Liege, the Ardent City

Liege, the Ardent City is mostly overlooked by foreign visitors who prefer to visit Flanders and its Venice of the North, Bruges.

However, Liege has many attractions to interest the visitors. It has a buzzing nightlife, cheap pubs (much cheaper than in the more touristic Belgian cities), great restaurants at a decent price and many hidden treasures which are only accessible by walk, a short distance from the city centre.

Liege inhabitants are the warmest people you will meet in Belgium, the city having a strong reputation for its hospitality, inherited from the time when Liege was still an independent principauty proud of its privileges.

People speak French mixed with many Walloon words and have a specific accent (extended vowels on the last syllable) which is typical of the city and not found anywhere else in Belgium.

Must see while in Liege:

- Place Saint-Lambert, where Saint-Lambert was assassinated and where the city was founded a few years later with a cathedral (now destroyed). Many shops on that square.
- Montagne de Bueren (built in memory of the 600 Franchimontois who fought for the independence of Liege against Charles V.
- Eglise Saint-Barthelemy, with the most stunning baptismals you will ever see.
- Eglise Saint-Jacques.
- Coteaux de la Citadelle, a walk in the hidden gardens of Liege, crossing the most popular area of the city, Rue Pierreuse.
- Various museums (Musee d'Art Mosan, Musée de la Vie Wallonne, etc), which will show you how people used to live when Liege was still a principauty.

Quick Tips:

Go to the Office de Tourisme (en Féronstrée, near the city centre and next to the administrative quarters of the city - a big Stalinian-type grey building which cannot be missed) and ask for someone to show you on a map the walks not to be missed near Hors Château.

Meals not to be missed while in Liege:
- Salade liégeoise (Liege Salad), with green beans, found in most cafetarias.
- Potée liégeoise (green beans, bacon and hot potatoes with sausage), only found in local restaurants.
- If you happen to cross by a 'friterie', do not forget to taste the 'boulettes sauce lapin' (Meatballs with rabbit sauce). It is not rabbit meat or sauce but pork/beef meatballs in a special sauce with dry raisins. Must be eaten with french fries (they should be called Belgian fries as they taste much better in Belgium).

Liege has been claiming the paternity of the fries for a long time and many people agree that the fries taste best in Liege.

English and Dutch are sometimes understood by younger people but do not expect miracles. The best way to get around Wallonia and Liege is to know some French.

Also you can find a free newspaper "04" in many snacks in the city. In it, you have a full list of the events that are happening in the city in the following days/weeks (music, nightlife, restaurants not to be missed, etc.).

Best Way To Get Around:

The main sites of the city can be visited by foot, but the city has a good transportation system.

To reach the city centre from Liege-Guillemins train station, take the bus 1 or 4 to Place Saint-Lambert (Palais de Justice) or bus 48 to the Opera/Place de la République Française (near Ibis Hotel). They are all just outside the train station.

If you want to go to the Youth Hostel, take the bus 1 or 4 (every 6 to 10 minutes) to Place Saint-Lambert (a 10 minute ride) then walk for a hundred yards until Place Saint-Leopold where you can take bus 18 (every 10 minutes) which will drop you three minutes later in front of the youth hostel (Auberge de Jeunesse Simenon).

A one-way ticket costs 1.40 euros and is valid for one hour no matter how many buses you take, provided you do not return on your steps.

Taxis are very expensive and should only be taken when there are no buses to go where you want (usually at nights)

The place to eat mussels in Liege!

Located close to Liege-Guillemins train station, the Duc d'Anjou attracts a local crowd, couples and families eating out in a relaxing atmosphere, almost pub-like even though it has an almost poshy decoration.

Mr. Noel, the restaurant manager opened this restaurant a quarter of a century ago. The menu offers more than twenty kinds of mussels preparations, from the "moules marinière", the most common preparation and the most asked, sometimes with white wine sauce to the most exotic preparations "Italian Mussels", "Portuguese Mussels", "Provencale Mussels", etc.

The famous Belgian beer "Blanche de Hoegaarden" (or "Blanche" in the local patois) is highly recommended with mussels. And the fries served are tasty, cooked the Belgian way (cooked twice: once at 150 degrees and the second time at 190 degrees).

If you are not into mussels, the waiter can suggest you other typically Belgian meals such as roast chicken with apple compote, or various kinds of meat (rabbit, frog legs, different beefsteaks with the sauce of your choice, all served with French fries or potatoes).

The restaurant usually caters to individuals, couples or small groups without reservation. For larger groups, a reservation is recommended.

There is a smoking and non-smoking zone. Just tell the waiter whichever you prefer.

Open non-stop from 11:30 am until 11:30pm, this restaurant is the ideal place to eat typically Belgian food for a decent price and also the ideal place to celebrate something quietly.

On Fridays evening, the Carré in Liège (A few streets in the most ancient part of the city, Rue du Pot d'Or being the main street, and Rue Saint-Jean-en-Isle, Rue des Célestines, Rue d'Amay, being the perpendicular streets) welcomes thousands of drinkers from all over the province, most being students living in the city during the year.

