musee de la piscine

Well worth the 20 minute metro ride from centre of Lille and open on Tuesdays when other museums closed. Once inside the building that used to be a swimming pool I was blown away by the way it had been converted to show off the wonderful art it houses. The most wonderful statues line the pool area and fabulous displays of ceramics, jewellery, paintings and textiles are housed over two floors. We took a mid visit stop for tea and patisserie and then resumed, even going back to look at particular favourite pieces. Really great visit.

The best thing about this was of course the building - which is its main selling point. The art deco swimming pool with its glorious windows outshone the rather haphazard and not very well curated exhibition. For me, the best part was the temporary exhibition of small knitted figures representing the millions killed in the First World War. The pricey restaurant seems to indicate that it doesn't try to appeal to the local population - and nor did they tell us about the combined ticket with the textile museum at the other end of town.

If you're an art lover staying in or near Lille or Roubaix, this is a must. An Art Deco municipal swimming pool transformed into the perfect space to view art. The collections are an eclectic mix of paintings, sculptures and 'industrial art' - mostly porcelain and glassware. When we visited in February 2015, there was also an interesting collection of 1,000 knitted soldiers to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. But the star of the show is the building itself - incredible Art Deco fan windows at either end, original changing rooms complete with soap dishes and coat hooks moulded into the tiled walls, and a fountain gushing into a strip of water that runs down the centre of the main sculpture exhibition. Stunning.

This is a wonderful attraction close to the nice city of Lille. It is an old swimming pool built in the early thirties of last century. Therefore it is in Art Deco style. The statue gallery alongside the old pool is fascinating. There are beautiful statues that were created for the Paris Opera. The collection of art has some lovely statues and paintings of the 19th and 20th centuries. There also is some good modern art. Interesting to be admiring art in former changing cabins and showers. The salon-de-the is from Meert, and has delicious pastries!

Along with many public attractions in France, there is free entry to this one (but not any temporary exhibitions) on the first Sunday of the month. The down side to this is humongous queues waiting to get in when it opened at 1pm. In freezing cold rain this was no joke, but the Art Deco setting of the former swimming baths made it all worthwhile. Beautiful. There is an impressive collection of artwork too. If you intend eating at the restaurant, book in advance (we didn't, so couldn't get in). The nearest Metro stop is Gare Jean Lebas, about a 7 min walk away. If you are in Lille for the weekend, but the 3-day Transpole ticket for use on all buses, metro and trams. Good value at about €9

Impressive building, used to be a pool and was remodel to a museum. Big art collection!! My favorite by far in the area!Worth a visit and a coffee at Meert!

though the permanent collection is not going to blow your mind, the building itself and the character of the museum is definitely worth your time. It is a beautiful interesting building that transports you to a time past. Great family friendly museum to go to. It is airy and spacious so you don't feel that your indoors. Definitely recommend!

You really have to visit, if just to see the building itself, which is beautiful and an inspired transformation to a museum. With a very eclectic range of exhibits there really is something for everyone to enjoy, a wonderful way to spend an afternoon - and the cafe is well worth a visit!

This museum is a gem! I was very glad I made the easy trip by train from Lille to see it. The building and its history are fascinating. The use that has been made of this space is enthralling. I spent several hours there and wished I could have stayed longer. I thoroughly enjoyed the collections and the clever manner in which they are displayed. The pool is beautiful. I have never seen anything like it. Of all the museums and art galleries I have visited and all that I will visit in the future, I have no doubt this one will remain a top favorite. I hope to have the opportunity to visit again.

Go for the building. The regular collection is to me not that special, but ofcourse that is a matter of taste.The building, the old art deco swimmingpool is amazing.The atmosphere is still of an old swimmingpool. We have been here before and I am impressed every time.If you have the opportunity, go and visit en enjoy.

We had a short break in the Lille area in northern France recently. Started with the Louvre-Lens (an outpost of the Paris Louvre). Startlingly modern building, basically one big space with works of art showing the development of the plastic arts from about 3000 BC to the modern age. All chronologically arranged - would be a great way to show an intelligent older child how art has evolved. Then two days in Lille - the Vieille Ville in particular is fascinating, but you need to take a guided tour organised by the Tourist Office to get all the interesting details. Lille has a brilliant, cheap Métro system (like all the decent large French towns, it seems), so Roubaix is just 20 minutes away. The art deco swimming pool is an absolutely stunning art deco building. The statuary around the pool is pretty fine, and the wonderful changing cubicles (all art deco tiling) are showcases for a huge amount of ceramics and other art. There is also a big collection of paintings and various temporary exhibitions (one on Camille Claudel recently). No Mona Lisas, but good stuff in a wonderful setting. The restaurant is outstandingly good value, but go early.

As so many people have said, this museum is an example of an imaginative idea (converting an old art deco swimming pool into a gallery) beautifully realised. The gallery of statuary around the pool looks wonderful, and the use of the old changing areas to display work is fun. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is that the standing exhibition looks a little as though they hung and displayed everything they could lay their hands on! So it ranges from a very good collection of Picasso ceramics to a lot of second-rate sentimental Victorian paintings. And there's a current small installation at the end of the pool of swimming things and underclothes hanging out to dry which is a bit un-necessary and out-of-keeping and gets in the way of the full effect of the lines of the place. Having said that, we were lucky enough to be there to see the wonderful special exhibition of Camille Claudel sculptures (runs till February 2015), the first such full display of her work for decades and a huge experience.I'd agree with previous comments about the restaurant, too - not an especially welcoming area and rather over-priced. But these comments aside, this is a stunning gallery.

Roubaix is a suburb of Lille but it has the 11th museum in France as I was told. This museum is in the old city pool building and it shows us works of local artists. These works are surprising and very beautiful. Sculptures, paintings, even clothes made in the good old days of this region (Roubaix used to be a region where textile factories gathered). I recommend you to spend 2 hours visiting this museum.

Beutifully restored swimming pool now used as a art and textile museum. Well worth the visit and experience.

As other reviews have described, this is an Art Deco swimming pool that has been converted into an art gallery. However, it does not prepare you for how beautiful the building is from the inside. The light streaming in through the large windows and reflecting on the pool was fantastic and rivalled the sculptures themselves.The Roubaix Grand Place metro station is easy to reach from Lille and a short flat walk away. The mistake that we made was to use the address of Rue de l'esperance to find the gallery, and you are better sticking to the main road from the Grand Place and following the signs from there.