But it also rhymes with comics books, cafes, amazing food and drink, beautiful architecture and of course loads of used clothing. I will focus on once place and one place only, the Halles de Saint-Géry. Very close to the Grand Place, the halles were built on the site of a church that was destroyed during the French Revolution (which spread up to the area that is now Belgium). To commemorate the revolution, an obelisk was built, and is now inside this former food hall, which has been converted into a very happening café and arts center. The first Sunday of every month it hosts a vintage market.
I have never been disappointed by this beautiful city, so culturally rich, confusing in its bilingualism and terrible signage underground compensated by amazing signage above ground. I'm so glad to see it well populated with tourists and visitors from nearby towns, after the horrible bombings of last spring. I did feel overwhelmed by the consumerism of a Saturday night on a pedestrian shopping street, and thought about a quote from a former Jihadist interviewed in a current issue of the French daily "Libération" who said that the West doesn't have much to offer beyond working to consume.
Brussels does have a lot of shops, and a lot of tourist shops selling souvenirs and Belgian products. But if you care to look more closely, it also has many bookstores and cafés, theaters, concert halls, movie theaters and amazing restaurants where an unforgettable meal will be served for a reasonable price. Or, you can wander the streets for free in search of cool art nouveau details and murals of famous Belgian comics characters. No work, no consumerism. Just good old fashioned "flânerie."
