Our Settled Life in Lille: A Review (2025–2026)
We moved to Lille in January 2025, and it’s already time to leave (April 2026) because JB was just seconded by his employer… to French Polynesia. Time for a quick review of our life in Lille. JB chose to come to Lille for his career change into cybersecurity, and he picked his current employer knowing there would be opportunities for international mobility. We always hoped and thought our time in Lille would be temporary, but we weren’t sure if mobility would be possible since JB is still a junior in cyber.
As I’ve explained before, we managed to rent a fantastic apartment fully furnished and decorated by meticulous, well-traveled owners. Every detail is thought out, and every appliance is packed with hidden features. It feels great to live in such a beautiful, well-designed apartment with perfect orientation: north for my workshop (best light for artists) and south for the living room, which catches every ray of sunshine as soon as it appears (crucial in the Nord).
When we moved to Lille, there were only two 3-room apartments for rent in the city center and Vieux-Lille. I hesitated a lot between the two, but I chose this one and canceled the visit to the other. Good call, because a few months later, the building right across from the other apartment was under construction.
I can finally show you a video of the apartment:
The big bedroom was emptied, and the bed replaced with two desks that now hold my tools for jewelry making, bookbinding, leathercraft, linocut, illumination, calligraphy, sacred geometry, paper cutting, and sewing… (see my creations here). My goal is twofold: to refine my dexterity and to reach that state of total focus called the flow. The apartment, remarkably quiet, is perfect for it.
I finally realized why it’s so hard to decorate a home well. When you move in, you need the bare essentials: a sofa, a bed, a table, chairs… And often, those first purchases are from IKEA because you’re starting fresh right after school. In reality, beautiful decor is built slowly. Over the years, you replace one piece of furniture, then another. In my case, the apartment was already furnished and decorated, saving me from rushed purchases. But it still took me eight months to find two bowls I truly loved, and I took my time replacing all the living room art with my own creations. It takes time because you don’t stumble upon an object that speaks to you every day. In the end, a beautiful home is the result of years of searching, discoveries, and choices. It’s a living collection of furniture you resell to make room for better pieces, plates you replace…
Being settled allowed me to access physical books. I got to read several classics for the first time in beautiful editions. This is only possible when you’re settled because finding these editions isn’t easy; many of the books I bought came from the US or the UK. I also discovered and borrowed lots of books from my neighborhood’s media library (the yellow building in the photo). In Lille, libraries share their collections and deliver reserved books to your nearest branch, so I have access to a massive catalog, including all the Pléiade collection books and DVDs of my favorite films and series (my passion is watching the bonus features, which are only available if you have access to the DVDs).
JB, for his part, in 15 months, had much more visible achievements : a successful career change into a more English-speaking work environment, obtaining his VAE (certification of prior learning)a secondment to Polynesia, his video about his career change helped him connect with other cyber experts, he managed the renovation of our rental apartment, and got a second Microsoft cybersecurity certification: SC-200.
Every week, I walked to the city center (20 minutes from the apartment) to see my local shops: butcher, greengrocer, cheese shop, dry cleaner… When it rained or snowed, I took a shuttle that only served the city center, mostly used by retirees. The most satisfying part of being settled in France is eating well. After 8.5 years of barely cooking, it’s a blessing to have homemade meals every day. I think it shows in our blood tests. Going to restaurants isn’t as thrilling anymore because I cook better than most restaurants now 😀
My only interactions in Lille are with JB, our friend Aurélien, my local shopkeepers, a few healthcare professionals (and my family who visited me). So, I’m not aware of the supposed “meanness” of Vieux-Lille residents because I have zero contact with them. And walking protects me from the downsides of public transport. In short, I’m living my best life.
Lille’s airport is just 20 minutes away by car. There’s a direct, super cheap train to Paris airports. There are even two metro lines to the suburbs, outlet malls in Roubaix (including luxury bed linen brands), a Paristore in Roubaix, and Eurostar and direct TGVs to Brussels & Amsterdam. Apart from the cold, Lille is the place to live, especially when you’re this close to the city center.
And just look at these photos—admire the beauty of this city!
I wish I could have had an apartment on Rue de la Monnaie in an old building, in the heart of Old Lille, but with the cold up north, it was better to have double glazing & some sunshine in the living room.
The departure
I feel so good here that the idea of moving doesn’t appeal to me that much, especially to an isolated island, but external factors had to intervene in late 2025 to make me want to leave: noisy neighbors at night, the growing insecurity in Lille, a country that punishes those who work hard to reward those who don’t make an effort… Above all, one day I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw a friend of mine, her feet in turquoise water, Seychelles or Maldives… and I felt something deep in my gut: I realized that’s where I wanted to be; in a warm place where I can go to the beach even in the middle of the week, and not in Lille braving the cold and wind, constantly getting a runny nose. I told JB he could be sent wherever he wanted, I’d follow him.
I had a premonitory dream, where JB announced his transfer to Polynesia. In the dream, I was sleeping and was woken up by the news, I asked when we were leaving, he answered “in two weeks”, I replied “too soon”, and then I woke up for real. Two weeks later, we actually learned about the transfer and this time, we have two months to prepare ourselves.
We had to clear out the apartment before leaving. But during those 15 months, I really settled into Lille so I have a ton of tools & books. It’s not the first time I’ve cleared out an entire apartment for an expatriation so I’m used to it, but that doesn’t make the process any less painful. You know I’m not a minimalist, I’m not afraid of having lots of objects, what I don’t like is leaving them unused and letting a stagnant energy (qi) settle in. While tidying up, I was delighted to see that the items I’d bought were all used, the clothes worn and loved, the books read or browsed. For 2 months, I posted items almost every day on Vinted/leboncoin, I still don’t know how I managed to sell almost 100 items in 2 months! I packed them up and sent 80% of them via La poste/Mondial Relay, and luckily the apartment came furnished, so I had very little furniture to resell. I’m glad I sold the most expensive items at the beginning because being constantly pestered by people on Vinted/Le Bon Coin, I was fed up by the end.
I had to choose the hobbies that are easiest to bring with me to Tahiti, namely watercolor, calligraphy, and sacred geometry. I sewed myself a leather shopping bag specially for Tahiti (since I won’t have my shopping trolley anymore).
It made me understand why those who have built their life somewhere – an apartment, a house, a city – find the idea of leaving so hard, even unthinkable. The work it represents is colossal. Our belongings hold us back more than we think. Geographical freedom is a luxury, but it’s also a real sacrifice. In 15 months, we’ve already grown so attached to our bed worthy of a 5-star hotel that every time we travel, we sleep much worse.
One small regret though: having waited until the inventory of fixtures to call in a handyman, when I should have contacted him much earlier, for my own comfort. Months of putting up with a door handle and a loosely screwed outlet. And when I finally replaced the shower door seal, I realized it took ten minutes. Lesson learned: next time, I’ll fix these things immediately, without waiting. Not just so it’s clean when we leave, but so I no longer have to deal with that visual clutter and that little mental burden that builds up, that “we’ll have to take care of it when we leave this place” lingering in my head for months.
Now that all our stuff is stored with our loved ones and the essentials are in our suitcases, we’re ready for a new adventure. 9 months in Tahiti! New climate, new environment, lower purchasing power (everything is very expensive there), but there’ll be no temptation for shopping, it’ll do us good!
