Becoming an Art Nouveau expert

I already wrote here about my Art Nouveau discoveries of Brussels during the great Art Nouveau and Art Deco Biennale, and after exploring various sites in Schaerbeek, I spent another weekend discovering Art Nouveau gems in Ixelles and Etterbeek.

On Saturday, I started with the ultimate example of Art Nouveau, Victor Horta's Hôtel Solvay in Avenue Louise. The building is nowadays a listed UNESCO world heritage site together with Horta's Hôtel Tassel (see below), Hôtel van Eetvelde and Horta Museum. 

The interior of the house is once again fantastic: in Horta's style, stained glass windows bring light to the house, walls are beautifully decorated and all details are carefully executed.

I continued to another UNESCO site not far away in Rue Paul-Emile Janson, where Horta designed in 1893 Hôtel Tassel. The interior of this building was completely destroyed in the 1970s, but is now renovated to look like the original. 

My last destination on Saturday was Maison Blerot in Rue de Belle-Vue, in a street where you have a row of buildings designed by the Art Nouveau architect Ernest Blerot (look for his signature on the facade). 

Compared to Horta, Blerot's style was a bit more romantic with more flowers and animals used in the decorative patterns. Blerot constructed over 70 houses in Brussels and I think I need to go and discover some of them in the neighborhood of Saint-Boniface soon.

On Sunday I continued my Art Nouveau weekend with yet another Horta building close to Sablon, Maison Frison. It's a house that I've walked past many times, but I have never paid any attention to its dirty facade (see below, it's the one with "for rent" sign). Indeed, the facade is not spectacular, but the interior has a beautiful winter garden of true Horta style.

One of the highlights of the Biennale was, without a doubt, Maison Cauchie in Etterbeek, close to Parc Cinquantanaire. This is where I finally understood the technique of "sgraffito", which is used to make the decorative paintings in many Art Nouveau facades. It consists of two layers of plaster of which the bottom one is dark. When the plaster is still wet, the artists carves the lines of the image on the wall, revealing the darker layer. Then, as in the fresco style, the wet paint is coloured. 

Paul Cauchie and his wife Caroline were masters of the sgraffito style and on the facade of their house you can admire their skills. The building has a well-earned place in the secret list of "The 5 most striking Art Nouveau houses in Brussels".

My last visit was in Parc Leopold (No. 322 in the list of "The 5 most remarkable places in the Eruopean Quarter"), the Bibliothèque Solvay, behind the European Parliament. 

The story of the Solvay library is super interesting. Ernest Solvay (father of Armand Solvay who commissioned Hôtel Solvay) was a rich industrialist who was very keen on supporting education, science and research.  He founded five private institutes, one of which was the institute of sociology, an academic field close to Solvay's heart. 

This building was constructed to only around 10 top students of sociology. They had a beautiful library in the middle of the building for their use and their individual offices were furnished with Chesterfield furnitures. Not bad for sociologists! With the help of the sociologists, Ernest Solvay himself conducted analyses on workers' well-being in his factories. Oh boy, I wish we had more rich industrialists like him in the world today.

Later in the 20th century, the institute became part of the University of Brussels, and finally in 1981 the library was no longer used. Squatters moved in and destroyed the interior of the place completely in the following years. It was only in the end of the 1980s when an architecture student got interested in the place and urged politicians to save and protect it. 

The shameful story got a happy ending as the student later was in charge of renovating the building. It is now used for various events and concerts, so it is possible to see the beautiful stained glass windows. 

Art Nouveau in Brussels - the beauty is in the details

After summer holiday (which seems like ancient history already) I have had some difficulties in enjoying life in Brussels. After spending time with friends and family in Finland and making little visits to fabulous cities like London, Paris, Copenhagen and Berlin (all in one month which was definitely a bit too much!), returning to Brussels was hard. 

I know that I have started post-holiday period with a wrong attitude, so I'm now consciously trying to appreciate the city. After all, I'm halfway through my contract here, so I need to make the most out of my time here - otherwise I would regret it.

Beautiful glass decoration over an entrance door.

With a beautiful sunny autumn weather I try to enjoy the pretty little things in the city and there are plenty of them (it's not always easy in Brussels to see the beauty, you have to pay attention). A few weeks ago I was dog sitting a colleague's dog for a weekend and this gave me a fantastic opportunity to slowly stroll around in my neighborhood and expand my knowledge of the Schaerbeek commune in which I live. 

