Culture vulture couples will love this magnificent museum in Lens – just a one-hour drive from Calais via the A26, a satellite branch of the world’s most famous and most visited museum – the Louvre in Paris.
Le Louvre Lens: a homage to the industrial past
The Louvre-Lens Museum is built on the site of an old mine, operational from 1884 – 1916, in an area once home to a thriving coal mine industry. Since the closure of the last mine in 1990, Lens has undergone a period of economic hardship; opening a regional branch of the Louvre here has injected a new vitality, as has the UNESCO world heritage status awarded to the imperious slag heaps that pepper the landscape.
The Louvre-Lens museum is a single storey building, reaching 6m at its highest point, there are no steps. An extraordinary underground space is home to the restoration and storage area with glass walls, so you can see behind the scenes. The rows of paintings, tapestries and sculptures are an eerie and strangely thrilling sight.
A museum on a human scale
This is no fusty museum but a spectacular space in which visitors are given the means to better understand and interpret great works of art. It is a museum with soul, where you’re encouraged to not just see but experience art in a unique way. You can walk freely around a ravishing range of artworks for a unique perspective - it engages you in a way not often experienced in a museum of this calibre. The rich and diverse treasures cover 3000 years of history, from Antiquity up to 1850, posed in chronological order in the “Gallery of Time”.
In the main gallery there are no windows, nothing disturbs your view. The burnished aluminium walls are neutral, softly reflecting hundreds of major and iconic pieces from the Paris Louvre, displayed in an original fashion. Viewed in this huge arena - the effect is a visual feast. The audio guide (English language) has great explanations of the art on display.
Annually on Saint Barbara’s Day (the patron Saint of Miners) the main exhibition renews 20% of the artworks from the Louvre ensuring a fresh presentation. Major temporary expositions are also held all year round.
Where to eat in Lens?
Enjoy lunch at the gastronomic restaurant, l’Atelier Marc Meurin (of the 2 Michelin Star Restaurant Le Meurin in nearby Busnes), where you can get an exceptional three course meal (weekdays €33/weekend €62).
Where to stay near Lens?
Stay close by in Gosnay at La Chartreuse, a magnificent 4* chateau-style hotel with no less than three restaurants. You’ll enjoy old school glamour with a touch of French je ne sais quoi.
Things to do in Lille
For more cultural heritage, head to nearby Lille with its many artistic venues including the Palais des Beaux-Arts where each year a different personality manages its innovative “Open Museum” theme. Revisiting the collections, a guest “curator” brings an inspirational vivacity to the museum.
Cultural holidays in northern France offer rich diversity and opportunity for personal development with an exhilarating range of museums to suit all tastes.
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