Where is the “French Quarter”?
During colonialism, a Vietnamese person stepping into Villa Francaise (The French City) – which was sometimes also known as the Westerner’s Quarter – felt like a  foreigner in the capital of his own country. Today, Hanoians still refer to that sector of the city as the “French Quarter”. 

The French Quarter’s main artery is Trang Tien street. Trang tien was famous during the colonial era for its imposing department store – Les Grands Magasin Reunis on the corner of Trang Tien and Hang Bai streets – as well as its café with live music, its luxurious hotels and restaurants, chic cinemas, and, of course, the majestic Municipal Theatre.  During colonialism, the spacious nearby avenues also bore French names such as: Boulevard Gambetta (now Tran Hung Dao street) and Boulevard Felix Faure (now Tran Phu). The magnificient trees and lavish neo classical villas on these streets contrasted with the Ancient’s Quarter narrow, compact lanes devoid of trees and teeming with Vietnamese residents.

Hoan Kiem was and is the hub of Hanoi’s administrative, economic, commercial and public service sectors. Its examples of remarkable French architecture include Saint Joseph’s Catheral (40 Nha Chung street, designed by an unknown architect and finished in 1883); the Municipal Theatre (a smaller version of the Opera House in Paris designed by Charles Garnier, 1 Trang Tien street, finished in 1911), the Government Guest House (12 Ngo Quyen street, formerly the Residence of the French Resident Superior of Tonkin, finished by architect Auguste – Henri Vildieu in 1911); the General Office of the Labour Union (65 Quan Su, finished by an unknown architect in 1902), the Supreme Court (48 Ly Thuong Kiet street, built between 1900 and 1906 by Auguste – Henri Vildieu), the History Museum (formerly the French Institute of Oriental Study Louis Finot Museum at 1 Pham Ngu Lao street), the Pasteur Institute (1 Yersin street) as well as many magnificent private villas. During colonialism, the Wesrtern Quarter also covered a vast area beyond the citadel that was limited on the North by West Lake and on the west by To Lich River. Today, the extension is in Ba Dinh District and includes many examples of French architecture as well as many fine houses that are now embassies.
Traveling to Hanoi, many foreigners who come from various countries could discover the beauty of Western Quarter, in particular French Quarter would become unmermorable time for you.