Bruselles

The only reason we included Bruselles in our itinerary was Tintin, to whom my younger son is infatuated.  The blasts gave us second and third thoughts, but we finally decided to go ahead. Zooming straight to Amsterdam would have meant victory to the terrorists. Human lives aside, the material damage causes by the bombs is in a way expendable, but the climate of fear is what gives them victory. The best way to defeat the forces of evil is to take them head-on.

So viva la liberte, and Bruselles it was. We are glad we visited the city, for it has a charm of its own, quite distinct from Paris. The Musee Herge, situated in the university town of Louvain la Neuve, was by itself not very spectacular, though very informative, and a must visit for any Tintin fan. Louvain la Neuve takes some getting to, but the trip is a good way to get a slice of the Wallonain countryside. The train drops you at a quaint contemporary town square, from where the museum is less than five minutes walk.

As for the other Tintin spots in the city, the Stocktel station at the end of metro line 1 has amazing Tintin murals, and there's a good wall painting of Tintin and Captain Haddock escaping from a gangster's hideout, near the Mannekin Pis.
 
Don't know why Bruselles, when they can come with the projects like Atomium, Mini Europe, Train Museum, and others to rival their Dutch cousins, can't come up with a Parc Tintin, to rival parc Asterix!

Returning from Musee Herge, we dropped on the most famous landmark of Bruselles, the Grote Markt, or the grand square. The square itself is nothing special, but the entire locality, filled as it is with architecturally ornate buildings, makes it a must visit. You can also catch up with your waffles, fries, and Leonodas chocolates from this part of the town.

On the second day in Bruselles, we visited the Mini Europe Park, where all the major monuments and landmarks of Europe are recreated in miniature. A good visit if you have young kids, who would be fascinated by the whole experience, but otherwise totally avoidable. The Atomium is next door.

The Jue de Balle is a famous flea market, again not too far away from Gare du Midi. The site has been illustrated to perfection by Herge in the Secret of the Unicorn. You get goodies and junk of all hues here, from jackets to old tape recorders. The market starts early in the morning and gets over by noon.


The other places to visit in Bruselles are the Train museum, Belgium Comic Strip Museum, and of course nearby Bruges. We skipped Bruges since we would be going next to Amsterdam, which has almost the same things (read canals) Bruges offers.In case you are wondering, the Mannekin Pis and Jeanneke Pis statues are near the Grand Palace, and constitute the most overrated attractions in Europe.


Bruselles is just one hour fourty five minutes by train from Paris, making it viable as a day trip. However, since our next destination was Amsterdam, north east of Bruselles, making a day trip would have been three trips instead of one. With the Ibis Gare du Midi hotel just across the Gare du Midi station where Thalys operates, a stay-over was very convenient as well. The hotel, especially the breakfast, is a notch above Ibis Porte de Pantin, and of course, more centrally located.

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