She knows the pedestrian zone and she’s not gentle with it. “It was not designed for locals, but for tourists. For people who come to eat on the terracesshe considers. The pedestrian zone has become a kind of open-air shopping center, also used for large events.” Which she does not participate in, preferring alternative places like Le Lac, next to the Petit-Château, closed but which should reopen, Au Laboureur or Super Fourchette. She praises the work of the two girls who run the latter, “an unlikely place in the neighborhood (his, De Brouckère, editor’s note) with small music groups coming from everywhere”. A district not really spared: after the pedestrian zone works, an entire area of buildings has just been demolished (except the facades…) and the place is awaiting reconstruction.
“What image of Brussels are we giving to tourists? It’s going to be disgusting”
Lack of nature
Born in 1969, Françoiz Breut grew up in the suburbs of Cherbourg, “in a rather ugly city, between the countryside and the sea, all the same”. When she draws in her apartment in winter, she does not feel what Americans call the nature deficit disorder (nature deprivation syndrome, Ed.), she tells us. But as soon as a ray of sunshine appears, yes. “In the centre of Brussels, we are surrounded by concrete, there are not enough parks, but maybe that will changeshe wants to believe. They are currently renovating the Square des Blindés (next to Sainte-Catherine, Editor’s note). There is also the project of a new urban farm at Maximilien Park.”
Otherwise, to compensate for its “lack of nature”the inveterate cyclist that she is mounts her steed and heads off to recharge her batteries in the Bois du Laerbeek, in particular. In her 8th album, Vif!there is a lot of talk about nature, when, in the previous one, Blurred flow of the crowd (2021), she sang about the city being gutted, the permanent construction site. Follow her gaze…
She is obviously very happy with the development of cycle paths, the reduction in the flow of cars (even if there are still too many for her taste), but she rants about scooters. In this sense, she and a friend asked the mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close (PS), what he thought about it. He replied: “It’s great. I use them myself.”
Caroline Baerten: “The multicultural character of the capital attracts me. I know that our restaurant would not have the same success in the provinces”
Multicultural Brussels
Françoiz Breut believes that Brussels is lacking “a natural place to bathe”. Like the Flow in Anderlecht. She also regrets that the market on Place Sainte-Catherine, on Saturday mornings, is not bigger.
Françoiz Breut regularly visits her family in Normandy. Back in Brussels, she is delighted by the multicultural nature of the city. After Dubai, Brussels is the second most cosmopolitan city in the world with more than 180 nationalities. This weekend will also be the Folklorissimo festival (with many activities, a chance to immerse yourself in Brussels and international heritage with a focus on Morocco and Turkey).
After a quarter of a century in Brussels, will she ever leave? When asked, she thinks she will stay. “Until death do us part”she laughs.
