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Early in the morning I checked out of my hotel in Mouscron, a village in the south of Belgium across the border from Lilles, France and made my way to Brussels. Once hailed as the business center of Europe, most of us know Brussels now as the center of chocolate and beer. This charming jewel in the center of what was Flanders still has much of which to be proud. I entered through a tastefully efficient and clean train station and immediately stepped into a wide ranging museum district. A small hill opens onto the Grand Place, a Baroque city center of boutique hotels, small shops and dizzying array of small, bustling restaurants.

I have to admit being in Brussels once before, as a child in 1970, but I remember next to nothing, which is forgivable because Brussels is for adults, not in the Las Vegas sense, rather for those in search of rich medieval history, vibrant cultural art, high quality jewelry or an incomparable meal. In addition, Belgium counts among its greats Victor Hugo, Georges Simenon (see blog from 7/10/12), Rubens, and Herge (see blog from 9/5/12).

French is primarily spoken, but Dutch is ubiquitous as well. I arrive hungry, with a need for traditional fare – onion soup and cheese with local sausage while I enjoy an Inspector Maigret mystery by Belgium’s favorite son, Simenon. For Belgians, like most Europeans, eating out is a lifestyle, and only the worst weather keeps them from the sidewalk tables. This leaves plenty of inside space for me on a chilly day of 0 degrees Centigrade.

This entry was posted on January 25, 2015 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Food, Travel with tags belgium, brussels, flanders, herge, mouscron, rubens, simenon, tintin, victor hugo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.