Magic Roundabouts

Yesterday, before the rain came, we wandered in Civic, hoping to spend Miles' pocket-money. It's been a while since I walked through Garema Place or down City Walk and things have changed. Including the merry-go-round.

Canberra's carousel has been on City Walk since 1974, although it dates back to an earlier time, first appearing on St Kilda Pier in Melbourne in 1914. Yesterday, it was looking slightly grim and industrial, it's metal grates down on all but one side, it's paintwork looking faded. Perhaps it was just reflecting the gray of the sky. But it still has the power to take me back to my 16-year-old  self, experiencing the glory of increasing independence without the burden of adult responsibility. Summer evenings riding the carousel with friends, before going to a movie at the Electric Shadows Cinema. So sophisticated!

And now, it also takes me back to Paris - remember? Miles and I were going to find every merry-go-round in the city. If you google 'Paris carousels', you'll be offered a number of articles, many claiming Paris is the 'City of Carousels'. One of the best articles I've read is by Susan Hack, an American writer living in Paris who has discovered many of the city's carousels in the company of her daughter, Sophie.

I don't think Miles, Jim and I found all of them but we managed to find a few. Not surprisingly, our first Parisian merry-go-round was on the edge of the Seine, in the shadow of the Tour Eiffel. It was a dazzling two-storey carousel that Miles was excited to ride and I was excited to photograph.

Our first carousel, in the shadow of the Tour Eiffel

This was the first time in both our lives that we'd seen a two-storey carousel but they are, if not commonplace, then not unusual in Paris. At Christmas, one appeared with the ice-skating rink in front of Hotel de Ville.

The Christmas carousel at Hotel de Ville

We discovered others at the foot of the stairs to Sacre Couer, near the funicular that can save you climbing all those steps. And across the Iena Bridge, opposite the Tour Eiffel's carousel, is another two-storey beauty, not far from Trocadero.

The carousel near the funicular, Montmartre 

Ponte d'Iena's carousel dressed for Christmas

Not all the carousels of Paris are elaborately decorated fantasies. Some are simpler, 'flying horse' models, where the horses hang from the roof of the merry-go-round and spin out as the ride speeds up. On some of these, children sitting on the outer rim of horses are given sticks with which they try to collect hoops, harking back to medieval jousting. This was the kind of merry-go-round we discovered in Jardins du Luxembourg and near the Peripherique behind the old and secondhand book market at Porte de Vanves.

The merry-go-round at Jardins du Luxembourg

The most fantastical carousels we discovered, however, weren't in Paris. An hour from the city, almost in a world of it's own, is Paris Disneyland, with it's Disney perfect Carousel du Lancelot. The carousel, which sits before you as you walk out of Sleeping Beauty's castle, is a Disney cartoon come to life. And if you have to queue for your ride, that's a small inconvenience.

Disney's Carousel du Lancelot

But just when we were becoming blase about merry-go-rounds and perhaps a little tired of their saccharine sweetness, Brussels offered the perfect antidote. A carousel so bizarre, so grotesque, so post-apocalyptic, it looked like it had stepped out of the pages of a Jules Verne novel or Mad Max. A Steampunk Carousel full of flying horses, cockroaches, iguanas, and flying cars. A carousel that might terrify small children but was perfect for a slightly jaded 8-year-old on the first night of the new year.

The Steampunk Carousel, Brussels, New Year's Day  2013

Brussels is not Paris

I know.  I'm stating the bleedin' obvious. But when we arrived in Brussels over a week ago, Miles and I rivalled each other for the prize of 'most ignorant about Brussels'. At least I was clear that Brussels was not in France!

Europa and the Euro, European Parliament, Brussels

Brussels, it seems to me, suffers from Canberra's fate. As home of the European Parliament, it has been constantly in the news while we have been travelling. Just as 'Canberra' is media-shorthand for the Federal Parliament, the word 'Brussels' is journalese for 'European Union' and much has been made in the press of the perceived failures of the EU and the Euro. There has also been ongoing debate about whether the United Kingdom will withdraw from the EU altogether. And with the EU dominating the headlines, and Gerard Depardieu threatening to leave France for Belgium, there seems little chance for Brussels to sell it's more interesting side to the world.

But let's be clear - Brussels is not Paris. And here are my reasons why.

Brussels has footpaths you can actually walk on. In Paris, once you leave the main boulevards and avenues, the sidewalks shrink to scrawny, narrow paths that barely accommodate two people, let alone two people, a couple of umbrellas, a rubbish bin and some bollards. In Brussels, the footpaths are broad, although beware the pavements and cobblestones. And in Brussels, cars stop for pedestrians. In Paris, cars didn't stop for pedestrians unless they were forced too.

Brussels has no boulangeries. Okay, I'm exaggerating. There were three at Merode but that was at least a 20 minute walk from our apartment and their quality wasn't great. We were used to nipping out to the bakery across the road or down the street and being back in a jiffy. In our area of Brussels, there were chemists, hairdressers and florists aplenty but boulangeries? No. Can't complain, though. Even the chocolate you buy in the supermarket is Belgian and delicious.

Brussels is multi-lingual. In Paris, everything is in French with very few concessions made to the city's vast population of tourists. Brussels is officially bi-lingual with all signage appearing in Dutch and French and often in English as well.

Tintin welcomes the tourist, Brussels-Midi train station

Paris has the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Pompidou. Brussels has ... comic art. This was really why we came to Brussels, so we could immerse ourselves in the world of Tintin but we discovered Brussels has a great tradition of comic artists that it reveres. Comic artists are celebrated in the museums (visits to Musee Herge, the Museum of Original Figurines and the Belgian Comic Strip Centre are a must) and on the streets.

A giant Smurf near the Museum of Original Figurines, Brussels

Finally, Paris has the Eiffel Tower but Brussels has Mini-Europe. See, if you visit Brussels, you don't actually need to go anywhere else!

The Champs Elysee at Mini-Europe