Godiva, along with Leonidas and Neuhaus, sell peerless chocolates, but if you are in search of smaller, artisanal brands, try the handmade chocolates by Mary, founded in 1919. They rank among the finest anywhere—the chocolatier has earned a warrant from the royal court. Mary’s elegant shop—appropriately located in Rue Royale—looks like a jewelry store, with its bonbons (including 70 flavors of pralines) displayed like precious baubles. The venerable family-run chocolatier-pâtissier Wittamer, in the Place du Grand Sablon, founded in 1910, also has a royal warrant, and produces pralines to match their exquisite cakes. Across the square is the new kid on the block, Pierre Marcolini, who has introduced a new panache in the flavors, shapes, and packaging of his chocolates.
MUSÉE DU CACAO ET DU CHOCOLAT: Tel 32/2-514-2048; www.mucc.be. MARY: Tel 32/2-217-4500; www.marychoc.com. WITTAMER: Tel 32/2-512-3742; www.wittamer.com. PIERRE MARCOLINI: Tel 32/2-214-1206; www.marcolini.be.
The Original Golden Wonders
BELGIAN FRITES
Brussels, Belgium
Belgium’s pommes frites are not french fries at all—a grievous misnomer, as this universally known and loved side order is Belgian in origin. Belgians make the best frites in the world: Crispy, sweet, lightly bronzed—these are the gold standard of fries. What makes Belgian frites so special? First, there’s the sweet bintje potato they’re made from. Second, and most important, the frites are twice-fried: once to cook them through, then a second time, in hotter oil, to make them golden brown and crisp, or bien croustillantes.
Well-made frites (to use the French term; frieten in Dutch, the other main language of Belgium) can be snacked on at any time of day, smothered with a healthy dollop of mayonnaise. They are sold from roadside stalls called friteries or frietkoten. One of the most celebrated friteries in Brussels is Maison Antoine, in the middle of Place Jourdan, a stand-at-the-counter outdoor eatery close to the district now devoted to the administration of the European Union. With 60 years of frying to its credit, it produces supreme frites and offers more than 25 sauces to go with them. In traditional friterie style, you can have add-ons like carbonnade (beef stew cooked with beer), boulettes (meatballs), sausages, burgers, or brochettes, but it is the frites that take center stage.
With the unofficial national dish of mussels and fries—moules-frites—the Belgians discovered a perfect marriage. They steam their mussels in simple marinière style (flavored with a little chopped onion, celery, carrot, parsley, bay leaf, and thyme), and then serve heaping mounds of them. Brussels’s most famous place to eat moules-frites is Chez Léon, close to the Grand Place, in the original location (established 1893) of what is now an international brand: Boisterous and busy, this is as close as moules-frites come to fast food. The dish is also on the menu at some of the restaurants in and around the Place Ste-Catherine, such as the highly respected La Marée, a no-frills place that is loved by locals.
MAISON ANTOINE: Tel: 32/2-230-5456; www.maisonantoine.be. Cost: lunch $15. CHEZ LÉON: Tel 32/2-511-1415; www.chezleon.be. Cost: dinner $45. LA MARÉE: Tel 32/2-5110040; www.lamaree-sa.com. Cost: dinner $45.
At the Heart of the Continent’s Capital
LA GRAND PLACE
Brussels, Belgium
Few urban squares have the impact of Brussels’s gigantic, one-of-a-kind Grand Square (Grote Markt in Dutch). Louis XIV of France bombarded the entire city center in 1695, destroying more than 5,000 buildings; what you see today is damage-turned-triumph. Most art historians agree with Jean Cocteau, who called it “a splendid stage.” Indeed, the ornate Flemish Renaissance and Baroque façades of the powerful (and competitive) guild houses provide the perfect foil for the Gothic Hôtel de Ville (Stadhuis in Dutch, or town hall), which dates to 1449 and is the only building to have survived the destruction.
The square has been the heart of town since the 13th century, and something is always going on here: For a ringside seat, order a Trappist beer on the terrace of the Roy d’Espagne tavern, in the former guild house of the bakers. Or stop by the 17th-century brick-arched cellar of ’t Kelderke and dig in to a traditional Belgian dish such as anguilles au vert (eels in green herb sauce). Find more refined fare at the luxurious wood-paneled restaurant La Maison du Cygne, in a building that once housed the butcher’s guild.
The grand, neo-Gothic Maison du Roi is home to the Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles, which tells the story of the city. Among the stranger items on display are examples of the 800 miniature costumes belonging to the city’s mascot, the Manneken-Pis. The bronze statue and fountain depicts a little boy doing what the name suggests and is a short walk west of the Grand Place.
