National Day

Just like last year (and actually like in 2004, 2005 and 2006) I went to Brussels with my brother to take part to the Belgian National Day celebrations. This time we took the car to get there, but it was quite difficult to find a proper parking lot, because it was forbidden to park in a lot of streets for "security reasons", I suppose. My brother and I walked to the Cathedral, where a so-called te deum mass was taking place; the majority of important politicians, magistrates, judges, ambassadors and some members of the royal family were attending the ceremony. On the following picture, you can see the Prime Minister's car (A.2) and Mr Reynders's car (A.3). (Incidentally, A.1 belongs to the president of the Chamber of Representatives, i.e. Herman Van Rompuy.)


In front of the Cathedral lots of pro-Belgium, pro-monarchy people were waiting for the King to appear, shouting "Vive le Roi !". Curiously I didn't hear the same slogan in Dutch. However, "België best" (instead of the nationalistic "België barst") was embroided on a flag. There were more people than last year, as I can recall.


The King, the Queen and their sister-in-law Queen Fabiola got out of the Cathedral and got in their luxury cars. (I found that quite unfortunate, since King Albert II complained about poverty in his semi-annual speech the very day before. He was saying that we (i.e. not him) had to make an effort to help people who are in need. My first reaction was to say that he could spend his own money on that, because His Majesty's fortune is one of the biggest in Europe.) The cars were preceded by a hundred of splendid horses.

After that I walked with my brother to the Place Jourdan where the famous "Friterie Antoine" is located. We bought chips (2,20 € for a pack) and we ate them in the park just next to the European Parliament and the Institute of Natural Sciences. Then we walked in the streets of Ixelles/Elsene before we slowly got to the heart of the city, finally reaching the Court Hall where the police had installed all sorts of stands promoting their administration. Here's a photograph taken from the Court Hall, showing you that a bad spell of weather was coming.

We continued our walk through Brussels, passing in front of the well-known Manneken Pis (wearing the same awful clothes as last year), then we strolled on the Grand Place.



After that, we wanted to get to the Belgian Parliament, in order to visit it for the fourth time, but there were so many people on the Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat due to the military parade that it was impossible to get to the Parliament, let alone all those umbrellas! (By the way, it was the first time in five years that it was raining.)



So we gave up, swearing that we would get back next year, unless Belgium doesn't exist anymore.



Note: you can also read my account on last year's excursion in Brussels; there are some interesting parallels. Some things changed, like the price of a pack of chips: 2,20 € instead of 2,10 €, while potatoes are cheaper than last year!

I was especially surprised by the accurateness of a prediction I had made: "Nous sommes passés devant le Ministère (non, SPF) de la Défense, où André Flahaut, à l’entrée, un verre de champagne à la main, accueillait pour la dernière fois ses généraux et autres chefs d’état-major." Indeed, we know that Mr Flahaut (Parti Socialiste) has been replaced by Mr De Crem (Christen-Democratisch & Vlaams) and that the latter's politics are far from being as liberal as that of his predecessor. As a result, there was no party for army officials in front of the Ministery! Generals and other that scum "working" in headquarters must regret Mr Flahaut and his soft politics that made of the Belgian army an amusement park.

Back to the… past (for a change) – Part III: Stay at the seaside

What can I tell you that's worth sharing about my holiday in my favourite coastal town?

First I arrived there on 30 June, in the evening. We went there by car, my parents were just staying that night because they had to take care of Curtis (our cat) the following days. From 1 July to 6 July I rode my bicycle with my uncle and my brother on the smooth and safe coastal roads, and it was great fun: 300 km in total. I could have ridden a little bit more if there had been less wind and rain.

Apart from that, I saw a dozen of new Belgian licence plates, i.e. three digits preceding three letters, such as:

This one was the very first one I saw, hence the picture. Such plates are given out by the DIV (Direction pour l'Immatriculation des Véhicules / Dients voor de Inschrijving van de Voertuigen) since 25 June, but just for car owners that apply for a plate via the Internet. Plates with the now older code (e.g. YRJ-983, the newest plate I've seen so far) are still issued in local DIV offices. If, like me, you prefer that older code, you know what to do if you want to get one. I'll tell you more about these new plates in a forthcoming blog entry.

