Situated on the slope of the escarpment that divides Brussels in two, the Place du Grand Sablon is like a stepping stone between the upper and lower halves of the city. The name sablon derives from the French Sable, sand, and the square is so called because this old route down to the city center once passed through sandy marshes.

Today the picture is very different. The square, more of a triangle in shape, stretches from a 1751 fountain by Jacques Berge at its base uphill to the Gothic church of Notre-Dame du Sablon. This is a chic, wealthy and busy part of Brussels, an area of up-market antiques dealers, fashionable restaurants and trendy bars, which come into their own in warm weather when people stay drinking outside until the early hours.

Every weekend the area near the church plays host to a lively and thriving, if rather expensive, antiques market. At Number 40 the old Musee des postes et des telecommunications houses a vast collection of letterboxes, uniforms and antique telephones. Set up in 1516 by the Tour et Taxis family, the postal service was useful for its political power, and later became Europe’s first international postal service.