In the more than beautiful galeries St-Hubert, in the old town, close to the Grand Place, is located the 3 floor bookstore Tropismes. It did not have all the books I wanted, but had a very nice selection. The people working there look like they know their field and are quite eager to help.

The large commercial street downtown seems to be rue Neuve. It includes the usual big name clothes stores. Walking towards the north, one eventually finds on their right a large shopping mall called City 2. On the top floor, there is a large bookstore called "fnac". It is simillar to Chapters (Canada) or Blackwells (UK) with lots of electronics and a wide selection of books, in many languages.

The easiest grocery shopping is at GB Supermarket, or GB Express. They are everywhere. The larger ones include an organic section which quality is good, but not the best I have seen (Marks and Spencers' is better). A very light meal can be made up of a couple of apples from an organic 5-pack (about 3.5 EUR) and a 5-slices pack of high quality Parma ham without preservatives,just pork and salt (about 5 EUR). Lots of choices of chocolates (mostly Galler, Cote d'Or, etc.) and of beers and wines. They also carry basic necessities, like combs, razors, pens and notebooks. They take cash or banking cards, but no credit cards. The biggest drawback is their opening hours: the one on rue des Tongres at Merode station was openned 9h30-19h30, Monday to Saturday.

Hotel Derby is ouside of the old city, i.e. of the Pentagon, which used to be walled, if I remember well. It is still convenient ly located however: it is right by Merode metro station, which is at the west end of Parc de Cinquantenaire (Jubilee Park - well, the English would be close to the Flemish that you can read on signs, as well as French). This hotel costs 48 EUR a day (60 if double occupation), which includes a breakfast of unimpressive bread bun, brioche, small piece of cheese (La vache qui rit), strawberry jam, and a choice of coffee, tea or hot chocolate (I'd recommand the tea, though it was bland). Actually, I'd recommand munching a bit on this breakfast, packing the rest for a mid-day snack, and going out to have a real breakfast at Le pain quotidien, just up the street (des Tongres) or maybe Teddy L., though that one is more of a pastry chop. Oh yes: for North Amercians: this is one of these European hotels which asks you to leave your key with them when you go outside. Also, note that you have to order the breakfast to your room (it is a 1-star hotel: no common room) the night before. I think you can get it as early as 7h. Overall, this place was fine. Very clean, though minimal. TV, but no fridge. Bathroom with shower in the room. I mostly liked the location: av. des Tongres nearby has everything. Exki, Teddy L., Pain quotidien, some bars, at least three drugstores (pharmacie / apoteek), bookstores, and even a grocery store called GB, with an organic food section and a section dedicated to chocolates! And nearby Parc du Cinquantenaire has a few large museums. The walk to the city center takes a while though. It's 5 metro stations long, but it's not a nice walk to go straight into it. If I remember well, the Loi street was not so pleasant, mostly with large building, government or economy-oriented. Very boring. A nicer walk went around all of this. If you walk to the center on a southern path, you can go through Place du Jourdain, where Friterie Antoine is at, and which can have incredible lineups... I hear the New York Times elected these fries to be the best in the world.

I visited Brussels by coming in from the airport by train: 2.60 EUR, get the ticket at the airport and get right to Centraal Station metro stop. One metro (subway) ticket costs 1.40, but a card of ten costs less than 10 EUR. I found that the distances downtown were rather short, so in total I only bought about 10 tickets in a week. The buses, subway and trams run on the same tickets. You can get a map of the network at the tourist office (close to Centraal Station or de Broukere station). The tickets can be bought at automatic outlets, and they come out as a card. In the subway, you have to validate the card in on of the orange boxes before taking the stairs down to the metros. If you transfer to a tram or a bus, you should also put it again in the orange box onboard. If you are within the allowed time (I think 60 or 90 min), then this will count as a "Transit" and it will *not* cost you another ticket. The transit system stops early at night, so check the schedules. It starts early in the morning, though! One other point of interest: in the subway, there are display board with all the stations on the line, and the position of each metro train on it. It tells you when to expect the next one, and its terminus, because some lines split in two and half the trains go to each terminus.

Le Petit Paris is a small bar on the rond point of the intersection of Tongres and Braffort (Merode metro stop). It is rather unimpressive, peopled by locals. The beer was very cheap, I think about 2 EUR for a glass of Hoegaarden. They only had these more commercial beers. It was overall ok to sit on the terrasse (pretty much in the middle of the sidewalk, though). However, the service was in between unnice and bland, but more towards the latter. It turned out to be a good late night spot for planning out the next day of scouting around Brussels.

Carpe Diem is a cafe, bar and small restaurant on the southwest corner of Tervuren av. and Celtes av. (Merode metro stop). Indeed, it is nightlife for quieter people, for sipping a beer or a tea slowly. There was even a small family sitting on the next table on the terrasse when I was there. I don't know if this is the general case, but I believe that the waitress there spoke at least French, Flemish, English and Italian... (wow!) The food on the next tables looked tasty, but I only had a rosehip (eglantier) tea. It was 2.20 EUR, which seems expensive, but I got a sizable teapot and biscuits. It was a good spot for doing some late night reading. At first, I thought the place looked snotty and touristy. But it turned out to be just right: good discrete service and a little homy.

The best breakfast I had in Brussels was at Le pain quotidien. I believe it is a chain of restaurants, having heard of one by the same name in New Yok city. Two people can stuff their faces for 15 EUR. The breads are incredible, a very wide selection. The capuccino is not the best I have had, but it is still worth getting. They have a nice selection of organic fruit juices, whic are tasty enough, though not the best I tasted either. On a side note, the bathroom was impeccable.

Apparently modeled after a UK chain, probably Pret-a-Manger, Exki is the most convenient restaurant I found in Brussels. It offers very high quality foods, for a very good price. Note that the prices to eat in and out are different. Their coffee is nice as well. Eating in, a smoked salmon baguette costs 3.95 EUR and an iced tea 1.75. I had another lunch which included a large salad, juice, coffee and piece of cheese cake (speculos cheese cake: delicious), and it came to 11 or 12 EUR.

Ok, ok, I didn't have any map of the city, but it isn't a good reason to be lost every five minutes in this city. There's no indication in the town for somebody who wants to visit Brussels with a car.<BR> So it's easier to let your car close to a metro station, and to have a good map of the city !!! For example, you can go to the Atonium which has got so many parkings, and take the metro up there.