Schaerbeek doesn't always have the best reputation and I myself wanted first to live in cool places like St. Catherine or Ixelles, but now I've learnt to appreciate the architectural beauty of the commune. There are quite many interesting places to visit here, especially around the neighborhood of the imposing city hall in Place Collignon and pretty Parc Josaphat.

These are the details you find in so many buildings if you just look up and around. Makes life so much nicer, doesn't it.

Even more extensive strolling took place this weekend as I had bought a weekend pass for the Brussels Art Nouveau and Art Deco Biennale. It's a truly fantastic way to visit some of the buildings that would otherwise be closed to visitors and in general get interesting information on this famous period of Brussels architecture. (It's popular among the locals, but I would even recommend tourists to plan their visit so that they can participate.)

On Saturday I started with the famous Maison Autrique in Chaussée de Haecht 266, designed by Victor Horta in 1893 as his first work. This was the start of the golden period of Art Nouveau! The house was carefully renovated ten years ago and our wonderful guide gave us an interesting tour around the house. This building is unsurprisingly No. 238 on my secret list of "The 5 finest Art Nouveau Buildings open to public in Brussels". 

It's quite funny to find this architectural gem here because the street is the heart of the Turkish community with many brightly colored restaurant signs that hardly valorize the building.

Horta and Professor Autrique were both Freemasons and the facade of the building includes some of the Freemason symbols like triangles and the use of number three in various ways.

I continued to another beautiful house designed by Horta, Hôtel van Eetwelde of which I have written here earlier. This time I had the opportunity to see the gorgeous interior of the building (unfortunately no photos were allowed). 

Wall paper in the Quaker House.

My last visit on Saturday was to the close-by Quaker House in Square Ambiorix. While I have walked by the building quite often I have rarely paid much attention to it. It was designed by George Hobé at the turn of the 20th century and bought by the Quakers in 1985. Outside is not much of interest in my opinion, but the interior was pretty (unfortunately here our guide wasn't very knowledgeable and spoke very bad English).

Hôtel Cohn-Donnay and the Restaurant De Ultieme Hallucinatie.

On Sunday I made a great visit to the heart of Schaerbeek and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode to streets I've never taken. Inspired by my new Art Nouveau book, I carefully looked around me and up to the buildings along the streets and indeed, there were so many beautiful details in the houses. 

While the overall picture might be a bit chaotic with all the different styles, you can enjoy of many little beautiful things if you just care to take the time (this is why walking with a dog is fantastic, you really have the time to contemplate your surroundings).

The chess corner in Hôtel Cohn-Donnay. Paul Hamesse designed every detail.

Unfortunately in the 1980s the garden was covered and this indoor terrace was built. Art Nouveau windows on the bar were removed but luckily at least the wooden part was conserved (originally the arch served as a covered path to the music salon at the back of the garden).

I started at Hôtel Cohn-Donnay at Rue Royale 316 very close to the byzantine style church of Royale Sainte-Marie. Hôtel Cohn-Donnay was already built in 1841 (before the Art Nouveau movement) in a neoclassical style. Only in the early 20th century when the Cohn-Donnay family moved in, Paul Hamasse, a student of famous Art Nouveau architect Paul Hankar, transformed the interior into Art Nouveau style. 

The place nowadays houses a beautiful restaurant and a cat café, which is really an underestimation of the potential of the beautiful house. Well, the cats were cute, but eating with cats on the table waiting to attack the food was not very relaxing.

I continued my tour to see two more unknown buildings: one quite eclectic house by Franz Van Ophem in Rue Renkin 33 and another one of more neo-renaissance style by Frans Hemelsoet in Avenue Princesse Elisabeth 22.

Maison Van Ophem built in 1890.

 Beautiful window in Maison Van Ophem.

Both of these building are now privately owned and transformed into apartments. In the Maison Hemelsoet we could visit one of the apartments that the owners had renovated themselves to resemble the original style of 1902. I didn't really like the quite opulent style of the neo-renaissance, and while the facade of the house was Art Nouveau style, you couldn't find the influence inside anymore. 

It is worth knowing that Hemelsoet had made the building with many different influences to show his clients what he is able to do, like Maison Van Ophem, it was kind of a portfolio of the architect's skills.

