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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 10:00:08 GMT
Friday afternoon, I took the Thalys to Brussels because I had been wanting to immerse myself in total belgitude for some time. It was an unnecessary luxury to pay extra for 1st class for a trip that doesn't even last an hour and twenty minutes, but I must admit that I enjoyed it very much. The seats are huge and luxurious, and it's like 1st class on an airplane -- a selection of free newspapers and magazines and the personnel who come to give you free drinks and snacks of remarkable variety and quality. I don't know who caters their little sandwiches and pastries, but I thought they were outstanding. In the old days, Gare du Nord in Brussels was the principal station, surrounded by an incredibly sleazy area of hooker bars and sex shops. However, when the Eurostar began service to Brussels, it was decided that it was time to redevelop the Gare du Midi and use that as the main hub instead. Brussels is not a rail terminus, so there are actually three stations in the city, the other one being called (surprise!) Brussels Central, which is used mostly for commuter lines. This was my first time arriving at Gare du Midi since generally I drive to Brussels rather than take the train. After all, it's only 300 km, but it is also 3 hours of boring motorway, not to mention having to find some place to leave the car once you arrive. Anyway, Gare du Midi used to have the reputation of being even sleazier than Gare du Nord so I was curious to see what they had done. I sort of know my way around Brussels, or thought I did, because I've been there dozens of times. I decided that I would just walk to my hotel, which like all of the older grand hotels of the city, is next to Gare du Nord. So basically this meant walking across town, but Brussels is even more compact than Paris, so that didn't worry me and I had practically no baggage to carry. I figured if I got lost, I would just hop on a bus, tram or metro. In case of emergency, I even had a map but I didn't want to look at it. This shiny modern Brussels was in total contradiction with my memory of the city, though, so I was already disoriented.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 10:14:28 GMT
The moment I saw a metro sign, I figured it was time to spend 2 euros on a ticket. The station was not actually there at all, just the way to get there... up this escalator (actually working). ... through a sleazy plexiglas tube It was a bridge over some sort of wasteland. There really was a metro station at the other end. Like a real tourist, I had a bit of trouble figuring out the ticket machine, which I also had a bit of trouble finding, since there was only one and it was small. And once I had my ticket, I didn't know how to get through the turnstile. Like in Paris, most of the turnstiles were for electronic passes, but I finally spotted some with a ticket validator on a separate post. Thank god that somebody came and validated his ticket, because it would have taken me 10 minutes to figure out what to do with the damned thing. I should have taken a picture of the machine because you are probably all thinking " What's your problem?" Hah! You'll just have to figure it yourselves when you go to Brussels!
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Post by tod2 on Aug 11, 2013 11:06:09 GMT
Great start Kerouac - I have never been to Brussels so you can imagine that I am squinting at every detail in your photos! One thing I 'may' enjoy when I eventually get there, is speaking a bastardised version of Flemish. I coped very well in Amsterdam with Dutch so I am hoping my Afrikaans will stand me in good stead in Belgium. This is one, ( of many) of your photo-essays I will be keeping filed away on my computer!
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Post by mez on Aug 11, 2013 14:07:59 GMT
Interesting photos.
Brussels has some beautiful buildings.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 15:43:07 GMT
Finally got to the hotel. I snagged a fabulous deal on one of the hotel booking sites, so I offered myself a night at the Crowne Plaza, whose normal 400€ rate I could never pay. It is a grand old hotel from the beginning of the 20th century, now considerably upgraded with décor (they say) inspired by the art of Gustav Klimt. It was created by the French right after they annexed Belgium in 1795, but that only lasted about 30 years. The huge orangerie was built in 1829. Belgian endive (called chicon in Belgium) was invented there in 1830. Anyway, the fate of the garden has been as unstable as the entire country for its entire existence. In 1935, it was decided to demolish everything and build the national library on the site. They didn't quite follow through with this plan, but the site was not spared when Gare du Nord was connected to Gare du Midi that same year and the majority of the plants were dug up and thrown away. In fact, a lot of the downtown area was simply demolished then in a sort of post-Haussmannian frenzy. People are happy now with the wide boulevards with plenty of room for the tramways, but the buildings that replaced the demolished ones are not really from the finest period of world architecture (think "Stalin"). It took until 1952 to complete the rail junction. Okay, but what about the botanical gardens? There's the rub. While this park is still called " jardin botanique," the Belgian national botanical gardens were moved to the suburbs of Meise in 1939. The remaining plants were dug up and moved and the whole place was abandoned for years. The big orangerie building became the cultural centre of the French-speaking community in 1984 under the name Le Botanique. It has three concert halls and is considered to be one of the major pop and rock venues of the city. One of the concert halls is called the Witloof, which is the Flemish name of chicon. It is in that very room that chicon was created.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 16:06:00 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 11, 2013 16:25:45 GMT
Very interesting report Kerouac, it reminds me of a lot of English cities. I do really like the Klimt inspired decor of your hotel....
