b. From Paris to Cologne by Brussels.
The two principal lines connecting Paris and Brussels are: (1) Viâ Haumont,
Maubeuge and Mons; express in 6½ hrs.; fares 32 fr. 50, 24 fr. 35,
17 fr. 60 c.; (2) Viâ Amiens, Arras, Douai and Valenciennes; express in
9 hrs.; fares 37 fr. 55, 28 fr. 20, 19 fr. 45 c.
(1). As far as Haumont the line has been already described
in the previous route (a.). Feignies is the last French and Quéry
the first Belgian station. Stat. Mons is the next place of importance;
thence to Brussels see below.
(2). From Paris to Arras see R. 40.
l. Douai (Hôtel de Flandre), on the Scarpe, with 24,486 inhab.,
an ancient fortified town, is the first important station. The
Town Hall, with its Beffroi or belfry of five towers, is a fine
example of a Flemish civic edifice of the 15th cent. The vane
on the summit of the central tower is wielded by the lion of
Flanders. Douai is the seat of an important school of artillery
and possesses a foundry which furnishes a large proportion of
the guns employed by the French army.
At Douai the line to Courtrai, Lille and Ghent diverges.
After several minor stations the train passes near the valuable
coal-mines of Anzin, situated to the r. of the line, crosses the
Scheldt and reaches.
r. Valenciennes (Poste; *Hotel des Princes; *Railway Restaurant),
a very ancient fortified town, with 24,966 inhab., on the
Escaut, or Scheldt. The streets are narrow and dirty. The
Town Hall, in the Gothic combined with subsequent styles, is
perhaps the only edifice worthy of note. The Museum contains
several pictures by Rubens, the church of
St. Gery a Descent
from the Cross by the same master.
Valenciennes formerly belonged to Hainault. It was unsuccessfully
besieged by Turenne in 1656. By the peace of Nymwegen
it was adjudged to France and newly fortified by Vauban. In
1793 the fortress succumbed to the united Austrian, English and
Hanoverian forces under the Prince of Coburg, but was recovered
by the French the following year.
r. Blanc-Misseron is the last French, Quiévrain the first Belgian
station.
l. St. Ghislain, the point of divergence of a line to Ghent,
is situated on the canal which conveys the valuable products of
the neighbouring coal-mines from Mons to Condé.
Near stat. Jemappes (3 M. to the W. of the line) General
Dumouriez and the Duc de Chartres (afterwards King Louis
Philippe) with 50,000 French defeated 22,000 Austrians under
the Duke of Coburg, Nov. 6th, 1792.
At Malplaquet (3 M. to the S.E. of Mons) Marlborough and
Prince Eugene, with a loss of 20,000 men, defeated the French
in 1700. In the vicinity, on May 18th, 1794, Pichegru defeated
the Duke of York and captured 60 guns and 1500 prisoners.
r. Mons (Hôtel Garin; Hôtel Royal), capital of Hainault, with
26,061 inhab., is indebted for its origin to a fort erected here
by Cæsar during his Gallic campaign. The emperor Joseph II.
caused the fortifications to be demolished, but the town was
strongly re-fortified in 1818. In 1861—62, however, the works
were again levelled and the materials conveyed to Antwerp.
Valuable coal-mines in the vicinity.
The Cathédrale de Ste. Waudru (St. Waltrudis) is the most
considerable edifice in Mons, situated to the l. as the town is
entered from the station. It was commenced in 1460 and completed
in 1589. It possesses a small, pointed Gothic spire, but
the principal tower was never completed. The exterior is somewhat
disfigured by modern additions, but the interior is a model
of boldness and elegance. Several reliefs in marble and tabernacle
deserve inspection. One of the lateral chapels contains a
quaint Resurrection; Christ is represented as stepping forward
from the picture. On the W. wall a new picture by Isendyk:
St. Waltrudis healing a sick man.