 Maison Hemelsoet built in 1902.

More to come next weekend when I continue my visits to another six places.

New discoveries in London: Serpentine Gallery

It's been a while since I last went to London. Too long, I now discovered.

I don't know if the city has changed, or I have changed, or I have just previously visited the touristy places, but this time I really fell in love with the city.

Exciting art galleries, beautiful people, great street markets, cool cafés, vegetarian food, hipsters creating nice urban activities - oh, I need to go soon again.

One new discovery was the Serpentine Gallery at the Kensington Garden. For fifteen years, they have invited an architect to create a pavilion outside the gallery. In the past, there has been a lot of famous names who have participated, Zaha Hadid, Oscar Niemeyer, Frank Gehry and Ai Weiwei to name but a few.

This time it was a Spanish architect duo selgascano. I let the pictures of the pretty colorful pavilion speak for themselves.

It was perhaps easy to fall in love with London just on this Saturday as the weather was great, hot and sunny. However, the pavilion was more like a greenhouse. Unbearable to stay long inside. But I'm sure that on a typical grey London day, this pavilion will bring a lot of joy to the people visiting it.

A nature escape in the Ardennes

It was a bit too much of a shock to return to Brussels after three weeks of tranquil holidays in Finland. Therefore I immediately needed to plan a little nature escape in the Belgian Alps, the Ardennes in the very southern part of Belgium close to the borders of France and Luxembourg (actually, you cannot get much further away from Brussels inside the Belgian borders).

 

Sometimes the trails signs can be a bit confusing...

Though I found out that Belgium also has the system of GR (or grande randonnée meaning great hiking) like France, I couldn't find any of the guidebooks of the trails in bookshops in Brussels. The one outdoor sports equipment shop where I went to buy a new mattress had a great collection of guidebooks and maps - for France! The Belgians are really not great in selling their travel destinations to people. So I try to do some of that promotion here...

In any case, after a lot of research on internet (yes, during work hours!) I found the trail that I wanted - and most importantly was able - to do. I combined information from several websites in Flemish (!), English and French to get a bit of an idea where the GR16 or Sentier de la Semois,  "one of the most beautiful treks one can possibly make in Belgium", passes. Taking into account the available public transports, my only choice was to start in Herbeumont and finish after two days of hiking in Bouillon. The best source of information on the distances between various legs on the trail was in Flemish, but at least I could have an idea of what is feasible in two days.

I took a train from Brussels to Bertrix on Friday afternoon (via Libramont, 2h30min, weekend fare for return ticket only 22 EUR) and then a local bus 163A (30 min, fare 3.20 EUR) from Bertrix to Herbeumont's Champs de Monde camping area.

Camping Champs du Monde.

The camping site was in a great place under an old train bridge over the river Semois. I was welcomed by super relaxed staff, two Flemish slightly drunk brothers-in-law who immediately invited me for beer and French fries, and a thunder storm and lightning. The camping site seemed to be the place to meet real Belgians and I was delighted about this opportunity. 

The Belgians seem to love their camper vans, to the extent that they build wall and roofs around them...

It has been a long time since I last stayed in a camping site. This one had a very nice atmosphere, but I still find it weird how the Belgians or the Dutch spend their holidays camping. For me camping is just an alternative way of accommodation, not the content of the holidays as it seems to be for the Dutch especially. Indeed, when I was first afraid that the hiking trail would be full of all the people staying at the campsite, I didn't yet understand that these people mainly enjoy activities at the campsite. They don't hike. 

This fundamental difference between me (the Finnish?) and them became clear on the empty hiking trail when I passed through many full camping grounds where people were sitting in their sun chairs in front of their massive camper vans and tents with full equipment. Also, those six naked middle-aged men and a woman (and a dog) probably weren't expecting to bump into anyone on the trail...

Countryside views.

Well, I also enjoyed the cosy camping sites, like the Camping Maka, where I spend my second night. As I arrived in the early afternoon I had nothing else to do than enjoy beer and sun in bikinis by the beautiful river Semois, and I gladly remarked that I'm nowhere close to being a real elitist.

And the hike, I wanted to write down the story, so that anyone else wanting to experience the Ardennes could do it with less pain of organizing and finding information.