Le Déluge is the perfect place to experiment the true party spirit of the city. Always crowded from midnight until the early hours of the morning, it has a bar and a small dance floor. Lights are somewhat dark. Drinks are cheap (as cheap as 1,60 euros for a 33cl beer and prices starting from 3 euros for spirits) and the party goes on all night. During summer nights, the crowd can even drink on the street in front of the pub. Most people who go to the Deluge are between 18 and 30. People over 30 tend to go to the Cuba Pub or the Tam-Tam (among others) in the same area.

Music is inspired by the current top songs of the moment (English and French songs), and people in an advanced state of ebriation might start dancing on the bar itself.

It is also a popular venue for pre-wedding binge-drinking so do not be surprised to see men dressed into women asking for a few cents to pay for their pre-wedding drinks. There is always something up and everyone is into the fun. If you are alone, someone will come and cheer you up, but speaking French is highly recommended as Liege inhabitants are mainly monolingual.

La Mama Roma is an institution in Liege. Almost every open-minded adult in Liege has been in it at least once in his life. It has been there for several decades.

It is mostly a gay nightclub but it welcomes straight couples and single women. La Mamma Roma is famous for its transvestite shows which are held every Friday and Sundays nights from midnight until 3am (two parts of 45 minutes each).

Five drag queens welcome you after the entrance before the show, some of them being incredibly beautifully dressed.

Open from 10pm, this place is relatively small and very crowded on Fridays nights (less on Sundays evenings). On Saturdays, it is almost empty as there is no transvestite show.

The show itself is in French but some parts of it are inspired of the current events in Belgium and it is visual enough for foreign people not to be left out of the fun. Sometimes, someone from the public is invited to be part of the show. There is a one-hour break at 1:15am until 2:15am, and people start dancing from then.

Entry is 7.5 euros and you get a free drink with your ticket. If you want to drink more, beers start at 3 euros and spirits are double the price.

Seats are rare and all around the small bar, so if you want a good view of the show, arrive in advance (around 11pm, but not before as it will be empty). If you enjoy the atmosphere, you will not see the time pass by. Expect to leave the club in the early morning.

Even though it is a gay nightclub, it is often visited by straight couples of every age. However, most of the gay crowd is between 18 and 30.

Expect to see some famous French-Belgian people there from 2am.

La Batte (quay in walloon) is the Sunday morning Market of Liege which attracts crowds from all over Liege Province.

It is a huge market, several kilometres long which starts near the Passerelle Bridge (in front of Liege University) and extends on the Quais sur Meuse, de la Ribuée, de la Goffe, de la Batte, de Maastricht and Saint-Léonard until Pont de l'Atlas, three kilometres further with several hundreds shops selling everything you can dream of, usually at a bargain price.

La Batte has been the Sunday Market of Liege since 1561! But at the beginning, only cattle was sold then in 1594, groceries started being exposed.

What you can buy there: antiques, second-hand stuff, books and music, meat, poultry, fish, wine, cheese, groceries, jewelry, clothes, animals (dogs, cats, fish, birds, goats), housewares, etc. All are sold at a price much lower than in the main supermarkets and are often of a better quality, especially food.

The Sunday market starts from 8am until 2pm. The best bargains are found in the late morning when the sellers try to sell out their remaining stock.

It is extremely difficult to find a car park that day, so it is recommended that you leave your car in the suburbs, near a bus stop and then take a bus to the city centre, provided you do not have too much to carry with you.

Beware of pickpockets that day as the crowd is especially intense (several dozens of thousands people attend that market).

La Batte is the true heart of Liege, where you can experiment the Ardent City lifestyle.

While you are in Liege, if you like to drink liquors, do not miss the local drink, the pekèt. It is a strong liquor, brandy-like. Its name means stinging in old Walloon.

It can be found in most local cafes in Liege, but especially at La Maison du Pekèt, in Rue de l'Epée, near Place Saint Léopold where you can choose between twenty-five sorts of pekèt. It can be dry, or fruit-flavoured (citron, blueberries, banana, peach, coconut, exotic, passoa, etc.). La Maison du Pekèt is a typical Mosan Art house in which you will experiment the true spirit of Liege. It is open everyday from 10am until the early hours of morning.

Also the pekèt is found in cafes in le Carré (Rue du Pot d'Or and nearby) or Place du Marché.

You can ask someone to give you a 'pekèt flambé' (fired up pekèt), and you will be given a glass with a drinking straw. The waiter will light the drink in front of you and you will have to drink it up with the straw at once before the fire goes extinct.

Also, the pekèt is very popular during local festivals in Liege (15 August in Outre-Meuse, or Walloon festivals throughout September). It is then found virtually on every drinking stand in the streets. It is a cheap and delicious drink (around 1,5 euros).

It can also be easily found during the festival of the Hillsides of the Citadel (see my journal "Around the Fortified Walls of Liege). It is a sure way to warm you up during the cold evening of October when all streets around Hors Château are illuminated with candles.

Sometimes, dry pekèt is used for cooking special meals (especially duck meat). You can buy 1-litre bottles of pekèt in most major supermarkets in and around Liege if you want to cook meals with it or drink it with friends back home.

Do not miss it when you are in Liege!