La critique d'art - deuxième partie

Et voilà - the work of art that outraged the euro-establishment! The installation is impressively large, spanning three floors of the European Council building at Schuman. You can see in the top right-hand corner the one small concession to political correctness: a modest black hanging now covers Bulgaria, which had been portrayed as a series of squat toilets. This is one of the cultural references that I don't quite understand, others being the rendering of Portugal as a meat counter and Ireland as a set of bag pipes. Nothing is, however, more apt than the UK's conspicuous absence! Beats the Mannekin Pis any day...

Parc Life

My walk home today also took in the Parc de Bruxelles, possibly the most unremarkable (one might even say, depressing) park I have ever seen in my life. Perhaps it is the season - we are still in the midst of the bleak midwinter - but I rather suspect that this park doesn't look much better in the summer. Let's look at the evidence:

"Hang on a minute!" I hear you cry, "I can see a charming statue in that picture! This park's not as bad as all that!".

Let's take a closer look...

"Well, yes, I admit it's not the prettiest statue I have ever seen," you might say, "but there is a lovely pool in the Parc de Bruxelles, which can be very refreshing on a hot summer's day".

Here is a picture of the pool in question:"Ah, yes, I see your point. Carry on".

A tale of two audit offices

On walking back to the flat after meeting Tintin for lunch, I passed this rather grand building on the Place Royale:

"Goodness," I thought to myself as I stood, awestruck, in the building's shadow, "such a fabulous building must be home to some extremely important people. Perhaps it is the Belgian royal palace? Perhaps it is the seat of parliament?"

I had to find out. However, closer inspection of the building signage revealed this to be the home of the Belgian Cour des Comptes or, en Anglais, National Audit Office. Sound familiar? For comparison, here is a picture of the home of the NAO in the UK:

Well, I'm sure the UK building is much more practical. But I can't help wondering that perhaps we should respect our bureaucrats a bit more, like our Belgian friends.

La critique d'art

Sablon, as Yann has already indicated, hosts many of Brussels' art galleries and antique shops. The photo that accompanies this entry is an example of the work on display - not a particularly remarkable one, but it does fit well with the 'femmes de Bruxelles' theme that seems to be emerging on this blog. What was, however, remarkable was the intensity of Yann's response to the piece, which he described as 'disgusting - a giant pile of turd'. Qu'est-ce que vous en pensez?

Of course, like any European city, the streets of Brussels are indeed besmeered with the chocolatey offerings of the army of small dogs that owns the city; I will, though, spare you the photographic evidence on this latter point, and simply advise you to look before you step.

Oh, alright then...

...here is another pretty Brussels street. Again in Sablon. x

La vie urbaine

Another wander around Brussels, and here is Tintin taking a break to phone his Mum.

Although I could have posted more photos of pretty streets and magasins bijoux, I think the photo above shows a certain "urban decay chic", and perhaps a more balanced view of our new home. Today's walk took in more of the Sablon, the best area for posh chocolate shops and expensive antiques. It's been a tough week and this evening I have been left in Brussels tout seul while Tintin returns to Blighty, so I have treated myself to a Quick, a Hoegaarden and a couple of Rennie, and I'm off to bed. xx

Chapitre 1: Les numéros

Anyone who began his study of the French language in 1995 will, sans doute, have an intimate appreciation of the horreur of the French number system. How exactly is it that the year 1995 comes to be rendered as thousand-nine-hundred-four-twenty-fifteen? The Bruxellois, seeing the damage that was being wraught on the cause of francophonie, have found the solution. With the neat addition of septante, huitante and nonante, French numerology becomes a promenade dans le parc. That said, take care with the subject matter of Chapitre 2: Le temps - this is Europe and they operate strictly on the basis of the twenty-four hour clock; careless reference to the 7.30 showing of Slumdog Millionaire could easily result in tickets for the dix-SEPT heures trente showing of Bride Wars. A cautionary tale indeed.

I finish with a review of Today's second beer, Barbar: peachy, not too fizzy, and quite drinkable indeed.

And now a short word from our sponsors

Carolus: a delicious, slightly heavy, licouricey beer.

The above is one of the many beers sampled today at the Toon Theatre off the Grand Place, where we went today with some friends of ours from Grande Bretagne. In the name of research, me and Tintin elected to stay on after the others had left to perform a more comprehensive examination of the beverages on offer. The full results of our research will be published on this blog at a future date (i.e. if/when we can be bothered).

More ladies of Brussels

Another photo taken on today's walk, featuring yet another charming "femme Bruxelloise".

This particular femme can be found in le Jardin de Sculptures along with a duck, and a couple of other women - one with a baby, and one trying to admire her own bottom:

The joy of pork

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, wrote Samuel Johnson. Had he been born a couple of hundred miles to the East, he may well have written, "Qui s'ennuie des saucissons, s'ennuie de la Belgique." Moi, I'm rather tired of sausage now - even minced beef from the supermarket has an unseemly pork content, giving it a whiff of wurst. Anyway, I digress. Today we wandered from Porte de Namur, down through Sablon and then along the Avenue Louise, with a detour to Flagey. I took the picture above somewhere along the route, and hope to use it as a basis for a painting.

Bienvenue a Bruxelles!

Here is one of the more charming young ladies we have met in Brussels. Certainly more charming than some of her less salubrious friends from around the Gare du Nord (and slightly more modestly dressed, as well).

Snow day!

One final treat before we left for Brussels...snow day! Day off work due to mercifully unreliable public transport and a trip to the park to build a beautiful snowman.