To the l. in the vicinity rises the Beffroi, on the highest site
in the town. The castle to which it belongs is now a lunatic
asylum, occupying the ground on which Cæsar's Castrum once stood.
The Town Hall, dating from the 15th cent., with a tower
subsequently added, is inferior in elegance of design to the similar
structures at Brussels, Louvain etc. — A large statue,
erected in 1853, perpetuates the memory of Orlando di Lasso
(Roland de Lattre), the celebrated composer, who was born at
Mons in 1530.
From stat. Jurbise a branch line diverges to Tournai and Courtrai.
l. Stat. Soignies, a town with 6500 inhab. possesses a monastery
(of St. Vincent) founded in the 7th cent. and erected in its present
form by St. Bruno, archbishop of Cologne, in 965, probably
the most ancient edifice in Belgium.
l. Braine-le-Comte, a small town of very ancient origin, at
some distance from the station, is the junction for Namur. Carriages
are sometimes changed here.
l. Hal (Hôtel des Pays Bas), a small town on the Senne and
the canal from Charleroi, is resorted to by pilgrims who revere
a picture of the Virgin in the Church of St. Mary, a fine Gothic
edifice. The high-altar, completed in 1583, is an admirable
specimen of the Renaissance style, executed in alabaster, adorned
with numerous reliefs. The bronze font of 1446 also merits
inspection. A monument in black marble, with a sleeping child,
is sacred to the memory of the Dauphin Joachim (d. 1460) son
of Louis XI.
A hilly district is now traversed and for some distance the
line skirts the canal to Charleroi. Near Forest the line crosses
the Senne and intersects a rich pastoral district, through which
the stream meanders. The ramparts of Brussels are soon crossed
near the Porte de Hal and the Station du Midi entered, situated
upwards of 1 M. from the Station du Nord.
Brussels. Hôtels in the Place Royale in the upper part of the town:
de Bellevue, *de Flandre, de l'Europe, all expensive. *Hôtel de
Suède, Rue de l'Evêque, R. 2½, D. 3½ fr.; *de Saxe and *de l'Univers
in the Rue Neuve, leading from the station into the town. —
Hôtel de Brabant, Marché aux Charbons, at the back of the Hôtel
de Ville.
Restaurants: *Allard, Rue Fossé aux Loups, near the theatre;
*Dubost, Rue de la Putterie, and many others.
Cafés: several in the Place de la Monnaie. Ices at Marugg's, Rue
Treurenberg, and Marchal, next door to the Théâtre du Parc.
Estaminets or beer-houses are very numerous. One of the best
is the Hôtel de la Monnaie, opposite the theatre. "Faro" is weak and acid,
"Louvain" similar, but sweeter. Bavarian beer at Puth's, Rue du Tir 20,
outside the gate of Namur; at the Prince Charles, Rue d'Aremberg 10, in
the rear of the Passage, etc.
Shops: the most attractive are in the Rue de la Madeleine and Montagne
de la Cour.
English Church Service at the Chapel Royal, Rue du Musée
(9 a. m. and 2 30 p. m.), at the Chapel in the Boulevard de l'Observatoire,
and at the Evangelical Chapel, Rue Belliard.
Brussels, the capital of Belgium and residence of the King,
contains a population of 236,000, including the suburbs, ⅔rds
of whom speak Flemish, ⅓rd French. Like Paris it possesses
its Café des Mille Colonnes, a counterpart of the Champs Elisées
and the Garden of the Tuileries in the Allée Verte and the Park,
its Boulevards, Café-chantants etc. This Paris in miniature should
be seen before the great French metropolis by those who desire
to avoid disappointment.
The passing visitor is recommended to take the following
walk: Adjacent to the Rue Neuve, which leads from the station
into the city, rises the *Martyrs' Monument (Pl. 25), designed
by Geefs and erected in 1838 to the memory of those who fell in
the war with Holland in 1830. The marble figure represents
"Belgium Delivered"; marble tablets in an open vault record the
names (445) of the slain.
