Why should I go? Because it’s only 100 minutes from Waterloo, and an invigorating break from Britishness. The city has been Flemish, Burgundian, Spanish and Dutch before finally settling in France.

The old centre is pretty and very walkable, stuffed with upmarket shops and remarkable architecture that ranges from the Flemish Vieille Bourse to the art deco-gothic Hôtel de Ville and the star-shaped Citadelle.

The big draw, however, is the Palais des Beaux Arts. Created by Napoleon in 1801, the art collection includes Rubens, Delacroix, Corot, Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Goya, and it is often called France’s second most important museum after the Louvre. It is second by a very long way, though — with many of the works by the big-name painters apparently knocked out on their off days.

But down in the basement there’s a big surprise: one of the most important works of western art — the Feast of Herod, a bas-relief in marble, chiselled by Donatello c 1439, and the first pictorial work to use vanishing-point perspective. Here is the Renaissance getting under way.

Where do I stay? The Carlton (www.carltonlille.com) is a sturdy four-star right in the centre of town, with doubles from £118. Or try the Hotel Brueghel (www.hotel-brueghel.com), packed with antiques and character; doubles from £44.

Where do I eat? L’Huîtrière (554341, www.huitriere.fr). Hidden away, Narnia-like, through a door at the back of a white-tiled fishmonger’s, it is luxurious, wood-panelled and has one Michelin star. It’s simply terrific, with all the flummery of the French performance art of restaurant eating — exactly what we wanted to celebrate that we’ve-got-shot-of-the-kids- so-let’s-get-civilised moment. We went for the seven-course menu dégustation — spectacular. At least £65 a head.

There are also plenty of good cafes and brasseries. We wandered into Le Coq Hardi (552108), on Place du Général de Gaulle, and had wonderfully cooked steak — though it did come with oven chips. Otherwise, there’s the historic Paul (447256, www.paul.fr), on Rue de Paris, for croissants, fancy bread and home-made jam, or the 18th-century Méert patisserie (Rue Esquermoise), where the crepes are an extra-sweet speciality.

How do I get there? Lille by Eurostar (0870 518 6186, www.eurostar.com) is 100 minutes from Waterloo (and under an hour from Ashford), with fares from £55.

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