From the bumpy roofs of houses in the “thirty six guild streets” to temples with old curving roofs hidden within the densely populated areas: from public buildings adapted from buildings of similar function in metropolitan France to villas built in diverse styles from various French localities; we take a stroll back to the old days to find traces of the graet changes Hanoi underwent as it entered modern times. Photos taken during the 19th century and postcards issued at the beginning of the 20th century help us visualize an old Hanoi that bears the appearance of an ancient urban area in the Orient but also quickly adopted Western architectural styles to become a multifaceted city as it commemorates its one-thousand-year anniversary.