Valenciennes which collapsed in 1843. It lights up at night.

It was put there in 2007 to commemorate the completion of the renovation of the centre of Valenciennes at the same time the tramways was inaugurated. Apparently, it also serves as a sundial.

[bixaorellana]

It's a sundial?! That is nifty as all get-out.

It speaks well of Valenciennes as an aware & forward-looking city that they chose to put in trams.

Stupid question: was there a belfry independent of a building?

[Deleted]

haspresnews.e-monsite.com/medias/images/bef3-1.jpg

hainautpedia.vallibre.fr/images/b/b0/Valenciennes-1843_Ecroulement_beffroi.png

mvistatic.com/galeriemvi/9/photo_46102.jpg

[bixaorellana]

If I'm not beating a dead belfry here, I find this immensely interesting. The one that collapsed was built before 1300, as your pictures show ~
The belfry symbolizing the municipal rights was built in 1222, demolished in 1237 and rebuilt in a more suitable place in 1238-1260; the belfry crashed down during a general revamping on 7 April 1843, killing the watch and six inhabitants of neighbouring houses. source