Brussels or bust?

This lovely B&B can be found just outside Alençon near the small town of Pacé

Just a few short weeks ago a long drive north was necessitated.  No, not back to dear old blighty but to veer north eastwards towards Brussels and the centre of Europe.  As the drive (if one by-passes Paris to the east and travels via Rouen) is something in excess of 550 miles, a 'petit pause' in Basse Normandie was called for.  And, what a magical overnight stop we had.  A five minute search on the internet about one hour prior to our departure had turned up 'La Folie' an ancient presbytery and former mail staging post set in the heart of the Norman countryside just outside the small town of Pacé a few kilometres from Alençon.  Beautifully, and more importantly, tastefully restored over the last 10 years (it is a work in progress as are all these things) by its current owners Hélène and Pierre it is a testament to their vision, stamina, guts and an understanding bank manager.  Their finishing work was truly amazing and we felt right at home there from the moment we stepped over the well-worn threshold and entered the farmhouse style kitchen.  Hélène was in the process of making fresh raspberry compote and our welcome included a couple of dishes of this brought to our room.  Bienvenue indeed. 

Hélène and Pierre are sure to give you a warm welcome at their lovely home

After a magical night's sleep and a breakfast consisting of copious amounts of fresh coffee and home made brioche (to die for, so we took the recipe) we were sent on our way north with a couple of bottles of home made cider courtesy of Hélène and Pierre's neighbour, Monsieur Racine.  We were now ready for whatever Brussels could throw at us.  As we entered the outskirts of the city without map, sat nav and extremely vague directions of how to find our flat, we realised it was going to be quite a lot.  If you have driven in Paris you might have some idea.  Brussels in my opinion is even worse.  One is swept along in a constant flow of traffic, sometimes hitting tunnels, sometimes avoiding them if one veers to the right (or left).  Definitely not a recipe for a long marriage or low blood pressure.  If one can manage to find a stopping place in order to ask a kindly native for directions (in our case, believe it or not, just outside the European Parliament building) don't hold your breath.  None of our experiences in this respect was pleasant.  People did not seem to want to help us, neither did they seem to sure what language they should be speaking to us in, Flemish, French or English.  About one and half hours later, in the dark and quite by chance, we happened upon our address.  The relief that came over both of us at that point was palpable.  We were home, so to speak.  We had a warm room, we could eat and drink something and then lie down exhausted and fall asleep, it's called travel.

The aftermath of what appeared to be some kind of protest outside the European Parliament building

Is the party over for Brussels?

Brussels, like most big cities, is a city undergoing change, it appears to not quite know where it's going.  Has it given itself completely over to the European project or is it the capital of Belgium?  The former I suspect.  This evidenced in the fact it has had no government for the past 16 months.  Maybe Mr Barrosso is in control;  who knows?  But we did note plenty of clone-like fonctionaires around the European parliament building buzzing about in matching suits and attache cases, all looking very important whist they got on with the business of spending our money.  We suspected that all is not well in the state of Brussels.  Everything seemed to be held together by a thin veneer.  Scrape the surface and the whole lot will fall apart.  In fact the morning after we arrived their appeared to have been some kind of mini riot right outside the European Parliament building, as we walked out for a morning coffee we were greeted with mountains of rubbish strewn about the square and overturned bottle banks spewing their contents all over the road.  Something was clearly amiss.  

'Matonge town' rubs shoulders with the seat of European power, a few minutes walk from here

Just a five minute walk from the European parliament building you will find yourself in the quartier known locally as 'Matonge'  I don't know what this means in Swahili or whatever but its original name is Port Namur.  Around 40 years ago, or thereabouts this was a very prosperous district, bristling with antique shops and classy department stores.  Now one is aware that one is entering a foreign country.  'Africanisation' has transformed the area.  Exotic and interesting it certainly is, but beneath this there is something rather seedy about it all, it has the air of an area in decline, and from what I was told locally, not a place the police will visit unless pressed.  In 'Matonge' you can buy anything, and I mean anything, that would be readily available in downtown Kinshasa, including some rather large grubs, that wriggle a lot, something I wouldn't fancy on my breakfast toast. 

This area once prospered with many antique shops

Brussels has some fantastic flea markets

 Jeu de Balle - haggle and grab yourself a bargain on an Oriental carpet or two

As I have said, just five minutes from here and you're up on the main boulevards where Louis Vuitton et al rule.  In these bizarre times in which we now find ourselves, a time of 50% plus haircuts, QE, short selling, contagion, AAA+, Standard & Poors and Moodys etc, we are all having to learn a new language,  like it or not.  I think the juxtaposition between an area like 'Matonge' and the nearby European Parliament is kind of symptomatic of the age in which we're living,  a time where certain people are refusing to recognise the reality of where greed and overspending has taken us all.  We do not  live in some kind of bubble where everything is available on tap and on demand.  It is only a short walk from 'Matonge' to the European Parliament metaphorically and physically speaking yet the gulf between the two is huge.  These are indeed interesting times.

Just off the Grand Place you can find this shop specialising in hand woven Jacquard tapestry cushion covers