IF you're keen on swapping turkey for foie gras this festive season, look no further than Lille, says James Cabooter.

The historic Northern French city, just over 90 minutes from London on Eurostar, has undergone a major transformation over the past decade.

It is now teeming with influential museums, sophisticated restaurants and top-quality shops, not to mention oodles of Gallic and Flemish joie de vivre.

Better still, with the wave of a magic wand the city transforms itself into a winter wonderland over the festive period with a bustling Christmas market, giant Ferris wheel and a bevy of holiday beers and spirits to get you in the mood.

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I stayed at the centrally-located L'Hermitage Gantois, a former convent and medieval hospital converted into a five-star hotel.

Each luxurious room was created using three nuns' quarters and the result is warm, woodpanelled suites with very high ceilings.

The rest of the hotel is even more opulent with beautiful garden courtyards, art galleries plus a high-end restaurant and great value brasserie serving French classics.

Like all great French cities, Lille has an impressive market square flanked by grand buildings where most of the winter festivities take place.

The Christmas market on Place Rihour boasts 80 wooden chalets selling everything you need for the holiday celebrations.

Nativity figurines, Peruvian alpaca baubles, dancing Russian bears, wooden Christmas eggs with painted monkeys dressed as Santa on them... this place is so full of festive tomfoolery it's brilliant.

Even better are the edibles such as vanilla, caramel or chocolate waffles, fruit skewers, slabs of nougat and immense meringue cakes.

After the sugar rush and a few obligatory glasses of warm cider or wine, you'll be ready to brave the city's Grande Roue.

Dwarfing the 18metre Christmas tree next to it, this giant wheel is a far cry from the cripplingly slow London Eye.

The wheel revolves at a terrifying pace and leaves you clinging on for dear life as you try to take in the impressive view of the city. It's fun - but hang on to your hats!

Away from the market novelties, Lille is the ideal place to do your Christmas shopping.

There are more than 3,900 stores - from cool, Parisian-style boutiques among the cobbled streets of the old town (Vieux Ville) to multi-ethnic oneoffs in the Wazemmes district and the sprawling, futuristic Euralille shopping centre.

Shopping aside, a trip to France should also be about the fabulous things you can consume.

L'Huitri¨re is a Lille institution combining an upmarket fishmonger, an oyster bar and a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Set in a beautiful building full of lobster tanks and marine mosaics, the elegant dining room serves dishes such as langoustines with foie gras and sole meuni¨re. On a flying visit you can enjoy six oysters at the bar from £7.

As with nearby Belgium, meaty casseroles, roasted endives, seafood and rich sauces are the specialty of this region and you get the best example of this type of cuisine at Le Cl©ment Marot on Rue de Pas.

Chef Fran§ois Vandeweghe takes no prisoners with a rich menu using fresh produce from the daily market - he'll even offer a cookery lesson if he's in a good mood.

My orchestra of flavours started with a gourmet salad of foie gras and smoked steaklet of duck, followed by seafood casserole, ending with fantasy island - egg white and sugar whipped into a cloud, floating upon a luxurious ocean of cr¨me anglaise.

The best-value meal I had was a £17 lunch menu at cellar restaurant Le Barbue d'Anvers, which specialises in a rich beef stew with a hint of cinnamon. The plates were so big I barely had room for post-meal cheese.

Instead, I took home a chunk of maroilles, a fine soft cheese that smells like a baby's nappy but fortunately tastes divine.

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Since Lille became European Capital of Culture in 2004 it has transformed itself into a destination for art lovers. Now, the area houses some of the finest galleries in Europe.

The grand Palais Des Beaux Arts offers a panorama of European art from antiquity to the 20th Century.

It houses more than 190 masterpieces by Donatello, Goya, Monet and an exhibition on Louis Boilly, commemorating the 250th anniversary of his birthday.

More accessible for the casual art goer is the Tri Postal.

Housed in a converted mail sorting office, it's the perfect canvas for the current exhibition of artistic creations from the past 40 years.

Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup Can is there, along with Gabriel Orozco's bizarre slimming down of a classic Citro«n.

The most impressive gallery I visited was La Piscine, in nearby Roubaix.

The restored art deco swimming pool is worth visiting for the ornate, sundrenched pool room alone. Besides the amusing historical display of public bathing (which includes giant pairs of Speedos) it is home to magnificent fine arts, textiles and ceramics.

A short trip to Lille can be cheaper - and quicker to reach by train - than a city break in Britain.

And visiting in the festive season is bound to fill you with Christmas spirit.

FACTFILE

EUROSTAR operates up to nine daily services from London St Pancras International to Lille with return fares from £69.

Standard Premier fares start from £189 return.

Business Premier fares start from £450 return.

See eurostar.com or call 08432 186 186.

Eurostar Plus Culture is a partnership between Eurostar and some of Europe's most popular museums and galleries in Brussels, Paris, London and Lille.

Travellers present their Eurostar ticket to take advantage of 2-for-1 entry into paying exhibitions.

Lille galleries and museums include Le Palais des Beaux-Arts, La Piscine - Mus©e d'art et d'industrie Andr© Diligent, LaM - Lille M©tropole Mus©e d'art moderne, d'art contemporain et d'art brut, Muba Eug¨ne Leroy, Tourcoing, Le Fresnoy - Studio national des arts contemporains.

See eurostarplus.co.uk.

Eurostar Plus Gourmet offers travellers discounts at 20 top restaurants in Lille and Paris.

To take advantage of discounts of up to 20% visit eurostarplus.co.uk/ gourmet to select your preferred restaurant.

Customers are then transferred online to toptable.com to book.

Rooms at the five-star Hermitage Gantois, Rue de Paris, Lille, cost from £136.

Breakfast is £16.