but I think I prefer Paris... ;D
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Post by lagatta on Aug 11, 2013 16:44:14 GMT
Yes, like chicon and witloof... There was also an "autotuin" in Amsterdam, near where I used to stay there: www.autotuin.nl/cargarden.htmlCheery, Paris is more harmonious than Brussels, which has a strange mix of French, Flemish and for some reason British-inspired building styles, as well as the mid-century Stalinoid ones and the later sterile EU examples. I haven't seen much attractive modern architecture there (unlike in the Netherlands). It does have a charm of its own though, and some of the really dingy areas seem a bit spruced up now. I'm not an expert on this, but Brussels and its metropolitan area seem to be composed of a myriad autonomous or semi-autonomous "communes", and I don't think central planning is as powerful as in Paris. Beuurrrkk! Yet another Zara, or H&M, or whatever, taking over what had been congenial space in the city centre. I've even observed this in Québec City, last time I went to the historic centre (when I'm there for work I'm down the hill from there). So many former local businesses have become multinational chain clothing stores, if not electronics or some other disposable stuff.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 16:57:42 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Aug 11, 2013 17:21:36 GMT
Yes, it is remarkable, and such a more elaborate take on Flemish-style architecture than one finds in the largely Calvinist Netherlands.
No, I didn't get distracted by touristy beer shops. You can find quite enough variety of beers in a good supermarket. I only went to a local pub, not very far from Gare du Midi, with some friends who worked near there and lived not far away in Forest/Voorst.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 17:28:40 GMT
The famous Manneken Pis is just a block or two behind the town hall, but I did not bother to go and see it this time. If you have never seen it in person, you should know that the statue is absolutely tiny and there is no way to take an interesting picture of it, especially with 20 or 30 people standing around gawking. So if you want to see it, Google is your friend.
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Post by htmb on Aug 11, 2013 18:25:51 GMT
Delightful, Kerouac, and requires much more study on my part, for sure. I'm so glad to see your photos. A close friend was in Belgium and the Netherlands this summer, but didn't take pictures. Can you imagine.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 19:39:49 GMT
As it was around 20:30 by now, it was time to look for a place to have dinner. As much as I generally avoid the tourist areas of Paris for meals, tonight I was willing to eat in the tourist zone and pay the price.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 20:07:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2013 20:25:26 GMT
I was then drawn into a rather strange conversation by a young British couple, who had determined I spoke English through my own fault. They kept mentioning details that they were seeing on the Grand' Place and my eyes would look in that direction. I now know just about all of the details of their lives, but I will spare you the vast majority of the détails. They were celebrating his 34th birthday and were not very well travelled, particularly him. They have of course been to Paris but he doesn't feel comfortable there because of security. It just doesn't seem safe. The wife was more interesting because she works in urban planning and is specialized in "shared usage zones" which are becoming increasingly popular in both England and France. The concept is that if you remove all signs, all crosswalks, all traffic signals, the area becomes very secure because drivers become really, really careful. A number of the cities in the provinces of France have adopted this for their downtown areas and everybody loves the system. Paris is testing a number of these zones at the moment (including in my neighbourhood but only on the side streets), but frankly I have not seen any difference yet. Since the city of Paris does not have control over the main north-south axis of the city (which is under military control), no progress can really be made as long as no changes can be made there. Anyway, they plied me with drinks, although I insisted on downsizing my beer, and then they were off for some birthday sex at around 22:30. It was finally getting dark.
