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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2011 21:22:29 GMT
I have been to Charleroi before and decided that it was perhaps the ugliest city that I have ever seen in Belgium. So I decided that I had to stop for the night this time, because I am extremely intrigued by homely places. After a first night on the border of Luxembourg (where I stopped to do do a bit a shopping the next morning), I continued on the Belgium in the icy morning. I was driving a Smart, which is a very amusing car which handles surprisingly well on a motorway at top speed, but which has such limited suspension that it is often said that if you drive over a coin on the road, you can determine if it is heads or tails. Are we in Belgium yet? It looked like it when I stopped here to pee, and I was certain when I had to pay 0.20€ to go through a turnstile to do so. You no longer pay to pee anywhere along the road in France or Luxembourg. But in Belgium, it is a tradition that dies hard. I had a cheap deal at the Ibis near the main train station. Ibis is a reliable two-star chain, but what made this even more special was that I was in Charleroi, the ugliest city that I have ever seen in Belgium. The hotel had recently been renovated, fine, and the train station was being renovated, great, but the rest of the neighborhood was in a horrendous state of ruins. Actually, it turned out that just about the entire neighborhood had been expropriated, all of the tenants had been evicted, and nearly all of the buildings in the "basse ville" section were empty. Delightful! There is an urban renewal project planned, and I am quite sure that the results will be spectacular in 2 or 3 years. The only problem was that I was there right now and everything was in ruins.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2011 21:30:57 GMT
The books on the left were priced at 0.50€ and the books on the right were priced at 0.25€.
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Post by mich64 on Mar 9, 2011 21:39:20 GMT
Well, I would agree with you. Charleroi is not the most pleasant place to visit if your photo essay is an example of the city.
However, I loved the pee stop. If I had my way, I would stop at every station on the motorway of our trips. I have a fascination with them in Europe. So much more to offer than their counterparts here in Canada. Each country were also unique in their own way. Paying to pee in each country was also an experience, especially the turnstiles!! The lady we had in Germany that only spoke Polish was an experience as well. Thank you Kerouac for sharing your weekend with us. Cheers! Mich
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2011 21:40:21 GMT
Are we having fun yet? There were a few places that showed the promise of things to come, for example this covered gallery. Most of the places in the gallery were closed, but there were a few places resisting. The explanation of what was happening was that the gallery had been classified as a historical protected building and had been renovated, but that with the new plan a real estate company had bought the building and had forced out most of the tenants. It was trying to get rid of the rest of them for an ultra prestigious operation for upcoming luxury shops.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2011 22:09:14 GMT
The nearby market square was one of the worst that I have ever seen. There was no logic to the stands, which were set up at random with no consideration to a logical itinerary or even a specific path to walk. It was only normal to see terrifying cannibalistic imagery on the roast chicken stand. Were these feathered creatures perhaps offering up their roasted child to passing customers? The rest of the business district was a delight.
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Post by mich64 on Mar 9, 2011 22:49:45 GMT
Oh yes, I am enjoying this very much. The renovated gallery is quite attractive.
Photo #6 in you latest post reminded me of two towns, Imst, Austria and Forbach, France. There are streets there that look indentical to these.
Cheers, Mich
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2011 6:45:21 GMT
I'm exaggerating -- there were a few quite interesting places. Only in Belgium can you find shops devoted to Tintin. I was a bit surprised by their insistance of making this street shady. Shade is something that is rarely required in this part of Europe. Everybody knows that it is impossible not to take a glance into a mysterious tiny chapel.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2011 7:00:56 GMT
The afternoon was coming to an end, it was time for the transformation to begin. Brass instruments and drums could be heard. It was time for the first carnival gangs to start roaming the streets.
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Post by onlymark on Mar 10, 2011 9:50:14 GMT
Looks like you've got some ancient Egyptians there.
