Banks All the banks have big branches on rue Nationale, and you can guarantee to find one open until 4pm on Saturday. There's a branch of Barclays here too.

 

Books Le Furet du Nord, 11 place Général-de-Gaulle, is a huge bookstore with a wide selection of books in English.

Cinema There are several cinemas in Lille with a concentration on rue de Béthune. Le Métropole on rue des Ponts-de-Comines shows original-language versions with normally a couple in English. Gaumont at no. 25 rue des Alpes and UGC on rue de Béthune will usually have one of their screens in English.

Doctors SOS Médecins (tel 03.20.29.91.91).

Hitch-hiking Auto Pass, 21 rue Patou (tel 03.20.14.31.91), is an organization that puts hitch-hikers and drivers in touch with each other.

Laundry There are several outlets of Lavotec, the most central being at 72 rue Pierre-LeGrand, 57 rue des Postes and 137 rue Solférino.

Markets The loud and colourful Wazemmes market is centred around place de la Nouvelle Aventure. Main day Sun but also open Tues and Thurs (7am-2pm). A smaller food market takes place in vieux Lille on place du Concert (Wed, Fri & Sun 7am-2pm).

Post office place du Théâtre, cnr bd Carnot, and 7 place de la République (both Mon-Fri 8am-6.30pm, Sat 8.30am-12.30pm).

Taxi Gare (tel 03.20.06.64.00); Taxi Union (tel 03.20.06.06.06).