April in Paris has been worth singing about for years but as FRANCINE CLEE discovered, it's not the only place to love in springtimeLet's be honest. Antwerp isn't a name to inspire you when you're planning your romantic springtime getaway. It doesn't roll off the tongue like Paris or Rome - in fact, it sounds positively straitlaced and northern European.

Which is nothing short of a sin when you get there to find it's one of the most captivating cities in Europe.

Of course, it gets off to a flying start by being in Belgium, home to some of the world's finest chocolate.

I'm told the country also brews up some magnificent beer... but since I hate all ale, you'll have to take that on trust.

What I did lap up, strolling down the wide streets, glorious public squares and snug little byways of Antwerp, was the simply fabulous architecture. Tall slender guild houses hem the sixteenth-century Grote Markt like a crowd of proud city merchants, each stepped gable bearing the emblem of the business once conducted within.

Far more intimate surroundings delight the wanderer who steps into the Vlaeykengang district, a tangle of cobbled alleyways garlanded with greenery and lined with quaint old homes, cafes and shops.

The artist Pieter Paul Rubens made Antwerp his home, and his mansion is now a museum which remains much as it was when he walked its passageways or took the air in its beautiful cloistered gardens.

Visitors get a fascinating glimpse into the great man's world - his death bed, his kitchen, and some of his brilliant art works.

But there's much more than history to Antwerp - it's a smart, cosmopolitan centre crammed with stunning shopping.

The city is getting an international name for cutting-edge fashion, and is home to designers such as Ann Demeulemeester and Dries Van Noten and sells a range of glad rags seldom seen in provincial Britain.

People are clearly prosperous in Antwerp, and it could be the diamond trade that has made the city's fortune.

For years it remained a secret that the city was the centre of the global diamond industry; seven out of ten of the world's diamonds are polished or traded here every year.

Traders in the colourful diamond quarter all but sprint from house to house, toting their precious merchandise in stout black briefcases chained to their wrists.

Sleek shoppers browse in the plush gem showrooms, toying with the sort of trinket that represents a year's hard graft to lesser mortals like myself.

All this variety is not hard on the feet in Antwerp's flat streets and relatively compact centre.

But your wanderings will sharpen the appetite and there's some top-notch grub to be had in the city's atmospheric restaurants.

Caf society here ranges from the sort of bistro you automatically associate with Paris, to ultra-modern glamorous bars and coffee shops.

Great city - shame about the name.