Paris1972-Versailles2003

Here nostalgic sets in again, doing my road warrior trips in Europe. We love the freedom of the road and gone to great distances. We went from our former home in Brec’h ,beautiful Morbihan all the way to Schaerbeek, next to Brussels, Belgium! A memorable road trip and fun for the whole family. Let me give you a bit more as have some post on it in my blog as well.

Schaerbeek is one of the 19 bilingual towns that makes up the Brussels-Capital in Belgium. It borders the towns of Brussels-city, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Evere, Etterbeek and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. The eastern part around the Square Vergote, Boulevard Lambermont, Place Jamblinne de Meux, the Diamant district and Josaphat Park are today a privileged place for a wealthy population for its architecture and its practical location, as it is near the European institutions and the financial heart of the city, NATO, the European School, the airport and the ring beltway road.

The first written mention of Schaerbeek is Scarenbeca in 1120 by the bishop of Cambrai (see post) in France in a document in which he also cites Everna, this neighboring town of Evere served as the administration and part of the revenues of the churches at the chapter of Soignies. In the Middle Ages, the territory of the town was part of the Duchy of Brabant. Schaerbeek was part of the “vat”, that is to say the suburbs, of the city of Brussels, and the village was annexed to the city in 1301. This situation continued until 1795, when the French administration decided to make Schaerbeek a town as under the French revolutionary period.

I did not use but for information only , Schaerbeek train station is one of the largest Belgian railway stations located on the territories of the towns of Schaerbeek (passenger building) and Brussels-City.  Also, the Bruxelles-Nord train station is located on the territory of the town of Schaerbeek.  While there walked all over but got to use a lot of public transport leaving our car in the hotel parking which was inexpensive, We took the metro line 1,5,and 6. As well taken the tramways 25 and 92, and the bus 66. We prefer the trams very nice clean efficient and see it all.

We were here choosing at random a hotel that was nice ,well place, and inexpensive such as the Hôtel Bentley, avenue Rogier 51. This is a small hotel in a lively area, with parking and very close to public transport, it is really easy to access. The rooms are quite nice and well maintained. Recently renovated , and really cheap to spend a night here. It has 30 rooms equipped with a bathroom or a shower, a television and a telephone. hotel parking ,not bad at all. We love the fact you leave the key at front desk and just take off walking was nice even all the way to the Botanical garden center (see post); and then taking the public transport as above was fun for a change did not drove in the city!  webpage on the Hotels finder site : https://www.hotels.com/ho467234/?q-rooms=1&q-room-0-adults=2&q-room-0-children=0&f-hotel-id=467234&sort-order=BEST_SELLER&ZSX=0&SYE=3

Schaerbeek has some remarkable sites such as Josaphat Park (1904), the City/Town Hall built in 1887 at Place Colignon ; the Royal Sainte-Marie Church,(see post) the Maison des Arts, as well as many Art Nouveau and Art Deco houses particularly well preserved by example the Autrique House. It is also the birthplace of singer Jacques Brel , one of the best in the French language. The Halles de Schaerbeek is a Brussels cultural center located in Schaerbeek, 22 rue Royale Sainte-Marie ; in the former Sainte-Marie covered market built in 1865 and destroyed by fire in 1898. The renovation project, which began in 1984, is finished in 1997 and Les Halles became a cultural center. It has excellent museums such as the Musée Schaerbeekois de la Biére (beer museum) at 33-35 avenue Louis Bertrand, the musée de l’Horloge en Faïence or Clockarium museum at 163 boulevard Reyers, the before mention Autrique house or Maison Autrique, first home of Victor Horta in Brussels, at 266 Chausée de Haecht, and the Train World at Place Princesse Elizabeth.

The city of Schaerbeek on its heritage: https://www.1030.be/fr/patrimoine-tourisme

The Brussels tourist office on Schaerbeek: https://visit.brussels/fr/article/promenade-quartiers-schaerbeek

If you are handy with public transport, this is an area to stay to see all of Brussels inexpensively with a large family. We never fell any problems walking the streets here and sure will be back when possible. Schaerbeek was a pleasant find indeed. Hope you enjoy this post which again know have pictures,  but can’t find them in my huge vaults of over 50K photos! sorry. Ironic the ones I found were on public transports !!

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!