The square Place du Jeu de Balle in the old Marolles district of Brussels was laid out in 1854 with a church on one side and a fire station on the other. It was originally called Vossenplein (Foxes Square), but later given the more exotic name Jeu de Balle after a popular ball game.
A vast flea market has been held on the square since 1919. Every morning at dawn, dealers arrived in battered vans filled with things they hope to sell. They spread out old carpets and lay out their goods. You see the oddest things here, like a set of stuffed birds, a collection of used toothbrushes or a stack of Vanity Fair magazines from the 1950s.
The best pieces are sold to professional dealers long before anyone else is out of bed. As the day wears on, the square starts to look messy. You wonder if anyone will buy that fork with one prong or an old Genesis record.
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The dealers used to be Belgians who spoke the local dialect. Now most of the people who work here have Moroccan roots. You hear more Arabic than French or Dutch.
The square may not be as beautiful as Grand’Place, but it has a warmth that is hard to resist. You might not be tempted to buy a box of old telephones, or a plaster-cast saint, but it is fun just to wander around.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
