{"id":1171,"date":"2014-03-31T07:59:08","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T06:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=1171"},"modified":"2014-03-31T07:59:08","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T06:59:08","slug":"week-13-around-place-jourdan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=1171","title":{"rendered":"Week 13: around Place Jourdan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I was again in Brussels, this time from Tuesday mid-day to Saturday morning. This time I did not go to the centre. Instead, all the pictures were taken while walking around in the EU quarter and especially in the neighbourhood around Place Jourdan and in Parc L\u00c3\u00a9opold.<\/p>\n

13_1<\/strong>
\nBut I begin with a couple of pictures from the monthly wine tasting at the office. Sniffing:
\n\"DSF6101\"<\/p>\n

13_2<\/strong>
\nStudying:
\n\"DSF6106\"<\/p>\n

13_3<\/strong>
\nWhen I arrived in the EU quarter around lunchtime on Wednesday, Obama was there too. The place was buzzing:
\n\"DSF6116\"<\/p>\n

13_4<\/strong>
\nThe whole area around Schuman was blocked, and to walk past the checkpoints you had to have an EU employee badge or some way of proving that you lived in the zone. The meeting between Obama and the EU leaders was held in the Council building on the left. There were both Belgian and US security forces all over the place and some kind of black and menacing SUV on steroids with Maryland license plates is just visible in front of the white police van and the yellow ambulance:
\n\"DSF6115\"<\/p>\n

13_5<\/strong>
\nOn Thursday morning, I had to give a talk to a gathering of Belgian and Dutch intellectual property lawyers. It took place in Priorij Corsendonk in Oud Turnhout, near the Dutch border:
\n\"DSF6125\"<\/p>\n

13_6<\/strong>
\nThe place is bucolic:
\n\"DSF6122\"<\/p>\n

13_7<\/strong>
\nThe dining room. Sadly, I did not have time to stay for lunch:
\n\"DSF6117\"<\/p>\n

13_8<\/strong>
\nBack in Brussels, life was back to normal, the only remnants of the previous day’s lockdown were a few signs here and there:
\n\"DSF6159\"<\/p>\n

13_9<\/strong>
\nThe Berlaymont building often has some inspirational message on this facade. This one is about the free movement of workers, one of the four key freedoms of the EU. I liked the combination with the usual traffic on the Rond Pont Schuman:
\n\"DSF6160\"<\/p>\n

13_10<\/strong>
\nRue de la Loi is the main road leading from the EU quarter to the centre of Brussels, with many EU institutions along the way. During the day it is one big traffic jam, but at night it is virtually empty:
\n\"DSF6165\"<\/p>\n

13_11<\/strong>
\nNighttime reflections of the fence around Parc L\u00c3\u00a9opold:
\n\"DSF6131\"<\/p>\n

13_12<\/strong>
\nParc L\u00c3\u00a9opold bus stop:
\n\"DSF6169\"<\/p>\n

13_13<\/strong>
\nParc L\u00c3\u00a9opold is a wonderful green oasis on the edge of the EU quarter:
\n\"DSF6135\"<\/p>\n

13_14<\/strong>
\nDogs like the park too:
\n\"DSF6140\"<\/p>\n

13_15<\/strong>
\nThe park is surrounded by a variety of 19th century buildings, now housing various institutions:
\n\"DSF6143\"<\/p>\n

13_16<\/strong>
\n\"DSF6144\"<\/p>\n

13_17<\/strong>
\nThis is my hotel, the Aloft Brussels Schuman, as seen from the park:
\n\"DSF6139\"<\/p>\n

13_18<\/strong>
\nOn Saturday, my flight home was at mid-day, so I had time for a morning walk in the neighbourhood around nearby Place Jourdan. It is a square surrounded by bars and restaurants. In the centre stands a famous fritterie<\/em>, and next to it is a sculpture of Belgian fries:
\n\"DSF6155\"<\/p>\n

13_19<\/strong>
\nA closer view of the sculpture:
\n\"DSF6177\"<\/p>\n

13_20<\/strong>
\nThe “fries”:
\n\"DSF6178\"<\/p>\n

13_21<\/strong>
\nLooking out on Place Jourdan:
\n\"DSF6191\"<\/p>\n

13_22<\/strong>
\n“Focus”:
\n\"DSF6173\"<\/p>\n

13_23<\/strong>
\nMy kind of lantern:
\n\"DSF6179\"<\/p>\n

13_24<\/strong>
\nCommemorative plaque on apartment building:
\n\"DSF6180\"<\/p>\n

13_25<\/strong>
\nNumber Three:
\n\"DSF6187\"<\/p>\n

13_26<\/strong>
\nDead tree turned into art:
\n\"DSF6152\"<\/p>\n

13_27<\/strong>
\nThe lobby of the Aloft is decorated with various modern paintings, including this amusing Last Supper:
\n\"DSF6193\"<\/p>\n

13_28<\/strong>
\nA closer look. Aloft is an American chain (actually, part of the Starwood Group of hotels) but I doubt if they could get away with hanging this painting in most of their locations back home. I find it blasphemous in a delightful manner:
\n\"DSF6194\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I was again in Brussels, this time from Tuesday mid-day to Saturday morning. This time I did not go to the centre. Instead, all the pictures were taken while walking around in the EU quarter and especially in the neighbourhood around Place Jourdan and in Parc L\u00c3\u00a9opold. 13_1 But I begin with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1102,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1172,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1171\/revisions\/1172"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}