I arrive in Brussels on Thursday night and found it misty, as usual. I walked down Avenue Louise which was lit up by long, wide strands of Christmas lights, different from the pine three and Santa themes in Manchester. I had dinner in a Brasserie and thankfully ate some food with spices on it – Moroccan style lamb and capsicum. I didn’t stay out late, returning to the Fondation Université, where I was staying. It is a funny place, offering cheaper rates for guests of the various universities and EU officials. It was nice, unassuming and very old fashioned. There is a big lounge downstairs with armchairs, coffee tables and a fire, populated by elderly gentlemen in old suits, reading Le Monde and Le Soir.
In the morning the sky was bright and blue, but frosty at -2 degrees. I walked 40 minutes to the University, in Ixelles, and met Michel in his office. We spent a couple of hours preparing the chapter outlines for the book proposal for Manchester University Press. At 12 o’clock we went off to lunch, in a very nice brasserie nearby. He has been sponsoring my culinary tour of Brussels for a few years now, and every place we go to has fabulous food. We both ate the set menu, which included a small soup, duck, a fantastic scallop dish, venison and pheasant. What can I say? I worked a little more in his office in the afternoon, and then we went back to his house for dinner (tartin du saumon, French cheese and French red wine).
The next day I went to the Museum of Fine Arts and saw the Alechinsky exhibition, a Belgian artist I didn’t know about. I really enjoyed it, and had time to go see the Magritte paintings downstairs. Then I walked down through the Saubon area near the gallery, an old part of town on the easterly facing hillside, with cobbled streets, an antique market in the square, and lots of stores and restaurants. Michel’s wife, Corinne, told me to go to Marcolini’s chocolate store there, which was packed full of people and a selection of chocolate you have to see to believe. I bought two small blocks for €5 each to eat with Lucy, Alex and Megan – one is made from a selection of five different types of cacao bean, and the other is from only the equatorial region. For lunch, I ate an assiette du charcuterie (plate of salami, prosciutto, etc.) in a small bar and had a glass of wine. I walked around that part of town for a while longer, and at 3pm I climbed onto the final carriage of the Eurostar and we set off back to England. I fell asleep for a while. When I woke up I looked out the window through my hazy reflection at a broad, green France spread out before me. The sun is much higher in the sky in Europe than in the UK, so the countryside shone in the afternoon glow and I could see people walking up dirt roads towards the small villages, which still look like they are from another time.
After less than two hours, I arrived in London at the new St Pancras international station. I now have to walk 10 minutes to Euston Rd and get the next train back to Manchester. Tomorrow, it’s up and out early to enjoy the sun and see what should be a big frost.