You can stay close to the action at the newly transformed Hotel Amigo, right behind the town hall; its name dates from the era when the Spanish ruled the Netherlands (1519–1713), but its style is sumptuous and modern, in keeping with the Rocco Forte luxury hotels. For a scaled-back alternative, consider Le Dixseptième, the former Spanish ambassador’s residence, now reborn as one of Brussels’s most delightful boutique hotels.
VISITOR INFO: http://visitbrussels.be. ‘T KELDERKE: Tel 32/2-513-7344; www.atgp.be. Cost: dinner $40. LA MAISON DU CYGNE: Tel 32/2-511-8244; www.lamaisonducygne.be. Cost: dinner $100. MUSÉE DE LA VILLE DE BRUXELLES: Tel 32/2-279-4350; www.brusselsmuseums.be. HOTEL AMIGO: Tel 32/2-5474747; www.hotelamigo.com. Cost: from $290 (off-peak), from $450 (peak); dinner $70. LE DIXSEPTIÈME: Tel 32/2-517-1717; www.ledixseptieme.be. Cost: from $225. BEST TIMES: Jul–Sep for nightly Music and Light Show; 1st Tues and Thurs in Jul for the Ommegang, a costumed medieval pageant; mid-Aug in even years for the Tapis de Fleurs, a “carpet” of living flowers.
Birthplace of an Enduring Style
A SHOWCASE OF ART NOUVEAU
Brussels, Belgium
Brussels is a place of pilgrimage for Art Nouveau fans from all over the world, and their first stop is often the former home of seminal architect Victor Horta, who built it in the suburb of St-Gilles. Completed in 1901, it was designed down to the last detail and is a showcase of stained glass, wrought iron, and finely crafted woodwork. Today it is preserved as the Musée Horta.
The style Horta helped popularize was Art Nouveau, “new art,” because, with its highly stylized organic curves and embrace of new materials, it made no reference to past styles. Horta’s first experimentation—and one of the first appearances of Art Nouveau in architecture—was the Hôtel Tassel (6 Rue Paul-Émile Janson), whose groundbreaking innovations include a semiopen floor plan and an interior iron structure with ornate botanical lines. Other Art Nouveau homes by various architects can be seen in Rue Faider, Rue Defacqz, and in the streets west of the Étangs d’Ixelles. Close to the Parc du Cinquantenaire, there is the lavishly decorated Maison Cauchie (5 Rue des Francs), a rarity in that it is open to the public, and the extraordinary Maison St-Cyr (11 Square Ambiorix).
The use of Art Nouveau in commercial architecture can be admired at the iron-and-glass Old England department store, now reborn as the Musée des Instruments de Musique (le MIM). It holds a world-class collection of more than 600 musical instruments (and an inviting top-floor café-with-a-view). Be sure to pop over to the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée, which chronicles the history of the comic strip (Tintin, the boy reporter created by cartoonist Georges Remi, whose pen name was Hergé, may be the most famous Belgian in the world) and is housed in a fabric warehouse designed by Horta in 1903–6.
Such buildings are the rare survivors. Art Nouveau fell out of fashion after World War I, and many of the greatest examples of the movement were destroyed. Only a renewed appreciation for the style in the late 1960s turned the tide. If this makes you want to cry in your beer, go to Le Falstaff, a splendid bar-brasserie close to the Grand Place. Designed by Horta’s master cabinetmaker in 1903 and retaining many of its original features, the restaurant’s simple menu makes it a good choice for lunch. Or spoil yourself at Comme Chez Soi (Just Like Home), with its elegant Horta-inspired Art Nouveau décor. The artistic venue sets the mood for what many say is the city’s cu
linary highlight.
In August of even-numbered years, a flower carpet of begonias is created, covering La Grand Place.
MUSÉE HORTA: 32/2-543-0490; www.horta museum.be. LA MAISON CAUCHIE: Tel 32/2733-8684; www.cauchie.be. MIM: Tel 32/2545-0130; www.mim.fgov.be. CENTRE BELGE DE LA BANDE DESSINÉE: Tel 32/2-219-1980; www.comicscenter.net. LE FALSTAFF: Tel 32/2511-8789; www.lefalstaff.be. Cost: lunch $40. COMME CHEZ SOI: Tel 32/2-512-2921; www.commechezsoi.be. Cost: dinner $120.
A Country’s Best-Kept Secret
GHENT
Belgium
The water of the River Leie stands mirror-still between the old quays in the heart of Ghent. Reflections pick up the sandstone and brick stepped gables of the centuries-old guild- and warehouses, now doing a brisk business as cafés and restaurants. They once dominated a busy river port here, overseeing trade that linked Ghent to the rest of Europe and the world. From the old Sint-Michielsbrug (St. Michael Bridge), the towers and spires built during those days line up like masts in a harbor and include the Belfort, the city belfry with its 54-bell carillon, and the massive cathedral of St. Bavo that houses the multi-paneled Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. Painted by Jan van Eyck and his brother Hubrecht in 1432, it is one of northern Europe’s outstanding cultural treasures and a witness to Ghent’s medieval wealth and standing.
