Citroën Méhari

Citroën Méhari. Canvas roof, open back. Late night in April, Boulevard General Jacques, Bruxelles. I've always fancied one of these. Also reminds me of this Moka which I spotted in Ericeira, Portugal last summer.

Avenue de l'Hippodrome

Avenue de l'Hippodrome, Ixelles, Bruxelles. Old base. Pâtisserie on the left at the traffic lights baked the best croissants and Grillé aux Pommes. Tracks on the road took some negotiating when on the bike - especially in the rain. Rattling old style trams, crackling flashes from the trolley pole connection breaking with the overhead wires, metallic screeching of the wheels on the tight turn to the terminus on the right. The girl who lived in the apartment above mine was a tram driving. Sometimes she would give me a late night lift in her empty tram from Place Flagey on her home run into the terminus.

Cafe Belga. Place Flagey, Ixelles, Bruxelles. Opened after I left Bruxelles. Had it been open when I lived there...

Matongé

Place Saint Boniface. L'Ultimeatome cafe half way down on the right-hand side. One night Clémence Poésy sat beside me there.

 Nails, weaves and braids. Worth a click to enlarge this shot to see the woman in centre image.

Always packed et toujours la fête!

Brazzaville, Lome, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Libreville, Yaoundé.

Flat bar conversion of an old Gold Peugeot. Toison d'Or, Porte de Namur.

"Would you mind if I take a picture of the hairstyle poster Mr Barber man." "Sure, not a problem. Just don't take any pictures of my clientele, they are very important people."

Fantastic typeface on the cinema name.

Matongé is in Ixelles.

Evening stroll; tarts in Exki.

Service is our success

50's Wonder Woman-esque figure and the statement 'Service is our success' engraved on to the belt buckle of my Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Bruxelles.

Bikes of Belgium

A Victor Horta-esque chain guard. Antwerp.

An amazing bike. Incredible frame design and great set-up by the guys from SeaSpead. Must find out the frame maker/label. Woluwe Saint Lambert, Bruxelles.

Old cyclo-cross horse with raked forks. Ixelles, Bruxelles.

Antwerp quirkiness.

Bruxelles city bike scheme - Villo. Ville, velo...

Vintage lead peloton miniatures. Eddy Merckx, Ghislain Lambert, Amelie Poulain.

Super cool tricked out modern 'mom's bike'.  Naamsepoort, Brussels ;-)

The pink front luggage rack. Always chained on this corner.

Planckendael Safari Park exhibit.

More Antwerp quirkiness.

'Mer du Nord' shop window display for summer/autumn collection.

Standard street signage. Anwerp.

X!

Italian parking lesson

This is Filippo parking his Fiat Punto in a space that is actually shorter than the length of the car. Yes, it was a good 6 inches less than the car. Passersby paused to watch, shaking their heads in disgust and commenting on the inconsideration of some people, thinking that Filippo had been blocked in... unaware they were actually witnessing an Italian maestro at work. "Un bacino davanti, un bacino di dietro... ecco fatto!" Étangs d'Ixelles, Bruxelles.

Signs of Bruxelles

 Long-hand script window signs.

Summer in Bruxelles

 Playing ball in the park. Note: Translucent turquoise volleyball.  Lush!

Blackberries ripening in the garden.

Bruxelles sandwiches

Fontanas specials. Jambon-fromage-sans-jambon et fromage frais avec tapenade d'olive et radis!

Glaces du maison