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Post by thill25 on Mar 10, 2011 17:30:00 GMT
Cool photos! Did you have some good Belgian beer? ;D
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2011 18:42:09 GMT
Mark -- you know that some Egyptians are still streaming into Europe for safety. Thill -- actually, when you live in France, there is no need to go to Belgium for Belgian beer. Anyway, I returned to the hotel for a brief respite but ventured out again when night had fallen. The train station looked a bit different from during the day. It was time to see what was happening up in the haute ville, which is in better shape and where most of the nightlife can be found. The streets linking the low city with the high city were not exactly hotbeds of activity although it was not late. The main uptown attraction was the bars and restaurants, and every one of them was filled with carnival "gangs" singing, playing their instruments and beating on their drums. Every ten minutes or so (the time to drink a beer), they would go marching and singing to a new place. It was not as improvised as you might imagine, because each and every gang had at least two traffic wardens with flashlights and protective vests. I was there pretty early, but I imagine that their presence was much more important around midnight after 15 or 20 beers.
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Post by fumobici on Mar 10, 2011 23:23:06 GMT
Very cool reportage. The place actually looks nice enough to me for being in Wallonia. I've heard heard scare tales from Flemish folk Oh and with all due deference to my N European forebears, we probably shouldn't be trusted to do Carnival.
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Post by thill25 on Mar 11, 2011 16:10:29 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2011 6:49:33 GMT
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 12, 2011 14:34:42 GMT
fun report, K!
Have you ever attended Basel's Morgenstreich? To me, the best carnival in Switzerland.
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Post by bjd on Mar 14, 2011 17:14:28 GMT
Maybe if the sun had been shining and the leaves were on the trees? God, that place looks depressing. It's lucky there are all those places to get fast food -- otherwise it would have been even sadder.
Even the people taking part in the carnival looked depressed.
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Post by hwinpp on Mar 15, 2011 4:36:11 GMT
Most of the people in the carnival look as happy as the city itself...
Why is it that the mere mention of Belgium conjures up exactly these images in my brain?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2011 22:06:58 GMT
Charleroi has been in decline since the Bois du Cazier tragedy in 1956. It was a coal mine tragedy - 262 dead including 136 Italian immigrants. Only 10 miners survived and the site is a museum now.
Charleroi was the biggest coal mining city in Belgium and the last pit closed in 1984. Most of the steel mills are closed too.
Post industrial life is hard.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2011 14:00:49 GMT
I don't know how many mining tragedies there were all through the region, but I know that there were plenty of them. In spite of the unemployment problem, I was relieved when the last coal mine in France closed in 2004, because it was an inhuman job that nobody should have to do.
I just looked it up, and apparently Belgium closed their mines faster because it appears that the last coal mine closed in 1992.
Unfortunately, the various countries are all still using coal, but they are buying it from places like China and Africa where 10 times more people are dying in mines for 10 times less salary.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2011 23:00:32 GMT
Belgium On March 4, 1887, 120 miners died in a coal mine in La Boule, Borinage due to a methane explosion. On the morning of August 8, 1956, a fire in the mine Bois du Cazier in Marcinelle caused 262 victims, with only 12 survivors. A mining cart on an elevator cage hit an oil pipe and electricity lines, with the resulting fire trapping the miners. Most of the victims were immigrants (136 Italians, 8 Poles, 6 Greeks, 5 Germans, 5 Frenchmen, 3 Hungarians, 1 Englishman, 1 Dutchman, 1 Russian and 1 Ukrainian).
France
The Courrières mine disaster was the worst ever pit mine disaster in Europe. It caused the death of 1,099 miners (including many children) in Northern France on 10 March 1906. It seems that this disaster was surpassed only by the Benxihu Colliery accident in China on April 26, 1942, which killed 1,549 miners. A dust explosion, the cause of which is not known with certainty, devastated a coal mine operated by the Compagnie des mines de houille de Courrières (founded in 1852) between the villages of Méricourt (404 killed), Sallaumines (304 killed), Billy-Montigny (114 killed), and Noyelles-sous-Lens (102 killed) about two kilometres (one mile) to the east of Lens, in the Pas-de-Calais département (about 220 km, or 140 miles, north of Paris). A large explosion was heard soon after 06:30 on the morning of Saturday 10 March 1906. An elevator cage at Shaft 3 was thrown to the surface, damaging pit-head workings; windows and roofs were blown out on the surface at Shaft 4; an elevator cage raised at Shaft 2 contained only dead and unconscious miners.