Ghent was the first city in Belgium to industrialize, beginning with textiles at the start of the 19th century. It acquired its much respected university in 1817, and the lavish Vlaamse Opera in 1840. Design Museum Gent (the Dutch spelling of the city’s name) tracks this history through the evolution of decorative style, leading visitors through a series of chronologically furnished rooms that end with Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and post Modernism. The impressive Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Municipal Museum for Contemporary Art), or SMAK, carries the story forward with the cutting-edge work that has helped spotlight Belgian art in today’s international art scene.
Your lodgings can immerse you in various moments along the city’s history. The Hotel Erasmus occupies a 16th-century patrician’s house, simply furnished with antiques, while a 19th-century convent has been stylishly updated as the hotel called Monasterium PoortAckere. Enjoy lunch at Het Groot Vleeshuis, a 15th-century butcher’s hall, which now showcases the food specialties of Eastern Flanders, of which Ghent is the capital. Or dine amid the cast-iron pillars and galleries of the Brasserie Pakhuis, a 19th-century warehouse theatrically reimagined to match the dynamism of 21st-century Ghent.
Maison St-Cyr’s impressive ironwork sets it apart.
WHERE: 35 miles/56 km northwest of Brussels. VISITOR INFO: www.visitgent.be. DESIGN MUSEUM GENT: Tel 32/9-267-9999; www.designmuseumgent.be. SMAK Tel 32/9267-1466; www.smak.be. HOTEL ERASMUS: Tel 32/9-224-2195; www.erasmushotel.be. Cost: from $140. MONASTERIUM POORTACKERE: Tel 32/9-269-2210; www.monasterium.be. Cost: from $165. HET GROOT VLEESHUIS: Tel 32/9-223-2324; www.grootvleeshuis.be. Cost: lunch $25. BRASSERIE PAKHUIS: Tel 32/9223-5555; www.pakhuis.be. Cost: dinner $50. BEST TIME: late Jul for Gentse Feesten, a festival of music, theater, and street entertainment.
A City of Folklore
LIÈGE
Belgium
An exhilarating wave of glass and steel greets visitors arriving by train at Gare de Liège-Guillemins these days—a characteristically sensational work by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. This is prestige architecture, commissioned to place the city of Liège on the map not only as a stop along the international high-speed train network but also as a destination in itself.
The Musée Grand Curtius is representative of Liège’s new dynamic. Set in a striking 17th-century mansion, it overlooks the broad River Meuse and has recently undergone massive refurbishment to take its place among Europe’s important decorative-art museums. Treasures from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; paintings; and antique clocks, furniture, tapestries, and glassware—even historic firearms—are beautifully lit and displayed.
For many centuries, Liège was the capital of the extensive independent territory ruled by grand prince-bishops, one legacy of which is its many fine Gothic churches. (The prince-bishops were eventually booted out in the wake of the French Revolution of 1789.) You can pick up a sense of the character of the liègeois—down-to-earth, independent-minded, with an irreverent sense of humor—at the famous market called La Batte, the largest in Belgium, held every Sunday morning along the north bank of the Meuse. Or drop by the popular Restaurant-Café Lequet to sample robust dishes such as boulets à la liègeoise—meatballs with a sweetened sauce—along with the local lager, Jupiler.
The folkloric side of Liège is wonderfully documented in a converted 17th-century convent in the historic heart of the city. The Musée de la Vie Wallonne, also recently refurbished, contains an intriguing collection of artifacts relating to past daily life in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium.
Santiago Calatrava designed the Gare de Liège-Guillemins.
WHERE: 60 miles/96 km southeast of Brussels. VISITOR INFO: www.liege.be. MUSÉE GRAND CURTIUS: Tel 32/4-221-9404; www.grandcurtiusliege.be. RESTAURANT-CAFÉ LEQUET: Tel 32/4-222-2134. Cost: dinner $30. MUSÉE DE LA VIE WALLONNE: Tel 32/4-237-9040; www.viewallonne.be. BEST TIMES: Sun mornings for La Batte market; Aug 15 for Festival de la République Libre folk festival.
