2022 France and Brussels

The Beginning

Alan Joyce was right. I am out of practice at holiday traveling.  In spite of several post COVID trips to Adelaide and Melbourne and two overseas trips to New Zealand in the last three months, when we planned our first trip to Europe since 2019, we fell foul of several rookie mistakes.

Firstly, even if travelling business class, don’t agree to a 7 hour layover in Bangkok. It is just too long. Especially if the newly renovated business lounge has no showers open yet, and doesn’t serve champagne. Secondly, don’t book a flight from Paris to Brussels only 2 hours and 30 minutes after the expected touch down in Paris. You know why.  We all know why, but there was a severe storm in Bangkok just as we were boarding the flight (after that seven hour wait) and the bags were delayed onto the plane, so the take off was 30 minutes late.  If two hours and 30 minutes is too short…….

All turned out well. 

We survived the seven hours – even if the once impressive airport looked a little worse for wear – and our bags were waiting for us as we came through immigration in Paris. We ran from one end of terminal 2E to the extreme end of terminal 2B to check into the Brussels Airlines flight with 1 minute and 30 seconds to spare.  Easy really.

None of our planes was cancelled (although the French air traffic controllers had something to say about our on time running) and all of our bags came with us all the way to the hotel in Brussels.

The rookie errors extended to the detail. I arrived in the Grand-Place, Brussels with a camera with a flat battery and two spare flat batteries in my hotel room.

One thing that has not improved is my navigation.

I spent many frustrating episodes staring at the map on google maps spinning around and changing instructions while I was standing still. 

I had no idea where I was or where I was going for most of the time.  it doesn't help that the street signs are in two languages (especially if it takes a few days to realise that) and often have historic street signs below.

Fortunately, Dominique is good at remembering landmarks and so I just gave up and followed her.

Brussels

Why Brussels?  Well, we spend a day there a few years ago and we remembered the beer and the chocolate. So why not?

Our first afternoon in Brussels started around 3pm on a Friday, after recovering from the run between flights and finding our hotel.  September is past peak tourist season, and tourists are not as numerous as they used to be, so the crowds were low.  We headed for the Grand Plaza and ran into preparations for a concert. We wandered around for a while and got barricaded on the wrong side of the plaza and so had to find our way through the back streets to head to our hotel. We stopped for dinner on the way home.

Throughout this time, I was looking around at the people. It was obvious that Brussels is a tolerant place. Any kind of subculture you can think of had a little group walking around. Not threatening or threatened, just all different. Whether it was punks or hello kitty or Belgium nationalists dressed up in 19^th century military uniform, goths, Taylor Swift clones, same sex couples, any race colour or creed you can think of: everyone mixed up together and went about their business without batting an eyelid. It seems that years of trying to build a tolerant society to keep the country from blowing up along language, race or religious lines, has taught the Belgians to live and let live.  It is just so comfortable to be there.

She had me bluffed. I kept a safe distance.

And there is more to Belgium, or even Brussels, than Beer and Chocolate. For a start, there are the inescapable Belgian Fries – with every meal! 

and waffles.

 

There are super modern, slick laundromats, 

casinos and betting shops everywhere and lots of old buildings, gilded metal, 

graffiti, 

There is a lot of graffiti written in English

comics and walls painted to worship comics.

Then there is Manekin Pis. Everywhere.  Dressed up to celebrate some or other historical occasion – he has some 140 outfits – or just plain naked. 

No matter what, there are thousands of people just standing looking at him piss. 

Then there is the combination of all above in different arrangements. For example, the chocolate Manekin Pis, chocolate waffles, even Fries and chocolate.  But no vegetables. Except fries.

These are actually chocolate

Watch out for the scooters!