Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
easily all “do lunch” together in Brussels—just three hours away.
The first intersection, with Petite Rue des Bouchers, is the
heart of the restaurant quarter (and home to the recommended
Chez Leon—see page 432), which sprawls for several blocks
around. The street names tell what sorts of shops used to stand
here—butchers
(bouchers),
herbs, chickens, and cheese.
• At this intersection, turn left onto Petite Rue des Bouchers and walk
straight back to the Grand Place. (You'll see the City Hall tower ahead.)
At the Grand Place, turn right (west) on Rue du Beurre. Comparison-
shop a little more at the Galler and Leonidas chocolate stores and pass by
the “Is it raining?” fountain. A block along, at the intersection with Rue
du Midi, is the...
Church of St. Nicolas
Since the 12th century, there's been a church here. Inside, see rough
stones in some of the arches from the early church. Outside, notice
the barnacle-like shops, such as De Witte Jewelers, built right
into the church. The church was rebuilt 300 years ago with money
provided by the town's jewelers. As thanks, they were given these
shops with apartments upstairs. Close to God, this was prime real
estate. And jewelers are still here.
•
Just west of the church, the big Neoclassical building you run into is the
back entrance of...
The Bourse (Stock Exchange) and
Art Nouveau Cafés
The stock exchange was built in the 1870s in a Neo-everything
style. Several
historic cafés
huddle around the Bourse. To the
right is the woody, atmospheric Le Cirio with its delightful circa-
1900 interior, and to the left is the Falstaff Café. Some Brussels
cafés, like the Falstaff, are still decorated in the early-20th-century
style called Art Nouveau. Ironwork columns twist and bend like
flower stems, and lots of Tiffany-style stained glass and mirrors
make them light and spacious. Slender, elegant, willowy Gibson
Girls decorate the wallpaper, while waiters in bowties glide by.
he
ruins
under glass on the right side of the Bourse are from
a 13th-century convent.
•
Circle around to the front of the Bourse, toward the busy Boulevard
Anspach. Note that the street in front of the Falstaff Café is a convenient
place to catch a hop-on, hop-off bus tour (see page 384).
Place de la Bourse and Boulevard Anspach
Brussels is the political nerve center of Europe (only Washington,
D.C., has more lobbyists), and the city sees several hundred dem-
onstrations a year. When the local team wins a soccer match or
some political group wants to make a statement, this is where