Then past the Théâtre Royal to the *Hôtel de Ville
(Pl. 20), resembling that of Louvain; the magnificent façade
was completed in 1442; the statues of Dukes of Brabant, erected
in 1853, replace those mutilated by the sans-culottes in 1793.
The graceful tower, 364 ft. in height, is from some unknown
cause not in the centre of the edifice. The interior contains
nothing remarkable.
The entire square, or Grande Place, is adorned with handsome
mediæval buildings; on the W. side the various guild-houses,
erected at the beginning of last century. Here, on June 5th,
1568. Duke Alva witnessed the execution of the counts Egmont
and Hoorne from the Halle au Pain, or Maison du Roi as it is
commonly termed, opposite the Hôtel de Ville.
In the rear of the Hôtel de Ville, at the corner of the Rue
du Chêne and the Rue de l'Etuve, is the Manneken fountain
(Pl. 24), an object of veneration amongst the populace.
The *Passage, or Galerie St. Hubert, an arcade near
the Hôtel de Ville, diverging from the Rue de la Madeleine, is
a very favourite promenade. It is a handsome structure, 650 ft.
long, 60 ft. high and 25 ft. broad, and contains some of the
most tempting shops in the city.
The Rue de la Madeleine and its continuation, the Montagne
de la Cour, which ascend hence, present a succession of attractive
windows.
The latter terminates in the Place Royale, adorned with the
equestrian *Statue of Godfrey de Bouillon, in bronze,
executed by Simonis in 1848. It is said to stand on the spot
where the great crusader stood when he summoned a numerous
assembly of knights to aid him in the liberation of the Holy
Sepulchre.
The fresco in the tympanum of the opposite church of St.
Jacques sur Caudenberg (Pl. 11), painted by Portaels in 1852,
represents the Virgin as the consoler of the sorrowful.
The adjoining *Park, in Sept. 1830 a spot of great importance,
having been successfully maintained by the Dutch against the
Belgians who occupied the Place Royale, is the favourite promenade
of the citizens. On the S. side rises the Royal Palace
(Pl. 33), on the N. side the
Palais de la Nation (Pl. 31), the
vestibule of which contains 6 modern statues of Belgian princes.
On the W. side of the park is the marble statue of the French
general Belliard (p. 117), by Geefs.
Hence to the *Cathedral (Ste. Gudule, Pl. 10), the finest
church in Brussels, with its two truncated Gothic towers. The
choir and transept are of the 13th, towers and nave of the 14th,
aisles of the 15th, the large S. Chapelle du St. Sacrament of the
15th cent.
The latter contains a *Monument in marble of Count F. de
Merode, who fell in a skirmish with the Dutch in 1830, executed
by Geefs.
The Stained Glass in the N. chapel, executed in 1546, representing
the emp. Charles V. and his relations, is remarkably
fine. That in other parts of the church, including the newest
at the back of the high altar, is of little artistic value.
The Pulpit is a curious specimen of wood-carving, executed
by Verbrüggen in 1699, representing the expulsion from Paradise
and a number of different animals.
The walk thus indicated would occupy about half a day and
embrace the most interesting points in Brussels. Those whose
time permits may also visit the Picture Gallery (Musée, Pl. 26),
open to the public on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, 10—3
o'clock; at other times admission 1 fr. It contains seven large
pictures by Rubens (not his best works), but little else worthy
of mention. The church of *Notre Dame de la Chapelle
(Pl. 7) merits a visit on account of its fine frescoes and oil-paintings
by Eykens (d. 1853). At the Porte de Hal (Pl. 27),
at the extremity of the same street (Rue Haute), is preserved a
considerable collection (1 fr.) of Weapons and Antiquities.
The Zoological Garden, 20 min. walk to the S. of the park,
is extensive and well laid out, and may also be inspected by
those who have leisure.
From Brussels to Liège see Baedeker's Rhine, thence to Cologne
see R. 48 a.
