Parc Henri Matisse occupies the space between Lille-Europe station and the old city, making it an easy first or last stop for visitors arriving or departing by TGV. The park is formally landscaped with lawns, paths, and a small lake — pleasant enough, though not exceptional. Its unusual feature is the Île Derborence: a small artificial island at the centre of a reflecting pool that has been deliberately left to grow wild and untended since the park opened in 1995. The island is inaccessible to the public and visible only from the surrounding paths, a patch of spontaneous woodland rising improbably from a formal urban park.
The park was named after Henri Matisse, who was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 50 kilometres to the southeast, in 1869. It connects to the Euralille shopping complex on one side and the old town on the other, and is a useful route between the station and Vieux-Lille if you prefer walking to the metro.