Lille, France

LILLE (Rijsel in Flemish), northern France's largest city, surprises many visitors with its impressive architecture, the winding streets of its tastefully restored old quarter (Vieux Lille), its plethora of excellent restaurants, and bustling nightlife. It boasts a large university, a modern métro system, and a very serious attitude to culture, with some great museums. At the same time, the city spreads far into the countryside in every direction, a jumble of suburbs and factories, and for the French it remains the very symbol of the country's heavy industry and working-class politics. Lille is facing up to many of the tough issues of contemporary France: poverty and racial conflict, a crime rate similar to that of Paris and Marseille, and a certain regionalism – Lillois sprinkle their speech with a French– Flemish patois ("Ch'ti") and to some extent assert a Flemish identity.