The east side of the Grande-Place is dominated by the old exchange building, the lavishly ornate Ancienne Bourse , as perfect a representative of its age as could be imagined. To the merchants of seventeenth-century Lille, all things Flemish were the epitome of wealth and taste; they were not men to stint on detail, neither here nor on the imposing surrounding mansions. Recently cleaned up, the courtyard of the Bourse is now an organized flea market, with stalls selling books and flowers. Lounging around the fountain at the centre of the square is a favourite Lillois pastime. In the middle of the fountain is a column commemorating the city's resistance to the Austrian siege of 1792, topped by La Déesse (the goddess), modelled on the wife of the mayor at the time.

 

In the adjacent square of place du Théâtre , you can see how Flemish Renaissance architecture became assimilated and Frenchified in grand flights of Baroque extravagance. The superlative example of this style is the Opéra , whose facade sports sculptures symbolizing music and tragedy, with Apollo among the muses. It was built at the turn of the twentieth century by Louis Cordonnier, who also designed the extravagant belfry of the neighbouring Nouvelle Bourse and Chamber of Commerce, now the city's main post office.

From the north side of these two squares, the smart shopping streets, rues Esquermoise and Lepelletier, lead towards the heart of old Lille, a warren of red-brick terraces on cobbled lanes and passages. It is an area of great character and charm, successfully reclaimed and reintegrated into the mainstream of the city's life, having been for years a dilapidated North African ghetto. To experience the atmosphere of Vieux Lille, head up towards rue d'Angleterre, rue du Pont-Neuf and the Porte de Gand, rue de la Monnaie and place Lion-d'Or. Places to eat and drink are everywhere.

There are no particular sights apart from the Hospice Comtesse on rue de la Monnaie: twelfth-century in origin - though much reconstructed in the eighteenth century - it served as a hospital until as recently as 1945. Its old ward, the Salle des Malades , and the chapel can be visited (Mon 2-6pm, Wed-Sun 10am-6pm, Fri till 7pm; 15F/¬2.29).

Charles de Gaulle was born in this part of the town, at 9 rue Princesse, in 1890. His house is now a museum (Wed-Sun 10am-noon & 2-5pm; 15F/¬2.29); among the exhibits is the bullet-riddled Citroën in which he was driving when the OAS attempted to assassinate him in 1962. Another must for military buffs is the nearby Citadelle that overlooks the old town to the northwest, constructed in familiar star-shaped fashion by Vauban in the seventeenth century. Still in military hands, it too can be visited, though only on Sundays from May to October and by guided tour (45F/¬6.86; tours depart from the citadel's Porte Royale at 3pm).

Amid all the city's secular pomp, Lille's ecclesiastical architecture used to seem rather subdued. However, the façade of the cathedral, Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille , just off rue de la Monnaie, breaks this mould. The body of the cathedral is a fairly homogeneous neo-Gothic construction that was begun in 1854, but the new façade, finished just in time for the millennium celebrations in December 1999, is completely different: a translucent marble front supported by steel wires, which is best appreciated at night when lit up from within. More traditional, but also impressive, is the church of St-Maurice , close to the station off place de la Gare, a classic red-brick Flemish Hallekerke, with the characteristic five aisles of the style.