Day 1: Herbeumont-Auby (24km)

The start of the hike, of the Herbeumont-Auby (Camping Maka) passage of GR16, should have been in Herbeumont, but I couldn't find it. I had arrived with poor information on the exact location of the trail but I had hoped that at the camping site the staff would know the place or that I would see the signs somewhere. But believe it or not, they didn't know. 

At 8 am on Saturday morning I started heading through Herbeumont village towards north and my destination of Auby-sur-Semois and, further along the river, Camping Maka. This decision was, however, a mistake as I later learnt that the GR actually first makes a detour towards south to the other side of the river Semois before heading to north after passing by Le Tombeau du Chevalier in the hills inside the loop that river Semois makes close to Herbeumont.

The quality of the map I was using together with Google Map (and the worry of running out of battery...).

Well, instead I followed a poorly drawn map of which I had taken a photo at the Grand-Place of Herbeumont. The map indicated "Sentier de la Semois", but obviously it wasn't the Sentier de la Semois that I wanted to follow. However, I followed the path marked with red diamonds (even though I knew the GR16 would be marked with red and white stripes) to a nearby hill, La Roche aux Corbeaux at 324m altitude, with good views of river Semois. It wasn't that bad, but afterwards I had to walk along the national road that wasn't that pleasant. However, I soon arrived to the village of Mortehan and finally saw the red-white signs of GR16. From there onwards, having missed probably 2/3 of the correct route, I was on track.

A time for a forest haiku (for a singing wanderer):

                        Laulaen kulkee /

                        Vaeltaja metsien /

                        Karkoittaa villit.

A little chapel before Cugnon.

The trail was now much more pleasant, although it wasn't exactly an escape to the wilderness (I even had a coffee in bar on the route, in the village of Cugnon). Nevertheless, it was refreshing to get a glimpse of the Belgian countryside that I have so far completely overlooked. The scenery of the river Semois was beautiful and altogether my hike of around 5 hours from Herbeumont to Camping Maka was relaxing but also physically demanding enough (but by no means difficult) even though I didn't for sure do the full 24 km, but more like 15 km.

River Semois at Camping Maka. The water was warm but only knee-deep. Should be a good spot to fish some trouts as well.

The wilderness seen during the hike in the Ardennes:

-a very big snail

-two dead mice

-a squashed frog

-a drifted wood that could have been a hippo

-a family trekking with their donkey

-a fox stearing me straight into the eyes, inspiring a haiku: 

                        Kettu loikahti /

                        Tuijotti suoraan silmiin /

                        Minä sanoin wau!

-Dutch people floating on the river

Day 2: Auby-Bouillon (25km)

On my second day I left the camping around 7h45 when nobody else seemed to be awake. This time it was much nicer to start the hike since I knew where the correct path was. It continued just outside the camping site following closely the river Semois again. The views were beautiful, and the walk was nice while a bit residential up to Dohan, a little village that I reached after around one hour. 

From Dohan there is a 5.5km loop that doesn't take you anywhere closer to Bouillon, the end point of the trail. I didn't know this and I was a bit exasperated when I realized after 1.5 more hours of walking that I hadn't advanced at all (it had started raining in the meantime). The loop by the river, south of Dohan, isn't that bad after all, but if you're tired you might want to skip it and continue from where the loop ends, somewhere around the N816 national road north of Dohan. From there the trail dives into a deeper forest. 

I had expected that the forests in the Ardennes are not real forests like in Finland, but they can get pretty dense, green and wild even though they are pierced by many forest roads and the civilization is never very far away.

The loop of Dohan takes you for example to this hill.

At the end of the forest, you cross the N865 and a little pond with birds, and the path leads you to a steep hill through the forest to something maybe called as Col de Buhan, the Buhan hill. This is also a loop and after reaching the top of the hill, you are slightly annoyed to walk back down (next to Les Enclaves road). Well, luckily on the path, you can find a lot of blackberries! 

After this loop, there is no more steep hills on the path to Bouillon, but you get to walk through various types of forests and meadows. I recommend you take with you little box that you can pick blackberries, because the path is surrounded by big bushes of them.

At 14h30 I suddenly entered the town of Bouillon bustling with people on holidays. It was a bit unexpected because I didn't know where the route ends. After crossing the big E46 highway (there's a bridge!), you only need to walk a few hundred meters and you arrive to the town. I didn't have time to drink one last Godefroy blanche, but I easily made it to the 15 o'clock bus number 8 heading to Libramont train station (45min, 3.20 EUR).

