\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \qj\li105\ri195 \f1 \b Arras: the great square\par
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\b0 Northern France, point of juncture with Great Britain, Belgium, and the Netherland
s, a land of peaceful exchanges and military conflicts, of fairs and battlefields, where the cities bear witness to the vitality of its bourgeois families. Ever since the Middle Ages, the latter have displayed their wealth by the construction of cathedra
ls and, as a symbol of their independence, the belfries and fine arcaded houses that are laid out around large squares. Destroyed, bombarded, razed, and besieged, these cities have always been able to rise again and are now adapting to the economy of the
European Union while preserving the traditions of a certain \i joie de vivre\i0 that find expression in \i ôkermessesö\i0 and \i ôducassesö\i0 (local fairs and feasts).\par
