We were looking for a sneaker store (which also sells fixed gear frames) on Saturday and stumbled upon the
Eglise Notre Dame du Sablon (or Church of Our Lady of the Sablon). It was built in the 15th and 16th centuries, and is just splendid. It has 46-foot high stained glass windows, but it also has all of these other cool carvings, paintings, and statues! There were two small, black and white marble chapels that looked beautiful but were closed when we went. Without further adieu, some scenes from Notre Dame du Sablon:
Creeeeeepy dead peeps.
The patron saint of dandies everywhere?
Crests!
This must be the "dame" herself. Nice dress, hm?
The "dame" classes up some candle holders. Can I borrow 5 euro?
From there, we strode through the Sablon Antiques Market. What a charming market, it is! There were some really beautiful and unusual pieces there--from anything-you-can-imagine made of silver to jewelry to frames to art to bits n' bobs to walking sticks to keys to whatever your heart desires. Come for a visit and we'll go!
And surely you recognize this old friend?
I am quite taken with the Mannequin Pis. So much so that if I know we are in the vicinity, I beg to be taken there. (I say "taken there" because I am perpetually lost in this city. I can't get my bearings--north is south, east is west--the whole bloody city just confuses me. I had it *down* in SF and Columbus and Philly, but Brussels?? Woof! I hope it's only temporary... Even the damn Tenbosch Park is like a warp zone for me!) I just like seeing what he's up to and, well, seeing him! This was the first time I caught him in an outfit, and my how jaunty he looks in his neckerchief! Turns out, his costume was related to parade that had popped up a few blocks away because there were real live people kicking it off in the same outfits.
So it's not a weekend in Brussels without a parade of some sort! This one featured huge paper mache effigies. Each figure appeared to represent a city or region in Belgium, and each was accompanied by proud citizens of that city/region and a band. Yeah, each figure had its own band. Nice touch.
And that was just Saturday!