A good hike all in all despite the little practical troubles with maps etc. Walking alone and having so much time to think makes the time pass so slowly that I felt I had been away for much more than 2.5 days. Recommended!

Practical info:

For information on the local buses, check InfoTEC.

Camping Champs du Monde: price 11.50 EUR per night for one person and a tent.

Camping Le Maka: price 21.50 EUR per night for one person and a tent.

My other hiking and walking escape stories:

Mont St. Victoire (Provence, France)

Le Cap Gris Nez (Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France)

Jotunheimen (Norway)

Parc National des Volcans (Rwanda)

Cape Ann (Massachussets, USA)

And this reminds me that I should definitely write about the hike in Koli, Northern Karelia, in Finland where I did a great  60km trek last summer... Coming soon...

Hiking Mt. St. Victoire

Ten years ago, I think we didn't even realize how lucky we were to do our Erasmus year in the picturesque Aix-en-Provence, in Southern France. Now that we celebrated our ten years of friendship with my three best Erasmus friends and we visited beautiful Provence again, it struck me how I had missed the region. It's clear blue sky, the smell of rosemary, the rough but friendly French accent, the fresh produce in the market at Place Richelieu. Ah, pure happiness!

One thing we did appreciate already a decade ago, was the presence of the majestic mountain of St. Victoire. It is the  true symbol of Aix-en-Provence, made famous by Cezanne's paintings. A nostalgic trip to Provence of course included a hike to the summit of the mountain (1011 m). 

This time we started our hike from the Maison St. Victoire (you can take the bus L110 from the city centre of Aix), where we acquired information on the various hikes to the top. Some of the paths are more demanding, so with our little rosé hangover, we opted for an easy one that we were already familiar with. The path follows the Southern side of the mountain and it offers beautiful views of Mont St. Victoire as well as the surroundings. The climb to the top is not very difficult but on a hot day, bring enough to drink with you and wear good shoes.

At the top of the mountain there's a little chapel and also a cabin where you can pass the night. We have great memories of the nights passed in the cabin, but this time we just enjoyed the views for a moment and after gathering our strength we made the descent to the other side of the mountain where we could take another bus (L140) back to the city (well, in the end, there was no bus and we hitchhiked, but that worked out fine as well).

 After hike, you deserve your glass of rosé. Close to the bus stop, there's a cosy restaurant with nice terrace. To the Mont St. Victoire!

Jungle trip with the tram 44

What a ride! 

You jump on an old tram at the underground station at Montgomery, west of Parc Cinquntanaire in Brussels, and soon you are following Avenue de Tervuren through Parc de Woluwe and Parc de Tervuren. 

It is great fun to take the tram through beautiful and superbly green Tervuren forest. At moments, the tram is riding through green alleys, or more like lush tunnels, and you soon forget the grey city behind you.

25 minutes tram trip takes you through green forests and parks.

Obviously, the trip is recommend by my 500 Brussels secrets guide. It features in the list of "The 5 best trips on tram and bus", No. 291: Tram 44. A tram ride might sound a bit weird tourist or Sunday activity, but this is a ride you should do at least once in Brussels.

On the way, you might have a quick glimpse of the luxurious private house called Stoclet House in Avenue de Tervuren. It is also No. 232 on the list of "The 5 best UNESCO world heritage sites". Its architecture represents the Vienna Secession and it is considered a masterpiece of its Austrian architect. Quite gorgeous and weird, but hard to see well from the street (and you definitely need to get off the tram if you care to have a closer look).

Midsummer culinary experiences: 5-star vegan cake

I made such a delicious vegan chocolate-strawberry cake for my Midsummer party, that I need to post the recipe here. I think it might be the best cake I've done for a long time and the recipe will be definitely used again. In addition, it was quite easy and, in cake standards, it's almost healthy (only 1.5 dl of sugar, a bit of maple syrup, and 8 table spoons of coconut oil as the only oil used).

Mix the liquids:

1 tsp apple vinegar

6 tbs coconut oil

3 dl water

Mix the following and add to the liquid:

2 dl wheat flour

2 dl almond flour

0.5 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1.5 dl sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Bake in springform cake pan in 180°C for 30 min (use coconut oil for the sides of the pan and baking paper for the bottom).

Half the cake when it's well cooled down.

