Brussels today
The capital of comics
Brussels Parcours BD (Comics Tour) consists in 30 wall paintings conceived or inspired by the leading Belgian comics authors, and some foreign ones too. On the walls can be seen characters created by Herge, Edgar P. Jacobs, Philippe Geluck, Franquin or Yves Chaland. But Asterix the Gaul can also be spotted on Rue de la Buanderie, not far from cowboy Lucky Luke. The project was launched in 1991 by the Brussels municipality and the Belgan Comics Centre. At first the idea was simply to decorate and ornate a few old city walls or houses but it soon become a way to remind visitors that many famous comics writers were born or worked in Brussels. The idea bloomed and some 30 paintings can now be admired in the town centre. The tour can also be made on a bike thanks to cycling association Pro Velo, who hold group tours starting from Maison des Cyclistes. They last two hours.
Brussels : the story
Who stole the Manneken-Pis?
It was actually stolen more than once! The first thing you need to know – if you happen to pay a visit to Brussels most famous monument and arguably one of the world’s most famous fountains -, is that the small boy before your eyes is not the original statue ordered by Brussels leaders to sculptor Jerome Duquesnoy in 1619. It was replaced by a copy in 1965, the original being kept in the Broodhuis museum to avoid any damage.
Little Julien (it is the young pisser’s other name) has known good and bad days since he was first placed near the Grand Place. It was maimed, kidnapped, replaced. As early as 1628, it was demolished by a drunkard. In 1745, it was nicked by British troops. Two years later, the French detained it too. Its longest absence was in 1817 when it was held by a former French convict named Anotine Lycas and found three months later. Lycas was sentenced to the chain gang for life. You don’t fool around with the Manneken-Pis! Nearer to us, Little Julien was stolen by students in 1963, 1968 and 1978, maimed in 1955, 1957 and 1965 when the vandals only left the legs. But he always returned to urinate for all to see and symbolise Brussels rebel attitude. It is said that he might wear a yellow jersey during the Tour’s stay in town.
Brussels and cycling
Was Thys the first yellow jersey?
Brussels is the foreign town the Tour visited most often as it hosted the race 11 times in the past. While the peloton will celebrate Eddy Merckx’s 65th birthday, another anniversary will go a little unnoticed - that of the first Tour treble, achieved in 1920 by another Brussels rider, Philippe Thys. The Anderlecht-born Thys won in 1913, 1914 and 1920 and Henri Desgrange was convinced he would have won many more without WW1. It took 35 years for Louison Bobet to repeat the feat. A quiet, diminutive tactician who would sleep with his bike for fear of sabotage, Thys is also the subject of historical controversy. While it is accepted that Eugene Christophe wore the first yellow jersey in 1919, the Belgian claimed he had done the same before the war on a suggestion by his team manager, who said the Tour leader should be distinguished by a special jersey. Does the first yellow jersey belong to Brussels? In any case, the Belgian capital can boast the most yellow jerseys won by its inhabitants, Merckx and Thys totalling eight victories between them. Plano, Texas, is next on seven.
Brussels : places to see
The Manneken-Pis
(see above)
Grand-Place
Renowned for its ornamental beauty, it is lined by the corporation houses, the Town Hall and the Maison du Roi or Broodhuis (King’s House). Its widely considered – by Victor Hugo among others -, as one of the most beautiful squares in the world.
The Atomium
It became a symbol of Brussels since its construction for the 1958 World Fair. Designed by André Waterkeyn, it is 102-metres (335 ft) tall, with nine steel spheres connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.
