And finally, it is a city that is becoming more than just the sum of these two parts, a place with an attitude all of its own.
The Flemish influence is loud and clear in the boutiques and bars to the west of the Bourse, just five minutes walk from Grand Place, a tourist honeypot maybe but still undeniably dazzling.
The rows of one-off boutiques selling clothes and furniture are inspiring and fun, and when shopping palls there is a meticulously preserved Art Nouveau bar in Rue des Chartreux called Le Greenwich, where Magritte is said to have hung out.
A combination of old marble and nicely beaten-up leather banquettes, the Greenwich probably hasn't been touched for 50 years — the fabulous downstairs loos are museum pieces — and it is a clear beneficiary of such benign neglect.
Party-lovers can find an array of other, noisier bars in this maze of streets to serve every taste in music and drink. While I didn't have time to try it out, there are plenty who swear by the Archiduc, an Art Deco palace, in Rue Antoine Dansaert, to get you in the mood.
But no one should come to Brussels without eating — lots. Here, too, it also scores over Paris, in that it is still possible to dine magnificently for a reasonable price, even in a touristy area.
Away from Grand Place, in the Galeries Royales St-Hubert, is L'Ogenblik, an unpretentious culinary haven when I lived in Brussels and unchanged after 30 years in business. Even its simple marble-topped tables with cheerful canisters of salt live on, as does the quality of its no-nonsense but tasty food I struggled to find last time in Paris.
I never knew before my first meal at L'Ogenblik how tasty a salad can be made to be, or how tender a sirloin. This will not be a meal to rush.
Faster fare can be found in the buzzy Art Nouveau surroundings of Le Perroquet, just off the elegant square of the Walloon-dominated Place du Grand Sablon market, where Tresanton hotelier Olga Polizzi can regularly be found stocking up on antiques and objets d'art.
Le Perroquet — always packed, so you may have to wait for a table — specialises in glamorous young waitresses serving delicious salads and pizzas at breakneck speed.
When I lived opposite, it was so cheap and so good that I soon forgot about cooking for myself. If only such a place existed in London. Now prices have gone up some (although it's still only about a fiver for a huge salad) but it's still worth a visit for the experience.
Not least because to reach it you will have to walk past L'Epicerie on Rue Ernest Allard, a tiny jewel of a grocer's selling homemade tarts and pies and a seductive array of goodies from 25-year-old vintage balsamic at 52 a bottle to the runniest of cheeses.
Some can't wait to get home to eat their bounty so L'Epicerie, although just a shop, has helpfully placed a couple of chairs and tables outside for the gastronomically impatient.
Back on the Sablon itself (also home to Flamant, one of the most seductive interiors shops in Europe), no visit to Brussels is complete without paying homage to Wittamer, temple of Belgian chocolate. No wonder they are chocolatiers to the Belgian royal family, who live just a stone's throw away around the corner. Treat yourself and you'll see why the king is such a fan.
Actually, talking of fans, I realise that I have truly changed my mind about Brussels. OK, it will never be Paris or Amsterdam. It is just a little bit too comfortably bourgeois, even now, but it draws on some of the best of both to become something uniquely of its own. I don't intend to wait another 16 years before I go again.
WAY TO GO
The hotels The Dominican has doubles from ¤115 B&B (9 rue Leopold, 1000, www.thedominican.carlton.be). Hotel Amigo has doubles from 349 B&B, www.roccofortecollection.com.
The restaurants/bars L'Ogenblik (1 Galerie des Princes, www.ogenblik.be), Le Perroquet (31 Rue Watteau, 0032 2 512 99 22), The Greenwich, 7 Rue des Chartreux) Archiduc (6 Rue Antoine Dansaert, www.archiduc.net)
The museum The new Magritte Museum is open from 10am-5pm daily (except Monday), 8pp, www.musee-magritte-museum.be