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Post by fumobici on Aug 12, 2013 3:17:19 GMT
Looks well worth a visit! It's possible I'll be in the neighborhood this coming Spring, perhaps might be worth a diversion to give a quick tour.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2013 10:42:04 GMT
The next morning I decided to explore the Gare du Nord area a little bit before checking out of the hotel and proceeding on my two missions before the train back to Paris. Was the area still as bad as it used to be? Then I checked out of the hotel to take care of my agenda.
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Post by mossie on Aug 12, 2013 11:24:55 GMT
You have really given us the grand tour, thanks.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 12, 2013 11:26:55 GMT
Great tour Kerouac! Now that you have spent a night at the Crowne Plaza, you would have noticed the very wide passageways everywhere. The carpeting is ( I'm pretty sure) the exact pattern of the one in the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza in rue l"Echiquier in the 10th, where the passages to the rooms are wide like the ones you photographed. (I don't know how they managed the hotel set-up as downstairs in the foyer the lift was of the very old 'cage' type still in working order in many hotels in Paris!)
It's interesting to read your experiences of being a tourist ! I think you had a lucky escape from that couple. Were they looking for a threesome maybe? ;D Thank you for the photo of my favourite beer....Leffe!
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Post by bjd on Aug 12, 2013 11:44:41 GMT
I was in Brussels last September on a few hour stopover, so just wandered in the central area, but a few years ago I took my sister. Found a few ratty areas, but others that are away from the Grande Place but more fun and more interesting, like St Catherine, Sablon-Marolles and the big flea market at Place de Jeu de Balle.
And we also ran into the fun fair on the way back to the train station.
Mossie -- there is a Leffe pub that puts tables outside in nice weather somewhere central (not at Grande Place though).
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2013 12:14:27 GMT
I walked from the hotel to the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art about which I made a little report. It was an excellent way to start a Saturday morning. I read that the cathedral used to have buildings hugging it just like that other church and it was only when the city was being dug up for the rail link that they were all torn down and the square in front of the cathedral created.
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Post by anshjain97 on Aug 12, 2013 12:16:39 GMT
Looks like a great place- was this just a sudden unplanned trip? Really wonderful to just pop over elsewhere. I've had Brussels on my list since a few years and now it has moved several places upwards. TThanks for sharing!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2013 12:34:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2013 13:44:40 GMT
Well, I'm proud to say that even if I was too stupid to find my way across Brussels on foot upon arrival, I did it completely without a hitch on my way back... 22 hours there was not enough. No Atomium, no royal palace, no Grand Sablon, no Magritte Museum... I'll be back.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2013 13:50:21 GMT
Looks like a great place- was this just a sudden unplanned trip? Really wonderful to just pop over elsewhere. I've had Brussels on my list since a few years and now it has moved several places upwards. Thanks for sharing! It wasn't that sudden -- I decided to go about 3 weeks ago and then just looked around to which days had the cheapest tickets.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 12, 2013 15:00:29 GMT
I liked the bilingual blue sheep.
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Post by bjd on Aug 12, 2013 15:17:01 GMT
The day I was there with my sister, the royal palace was having a special "open house" and some of the rooms were open to the public. There wasn't much of line, so we went and walked through a bit of the place. It's huge and I'm not all that interested in palaces anyway.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 12, 2013 17:53:00 GMT
That was one heck of a cathedral Kerouac! Really beautiful glass windows and interior. Thanks for taking us right to the station and on board with you....Nice seats!
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Post by lagatta on Aug 12, 2013 18:40:24 GMT
I've take the Thalys from Paris to Amsterdam and had to take first class as there were no more second-class seats left. Unfortunately, I was jet-lagged, so scarcely enjoyed the good nibbles and drinks. Remember open-faced smoked-salmon sandwiches, always a winner for me.
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Post by mossie on Aug 12, 2013 18:51:57 GMT
I was impressed by the fox guarding the crockery in the flea market
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