  The main part of this contribution to the special issue of EJM-B/Fluids
dedicated to Patrick Huerre outlines the problem of the subcritical transition
to turbulence in wall-bounded flows in its historical perspective with emphasis
on plane Couette flow, the flow generated between counter-translating parallel
planes. Subcritical here means discontinuous and direct, with strong
hysteresis. This is due to the existence of nontrivial flow regimes between the
global stability threshold Re_g, the upper bound for unconditional return to
the base flow, and the linear instability threshold Re_c characterized by
unconditional departure from the base flow. The transitional range around Re_g
is first discussed from an empirical viewpoint ({\S}1). The recent
determination of Re_g for pipe flow by Avila et al. (2011) is recalled. Plane
Couette flow is next examined. In laboratory conditions, its transitional range
displays an oblique pattern made of alternately laminar and turbulent bands, up
to a third threshold Re_t beyond which turbulence is uniform. Our current
theoretical understanding of the problem is next reviewed ({\S}2): linear
theory and non-normal amplification of perturbations; nonlinear approaches and
dynamical systems, basin boundaries and chaotic transients in minimal flow
units; spatiotemporal chaos in extended systems and the use of concepts from
statistical physics, spatiotemporal intermittency and directed percolation,
large deviations and extreme values. Two appendices present some recent
personal results obtained in plane Couette flow about patterning from numerical
simulations and modeling attempts.