On 4 July (Independence Day, I know) my brother and I decided to go to Knokke. In Zeebrugge we got to see this amazingly huge ship:

We couldn't resist going to the "Place M'as-tu-vu" (as we nickname it, instead of Place Albert) and act as chavs in the middle of obviously rich people wearing white trousers and shirts with awful pink stripes. We ate a "Luikse wafel" and made silly comments about the city. I was surprised by the number of vanity plates I had seen, e.g. SAY·007, IJS-101, GRA-004, TM-865, OOO-200, RAP-001, BOB-004, etc. "Spekje voor m'n bekje", as I can recall from Konnex.

Notice the yellow stickers with a Flemish lion on both our bikes…

We also saw an old Russian submarine that we visited some ten years ago in Zeebrugge harbour. Admire this symbol of the communist warefare!

Another day, I saw this interesting vanity plate:

Maybe the owner works for Toys'r us or something…

An interesting photo for trainspotters: 78 + 13 + 16 (these numbers representing the locomotive's type, or, as we say, the "series").

Well that's about all I have to tell about my trip. I'm already looking forward to my next stay at the Belgian (or should I say "Flemish"?) seaside.

The Netherlands finally discover vanity plates…

As I have a weird interest in number plates, I often visit a Dutch website (nummerplaat.com) in order to keep an eye on the codes that are being given out by the RDW (Rijksdienst Wegverkeer).

By the way, they started the 11-ZX-XX series on Wednesday or Thursday.This means that the code consists of two digits — except for "00" – followed by Z and another letter, followed by another set of two letters. And as I'm sure you don't give a damn about it, let me just waste a few words to add that the letters A, C, E, I, M, O, Q, U and W are not used.

My point was just to show you this piece of news that I found on that very website:

DEN HAAG - Automobilisten moeten kunnen kiezen voor een kentekenplaat met een eigen tekst. VVD-Tweede Kamerlid Paul de Krom gaat dat bij de behandeling van de begroting van Verkeer en Waterstaat voorstellen aan minister Camiel Eurlings.

De Krom heeft dat maandag gezegd in het NOS Journaal. Hij kwam op het idee tijdens een bezoek aan de Verenigde Staten, waar automoblisten al langer een eigen tekst mogen voeren op hun nummerbord, bijvoorbeeld hun naam. Dat komt omdat de kentekenplaat daar aan de persoon is gekoppeld en niet aan het voertuig, zoals in ons land.

Het lijkt de De Krom gewoon een leuk idee om met een eigen tekst op de nummerplaat rond te rijden in een tijd waarin we "bijna niks meer mogen van het kabinet".

It basically means that Paul de Krom discovered vanity plates. Come on! You see them everywhere in American movies! Isn't one of the most famous examples the OUTATIME plate on the DeLorean time machine in Back to the Future? Or we can assume that he discovered how much money could be raised from such vanity plates…

At least, this gives me the opportunity to show you some my collection of Belgian vanity plates, started in July.

I saw this Ferrari in Middelkerke, just on the parking lot near the Casino. It is the only Belgian vanity plate I saw that has three times zero on it. (Normally, "000" is forbidden, except on plates that have the "111.X.1" type or the "1.X.111" type. But three times the letter "O" is accepted on vanity oldtimer plates: I once saw OOO-911.) Let me just add that this number plate cost its owner €874.

I saw this one in Brussels on 21 July. It was on a limo waiting for some VIP next to the Cathedral. It cost €624.

Talking of VIPs, there are two of a series owned by a limo-renting company. (See above and below.) Each of them cost €624.

I guess this one belongs to a French-speaking person named Dominique, for "dom" means "idiot" in Dutch… Or perhaps he/she works for Domo. (Cost: €624.)

A very low serial number, but too new to be an original from 1953 or even a duplicate. This one was seen close to the Flemish Parliament. (Cost: €874.)

This one also cost €874.

Idem.

I saw this one on a brand-new Audi R8 kind of prototype driven by a journalist who had borrowed from the Audi Company, hence the plate. This one was made in 1999. By the way, Audi owns a number of AUD plates, ranging from AUD-100 to AUD-125.