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Post by Rockinon on Mar 8, 2015 16:00:54 GMT
I no longer travel much, can't get insurance because of a heart problem. From your pictures of Charleroi, plus travelling about the place online using Google Street-views, I must say that Charleroi doesn't look award-winning bad. I've seen much worse travelling about the States. I live close to Detroit if that gives you any idea. Simply add employment to the city's economic mix and I could see the little place being a great spot to live again.
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Post by lagatta on Mar 9, 2015 0:18:58 GMT
Actually, I find those tall narrow houses behind K2's hotel could have a certain charm if they were in good shape. Not "pretty", but intriguing.
In Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, there is a chorus originally of miners called "Men of the Deeps". Deeps referred to mines. Employment options there were the Deeps and the Deep (fishery). Both very lethal career choices.
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Post by whatagain on Jul 15, 2015 19:33:56 GMT
Hi Kerouac ! Since I posted about Mons where I studied, I may as well post here where I spent my youth - and went back last week. I took a walk too and you might be interested to know that - le passage de la Bourse is still standing but all around has been demolished; - the market place is now a gigantic hole - it is very desert...
It seems you were there during the 'soumonces', or preparations of the carnival - you defintely see some 'Gilles' with the belt of the 'Gilles' but with a costume of a mining worker.
Now you know why I am amazed by Paris everyday I spend there...:-)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 20:09:07 GMT
Well, it appears that you had a real aesthetic reason to leave your hometown, pariswat! Are your parents still there?
But I would very much like to return to Charleroi before long even if it is not ready yet.
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Post by whatagain on Jul 16, 2015 8:36:23 GMT
Hi Ker, My Dad is selling the house and moving. My uncle is moving in a few weeks to ... Waterloo (!)
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 16, 2015 8:55:46 GMT
Brilliant report - haven't seen this before. My colleagues wondered why I suddenly laughed out loud...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2017 20:10:50 GMT
It has been six years since I made this report, so I felt it was time to return for another look. I try to follow the Belgian press as much as possible, and one of the things that I had read recently was the renewal -- or at least the beginning of the renewal -- of the lower town. They managed to build a big shopping mall exactly where the market square was (reply #4 above), about which I had written " The nearby market square was one of the worst that I have ever seen. There was no logic to the stands, which were set up at random with no consideration to a logical itinerary or even a specific path to walk." So, no great loss, but what about the new stuff and the surrounding streets? First I had to get there. I drove from Paris to Reims and then up to Charleville-Mézières to get up to Belgium. Charleroi used to be such an important industrial and mining city that the road signs list Charleroi as an important direction already starting in Reims. There's just something about crossing the border into Belgium that lets me know that I'm not in France anymore. And then I entered the city on the N5. I parked in one of the train station lots along the Sambre, which still looks more like a canal than a river. All of the repaving in front of the train station has obviously been completed. Looks nice. There is still plenty of room for a street market in front of the shopping mall. I went inside the mall. Well, I would have taken a look anyway, but this time I was following orders from my bladder. The new structure has also absorbed the nearby old buildings including the covered historic Passage de la Bourse.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2017 20:21:05 GMT
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Post by bjd on Apr 29, 2017 8:25:33 GMT
Some improvement but still a long way to go. But if there is still high unemployment, people will not be shopping in the fancy shops.
I suppose Charleroi is indicated for people flying on Ryanair.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2017 10:18:12 GMT
Yes, when they arrive at "Brussels South Charleroi Airport," they are probably told "go in the opposite direction from Charleroi as fast as you can!"
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