FLEA MARKET ATTRACTS ALL RANKS OF SOCIETY
Okay the Brussels flea market - although officially befriended - is not comparable to the Saint-Ouen marché aux puces in the Parisian suburb. That is a huge one! Not so in the Brussels Marollen quarter where the daily market is held on just one great square and does not consist of many streets like in Paris what makes it more manageable, if you want. Another difference is that the Brussels flea market is very nonchalant. There's lots of enormous rubbish on the carpets covering the cobblestones but if you look well you can find some genuine gems or save some great books from a rainy day.
The sellers - a lot of Arabs - won't mind. That is for the books, a violin for example will not be for free. I even found a beautiful old box and when I opened it there were just pictures and letters from a world war soldier of a village in the greater Brussels region, but I let his heritage rest in peace. Anyway, lots of stuff for collectors to go through at a market that still has that original Brussels' touch which becomes more and more rare as the real 'Marolliens' - who were born in the socially neglected neighbourhood - have almost all disappeared.
A cup of soup
You still have some poor, often elderly people who live there or enter the pubs for a cup of soup each day but almost none had their cradle in the hood. The last few years the place is being modernised which makes it more accessible for tourists as it used to have a more edgy reputation in the past. But you can find crowd from all ranks of society at the square, from young music producers to richer business people.
One of the original Brussels' inhabitants or 'Kets' who found inspiration at the place, originating from 1873, was the inventor of strip hero Kuifje or Tintin, the late world famous Hergé. In 'The Secret Of The Unicorn' album, Tintin gets possession of a three-master scale model at the old market which leads him from one secret to another discovery. There's also Tintin memorabilia or albums to find at the square if you look well. That way you don't necessarily need to be in the Walloon student town of Louvain-La-Neuve for the Hergé-museum where the merchandise obviously is much more expensive.
But all other reasons to go there remain good! Thinking back at my recent visit in L-L-N just one picture stood out for me and that is exactly the one I'm showing here at the start. It puzzled me enough to make it to the Vossenplein or La Place du Jeu de Balle, called that way because of its early recreation function. The giant vertical print in the museum shows Hergé looking like a humorous art dandy clearly enjoying the moment and life in 1968. One thing I might uncover is that the man was a big fan of music band Pink Floyd and other psychedelic brothers or sisters. If you've seen and read the first album of Tintin where he travels to Russia you will understand why. That album is a crazy road 'trip' in all its aspects. I won't suggest anything but it's clear that Tintin was born out of experiment. His figure became a bit less extreme but if you look well there's still a sharp edge to him in some later albums.
The picture at the Vossenplein was taken when Hergé was a bit older, wiser and already a succesful artist and business leader. Showing this pic is not nostalgic driven. 'Le marché aux puces' is still going strong in Brussels despite internet; not far away are the gigantic heads of Tintin and his dog Snowy covering the rooftops of publishing house Le Lombard near the South station and Brussels is still Belgian's (and possibly Europe's or even the world's) comic capital, celebrating this with many of its façades, rear sides or side walls decorated with well known comic figures. 'Comic strip street art', quoi. Originally, since 1991, it was a way of embellishing the city by the local authorities and The Belgian Comic Strip Center. But it evolved into a 'Comic Book Route' with more than fifty mural paintings - from Tintin to Lucky Luke and Gaston Lagaffe over Boule & Bill (see my picture at Rue du Chevreuil/Reebokstraat leading to the market) and The Smurfs - and even involving neighbourhoods as Laken and Oudergem. Yet another touristic asset...
Hidden treasure
It livens up the places just like the Vossenplein lives up out of poverty nowadays. The Brussels' flea market still keeps its promise of being a tradition which doesn't mean it should be surrounded by unreasonable poverty.
The sellers - a lot of Arabs - won't mind. That is for the books, a violin for example will not be for free. I even found a beautiful old box and when I opened it there were just pictures and letters from a world war soldier of a village in the greater Brussels region, but I let his heritage rest in peace. Anyway, lots of stuff for collectors to go through at a market that still has that original Brussels' touch which becomes more and more rare as the real 'Marolliens' - who were born in the socially neglected neighbourhood - have almost all disappeared.
A cup of soup
You still have some poor, often elderly people who live there or enter the pubs for a cup of soup each day but almost none had their cradle in the hood. The last few years the place is being modernised which makes it more accessible for tourists as it used to have a more edgy reputation in the past. But you can find crowd from all ranks of society at the square, from young music producers to richer business people.
One of the original Brussels' inhabitants or 'Kets' who found inspiration at the place, originating from 1873, was the inventor of strip hero Kuifje or Tintin, the late world famous Hergé. In 'The Secret Of The Unicorn' album, Tintin gets possession of a three-master scale model at the old market which leads him from one secret to another discovery. There's also Tintin memorabilia or albums to find at the square if you look well. That way you don't necessarily need to be in the Walloon student town of Louvain-La-Neuve for the Hergé-museum where the merchandise obviously is much more expensive.
But all other reasons to go there remain good! Thinking back at my recent visit in L-L-N just one picture stood out for me and that is exactly the one I'm showing here at the start. It puzzled me enough to make it to the Vossenplein or La Place du Jeu de Balle, called that way because of its early recreation function. The giant vertical print in the museum shows Hergé looking like a humorous art dandy clearly enjoying the moment and life in 1968. One thing I might uncover is that the man was a big fan of music band Pink Floyd and other psychedelic brothers or sisters. If you've seen and read the first album of Tintin where he travels to Russia you will understand why. That album is a crazy road 'trip' in all its aspects. I won't suggest anything but it's clear that Tintin was born out of experiment. His figure became a bit less extreme but if you look well there's still a sharp edge to him in some later albums.
The picture at the Vossenplein was taken when Hergé was a bit older, wiser and already a succesful artist and business leader. Showing this pic is not nostalgic driven. 'Le marché aux puces' is still going strong in Brussels despite internet; not far away are the gigantic heads of Tintin and his dog Snowy covering the rooftops of publishing house Le Lombard near the South station and Brussels is still Belgian's (and possibly Europe's or even the world's) comic capital, celebrating this with many of its façades, rear sides or side walls decorated with well known comic figures. 'Comic strip street art', quoi. Originally, since 1991, it was a way of embellishing the city by the local authorities and The Belgian Comic Strip Center. But it evolved into a 'Comic Book Route' with more than fifty mural paintings - from Tintin to Lucky Luke and Gaston Lagaffe over Boule & Bill (see my picture at Rue du Chevreuil/Reebokstraat leading to the market) and The Smurfs - and even involving neighbourhoods as Laken and Oudergem. Yet another touristic asset...
Hidden treasure
It livens up the places just like the Vossenplein lives up out of poverty nowadays. The Brussels' flea market still keeps its promise of being a tradition which doesn't mean it should be surrounded by unreasonable poverty.
"The flea market still keeps its promise of being a tradition which doesn't mean it should be surrounded by unreasonable poverty"
So take a look there, it's safe, entertaining and you might find a hidden treasure. If you are in the neighbourhood at night and in the weekend you might want to visit legendary discotheque The Fuse in the Blaesstraat/Rue Blaes, a street adjacent to the square. Meanwhile Tintin's fuse is still lighting up Brussels and the world...
02.12.2018
02.12.2018
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