Vineyards, Country Cuisine, and Half-Timbered Houses
STRASBOURG AND THE ALSACE WINE ROAD
Alsace, France
Strasbourg’s magnificent Gothic cathedral, known for its off-center spire and stained-glass windows, dominates the central square of this picturesque town of half-timbered houses, canals, elite schools, and the seat of the European Parliament and Council of Europe. Admire the cathedral from the restaurant Maison Kammerzell, one of the most ornate, well-preserved medieval buildings in Europe, over a plate of delicious choucroute alsacienne, an earthy dish of sauerkraut, sausages, bacon, pork, and potatoes. Modernity is not absent in the city: The sleek, stylish, highly discreet Hôtel Régent Petite France stands in the historic old quarter and is a favorite with reigning presidents and visiting VIPs.
Ownership of Alsace has passed between France and Germany for centuries, most recently during World War II. The Germanic feel lingers along the Route du Vin d’Alsace (Alsatian Wine Road), which passes through one of France’s premier white and dessert wine regions with 50 grand cru vineyards. Rieslings and gewürztraminers are born here, along with sylvaner, muscat, and the sparkling crémant d’Alsace. The 106-mile route runs from Strasbourg to Thann, southwest of Colmar, with the Vosges mountains to the west and the Rhine Valley to the east. It zigzags past dramatic feudal ruins and through enchanting medieval towns where convivial winstubs (Alsatian bistros) serve local wines and choucroute or the ambrosial paté de foie gras, considered by many to be some of the best in the world.
Of the Wine Road’s 119 gabled wine villages, Riquewihr is the showpiece, with storybook half-timbered houses, cobblestone culs-de-sac, and courtyards anchored by massive wine presses. Nearby Kaysersberg shares the prize for quaintness, and fortified Turckheim has some of the best-preserved medieval architecture in France. For glorious views of the Alsatian plains, visit the hilltop 12th-century Haut-Koenigsbourg castle. Wine Road gastronomes love the elegant Auberge de l’Ill in Illhaeusern’s idyllic riverside setting. Another star is Rouffach’s hilltop Château d’Isenbourg, built over ancient, vaulted wine cellars, with an impressive Alsatian wine collection and regional cuisine. For an inn with 16th-century charm, try the Hostellerie Le Maréchal in the “Old Venice” quarter of Colmar, the attractive capital of the Wine Road region. Here you’ll find the popular Musée d’Unterlinden, housed in a 13th-century convent and showcasing such masterworks as the 16th-century Issenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald.
Hunawihr, one of many small villages along the Wine Road, is set among vineyards and has a centuries-old church.
WHERE: 306 miles/492 km east of Paris. MAISON KAMMERZELL: Tel 33/3-88-324214; www.maison-kammerzell.com. Cost: dinner $50. REGENT PETITE F
RANCE: Tel 33/3-88764343; www.regent-petite-france.com. Cost: from $220. WINE ROAD: www.vinsalsace.com. AUBERGE DE L’ILL: Tel 33/3-89-718900; www.auberge-de-l-ill.com. Cost: dinner $170. CHATEAU D’ISENBOURG: Tel 33/3-89-785850; www.chateaudisenbourg.com. Cost: from $200. HOSTELLERIE LE MARÉCHAL: Tel 33/3-89416032; www.hotel-le-marechal.com. Cost: from $150; dinner $70. MUSÉE D’UNTERLINDEN: Tel 33/3-89-201550; www.musee-unterlinden.com. BEST TIMES: Apr–Nov for the Wine Road; Jun and Jul in Strasbourg for Festival International de Musique; Jul for the Colmar International Music Festival; Sep–Oct for wine harvest; late Nov–Dec Strasbourg’s Christmas market, the largest in France.
The Royal and Rustic in the Shadow of the Pyrenees
BIARRITZ AND THE PAYS BASQUE
Aquitaine, France
The resort of Biarritz, on France’s southwest coast near the Spanish border, has been a favorite international destination since Napoleon III built a villa here in 1855 for his Spanish bride, the Empress Eugénie. A playground first for Russian and British nobility, then for 1930s and ’40s artists, writers, and glitterati, Biarritz and its lovely beaches are still a popular destination, and with some of Europe’s best waves, it’s the unofficial surfing and windsurfing capital of the continent.
Still tinged with past glamour, Napoleon’s villa is now the elegantly refurbished Hôtel du Palais. The hotel’s spacious guest rooms overlook the rugged Atlantic coastline where the mighty Pyrenees step into the Bay of Biscay.
This is Pays Basque, an unofficial region that straddles the French-Spanish border. The Basque are fiercely proud of their language (Euskara), their rustic cuisine, and pelota (jai alai), a sport similar to racquetball but played with balls hurled by long, curved baskets. Watch a local game in the village of St-Jean-de-Luz down the coast. Or walk along its horseshoe-shaped beach, considered one of the finest in France.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die Page 17