A rainy day in Brussels

I remember that a little rain started while I was walking central Brussels.

Some people carried umbrellas (which they put to use immediately) some didn't. It was, after all, a rainy month where neighbouring France, that same June, had nearly Apocalyptic rains that crippled the Southern Var department.

I didn't carry an umbrella -just a small video camera. I made a short video of the scene in front of me: young Bruxellois surprised by the rain, running to the sidewalk to keep from the rain under a balcony, a cornice, a storefront...

I found refuge under the arches of a building. The place had glass windows and the interior looked like a customer service office. It had a large counter and I imagined people joining a queue prior to being served.

Inside there were 5 giant letters (it read "visit"). Each of the letter was tapestried with images of medieval towns, forests, cycling roads... I realised this was no 'customer service' -it was a Flanders Tourism office.

The man on the street may (or may not) know that Belgium isn't a country (though it is) but actually two: the Flemish speaking Flanders and the French speaking Wallonia. (The reader be advised that, for the purpose of blog readability I am being very simplistic here).

There is a divide between Flanders and Wallonia, one that goes beyond language. In fact, that same day, not very far away, I found Wallonia's own tourism office.

Many of the photographs in the Flanders' office showed cycling scenes. Nowhere in Europe had I seen so many people cycling than in Belgium. Indeed, I would say that bycicles are a more common sight in Bruges than its canals.

The rain didn't last long. People closed their umbrellas, kept moving on. I had a few more days to spend in Belgium. I took a train deep inside Wallonia. Forests, cities, parishes appeared in front of my eyes. Some train stations looked very state of the art, others very run down. It was like witnessing Belgium's gulfes and contrasts through its train stations.

It's been almost a month since I returned from a 15 day Europe trip. I'll be posing some of my experiences in this blog.