The Flemish baroque architecture and the gothic town hall give Arras a picture postcard quality that, along with the green rolling countryside which cradles the city, creates the illusion that the ravages of time have somehow by-passed this part of north-eastern France.

The reality is that both the Flemish and gothic architecture are early 20th century and the peaceful surrounding countryside was a major Western Front battlefield in World War I.

Replica its buildings may be, but Arras – having been laid waste in WWI – does not attempt to mislead its visitors, rather the 2,000 year-old city celebrates its restoration which was so faithful that the faux gothic belfry that sits atop the town hall has been afforded World Heritage status.

With the city situated 3km from the Vimy Ridge-Bapaume front line and within easy access of over 150 war cemeteries, memorials and battle sites, the Office de Tourisme in Arras is acutely aware that war tourists constitute the lion’s share of their visitors.

To further enhance their appeal to this growing tourist sector, the city’s newest attraction, The Wellington Quarry: The Battle of Arras Memorial, is due to open in January, 2008.

Over two months in 1916, more than 400 Maoris working for the New Zealand Quarrying Company, tunnelled over 7km to join up medieval chalk mines to form a 24km network of tunnels that extended east of Arras and beyond the no-man’s-land that separated the German and Allied lines. To assist navigation around the network of interconnected tunnels the Maoris named the mines in a geographically accurate manner after cities in their native New Zealand - Christchurch, Nelson, Bluff etc.

Visitors will enter the network at the Wellington Quarry visitor centre, which has been designed and built half submerged to capture the subterranean essence of the exhibit. Once inside, a glass lift will transport small groups of visitors down a further 20 metres to the tunnels where a guide will take them on a 350m circuit of part of the network.

The tour, which will last just over an hour, uses original graffiti, drawings and sculptures along with sound and projected images to create a moving tribute to the young men who fought the April 9, 1917 Battle of Arras.

Arras, however, is much more than a battlefield city.

If your taste for the underworld is still not sated, the 40-minute tour of the Boves (three tiers of cellars from the 10th, 15th and 16th centuries) beneath the town hall is an excellent introduction to the city’s colourful 2,000-year history. The tour was all the more memorable for the witty polished bi-lingual delivery of François, the official guide, who gleefully informed us that the market squares are hosed down after Saturday trading and by Sunday – when I visited – the water has permeated the chalk in readiness to drip on the head of the ill-informed visitor.

The excellent Fine Arts Museum, housed in the 18th century Benedictine Saint-Vasst abbey, boasts a superb collection of 17th century paintings, as well as archaeological remnants the city’s Gallo-Roman past and a unique 15th century Arras tapestry - the craft that gave the town its name (Arras means tapestry in many languages, including Polish, Italian, and was in common usage in English in Elizabethan times, with Shakespeare using the term in both Henry IV part I and Hamlet).

And, with a city nature park, plenty of restaurants, cafes and bars to while away the afternoons and evenings, excellent Saturday markets in the adjoined Grand Place and Place des Heros squares and a network of pleasing lanes and thoroughfares to explore and enjoy, you may just find getting behind Arras’ façade is a worthwhile distraction.

Need to know

The Christmas markets, which are reputed to be the best in Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie (north of Paris), will be held on Saturdays between November 30 - December 24.

Where to eat

Restaurants in Arras are plentiful and varied enough to cater for all tastes and budgets. I can recommend the La Clef des Sens, 60-62 Place des Héros, 03.21.51.00.50, for an evening meal (€40 without wine). The menu is traditional French, and the view of the stunningly illuminated town hall from an upstairs window table will unlock your senses, as the name suggests.

For a cheap lunch, don’t be put off by the comedy pirate mannequin outside, try the mussel house Le Bateau du Ch'ti, 17 Place des Héros, 03.21.23.20.38 (€17 without wine).

Where to stay

I stayed at the Hotel des 3 Luppars, 49 Grand Place, 03.21.24.24.80. (€70/night including breakfast). Once I had removed the plastic undersheet from the bed I had a good night’s sleep and the building boasts the only original 15th century façade in Arras.

How to get there

Arras is an hour’s drive from Calais, where you leave Eurotunnel. By Eurostar from Waterloo, (TGV from Lille), the journey takes 2.5 hours. From November 14, the service moves to St Pancras and travel time will be cut by 20 minutes. To book go to RailEurope, 0870 8304862. From £69 return.

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