Make the chocolate filling:

2 ripe avocados

2.5 tbs cocoa powder

2 tbs coconut oil

3-4 tbs maple syrup

(water if necessary to make more fluid)

Spread the well mixed smooth filling on the other half of the cake, add strawberries cut in pieces.

Adjust carefully the other half of the cake on top and decorate with more strawberries and coconut flakes. 

Impress your guests and enjoy!

Treasure-hunting at the Jeu de Balle fleemarket

Jeu de Balle fleemarket in Marolles district of Brussels is great Sunday fun. However, if you're truly interested in finding something interesting, be patient and come early. Otherwise, it's just nice to go through the weird bric-à-brac - there's plenty of it - and enjoy the atmosphere.

Obviously, the market (no. 206) is in the list of "The 5 Best Street Markets of Brussels". 

The neighborhood should invest in some more nice cafés to enjoy breakfast before heading to treasure-hunt. Chaff in the North-Western corner of the square (photo below) is among the few nice choices. Cappuccino is decent in Brussels standards...

Testing Brussels brunch scene (Part 1)

There doesn't seem to be an end for the brunch trend (oh, that rhymes). And why should there be, it's a great way to spend Sunday noons and maybe even invite some people along that you don't know so well. 

Brussels follows the trend and there are plenty of nice brunch places that I'm trying hard to discover (here's one long list of possibilities). 

Inside Ici.

Today we had a delicious Sunday brunch at Ici in Ixelles. The waitress was a bit puzzled by my request for a vegetarian option, but I finally got the brunch without salmon and ham (that were completely unnecessary in any case). 

Ici offers two options for brunch, either a small plate for 15 EUR (something like egg, orange juice, coffee, bread, croissants, and selection of cheese and ham) or a big plate for 23 EUR that we all opted for (see below). 

The ingredients were super fresh and carefully chosen, and for once it really felt that you couldn't make a better brunch at home with a little effort. Brunch that fills your stomach, but at the same time you feel that you ate something healthy.

Sunday brunch at Ici. Great salads with quinoa/chickpeas and beans/fennel, melon, salty pancake, season's veggies, smoothie, yogurt with granola, croissants... And plenty of cilantro, yam!

I, of course, love places like Ici with Nordic-influenced trendy interior design and cosy atmosphere (however, when will we expect something a bit different?). The neighborhood around Place Brugmann also deserves a greater exploration some day (for other brunch places as well as the cool shops). Definitely going back to Ici if there is ever a situation that I have tried out all the other Brussels brunch places... (Well, maybe even before.)

However, a big minus for serving sandwiches with foie gras. This doesn't fit the kind of eco-healthy atmosphere of the place. Ici, please, stop serving foie gras, it's not worth the animal cruelty, right?

Café de la Presse gets crowded.

Another place for good brunch is the very popular Café de la Presse at Avenue Louise. In contrast to Ici, it features in my Brussels 500 secret list "The 5 Best Places for a Sunday Brunch" (No. 67).

There were four or five different options for the brunch and each of them could be made vegetarian (thank you!). Instead of the (quite disgusting and dry looking) sausages that my friends ordered I got a very tasty falafel-filled wrap. The portion was a bit too big, but what is brunch without indulgence and little gluttony? However, compared to Ici, Café de la Presse feels much "cheaper", and of these two, I would rather go back to Ici. But for a bigger group of friends, Café de la Presse would fit better.

Café de la Presse brunch.

Café de la Presse is also nice for a coffee break and some little Macbook work; this hasn't gone unnoticed among the nearby young hipsters. The place is easily packed with students (ah, it makes you jealous of their free time) - and after all it is not that great for working with cute guys coming and going. So just go for the coffee and for example nice green tea cake.

Cappuccino and green tea cake at Café de la Presse.

Of course, I have also tried out the classic brunch place L'Orangerie at Parc d'Egmont. It is included in the list of "The 5 Best Terraces for Sitting in the Sun" (No. 144). Unfortunately, the few times I've been there it has rained, so I might need to get there once more for the terrace. 

The brunch buffet (29 EUR) is abundant with pastries, salads, freshly made crêpes, hot dishes, cheese, a variety of desserts, etc. The place is not that special (except for the nice park), but it's a good choice for spending hours with a bigger group. And leave some space for those crêpes!

Ah, looking for the next Sunday!