Mark Elliott - Belgium and Luxembourg

Self-deluding foreigners whove never been here often quip that nobody can name five famous Belgians. Or that Belgium is boring. So theres beer and mussels, but what else? Belgians downbeat, self-deprecating sense of humour means that locals are more than happy to let such folks fool themselves. If foreigners want to ignore the countrys astonishing art history, its 60-plus Unesco sites, and bizarre carnivals that make Rios look unimaginative, so be it. As one Antwerp resident half-mockingly suggested, Dont waste your time here, Amsterdam is so much prettier! Meanwhile tiny Luxembourg sits even further off most tourist radars, except perhaps for those savvy enough to fill up their petrol tanks as they drive through. Not that Luxembourgers mind. Theyre already Europes richest people (per capita). Feel free to not realise that their forested hills are pimpled with medieval castles or that their capital is so photogenically perched on a spectacular river canyon. Bonne route!

Belgium is a country of two distinct halves. Dutch-speaking Flanders (northern Belgium) has a flat, often monotonous landscape, but it is interspersed with fabulous historic cities. These lie close together and are conveniently interconnected by regular trains, making travel by public transport seamless. In French-speaking Wallonia (southern Belgium), however, most attractions are contrastingly rural: caves, castles, bucolic valleys and outdoor activities. Staying in village inns and stringing together several minor countryside attractions can make for a truly delightful experience if youre driving or have strong cycling legs. However, if youre limited to public transport youll quickly get fed up with rural Wallonias infrequent buses and youll struggle to make any real sense of the areas charms. Logistically speaking, Luxembourg falls somewhere between the two.

Belgiums division is very much political too. Wallonias rust belt is littered with the scars of its once-vibrant heavy industries and the Walloon economy noticeably lags behind that of go-ahead Flanders. Fed up with subsidising their French-speaking neighbours, more than a few Flemish nationalists call for the country to split. The majority wouldnt go that far. But as years go by so Belgiums two halves drift further and further apart, if only by default and for the lack of any common language/media. Only Brussels makes even any pretence at seeking bilingualism, and in the modern age kids in both halves often prefer to learn English than a second Belgian language. This is especially true of the Francophone Belgians whose unpreparedness to learn Dutch is a constant gripe. But does this mean that Belgium is bound to split? Most people doubt that, if only because it would be too expensiveand who would get Brussels? Nonetheless, in 2006 when a spoof breaking news documentary on Francophone TV announced that Flanders had declared independence, a remarkable proportion of the viewers actually believed it.

Despite all this, beneath the surface both communities actually share many similar attitudes. Both display a vague disdain for authority, a quiet self-confidence and a gentle streak of surrealism rather fitting for such a joyously illogical country whose independence was set in motion not by a freedom-fighting terror campaign but with an 1830 opera. Another common attitude is the unguarded disdain each community feels for its co-linguistic neighbour across the border (ie the Flemish for the Dutch, the Francophone Belgians for the French). And both share common worries over law and order and a deep ambivalence over immigration whether newcomers enrich the cultural mix or drain the national purse; that didnt stop politicians wasting most of 2007 discussing a) that even many (mainly Francophone) Belgians didnt understand. This left Belgium without a national government for almost a year. The economic crisis of 2008 suddenly knocked heads together. While many Brits and Americans panicked over how to refinance their mortgages and credit-card debts, Belgians tore their hair out over where to shift their savings. So when two major Belgian banks seemed to be teetering towards bankruptcy more than a few households raced to pull out what they could, exacerbating the situation for the enfeebled banks. Finally spurred into action, politicians stopped bickering and put together a bank rescue package that was initially lauded for its boldness. But feelings rapidly soured; prompt action came to be seen as a rash response. Reports emerged of unethical political pressure having been placed on the judiciary to force the measures through, and in December 2008 Prime Minister Yves Letermes government fell. Into the prime ministerial job came Letermes replacement, Herman Van Rompuy somewhat against his own will. Nicknamed the Sphinx for his poker-faced inscrutability, Van Rompuys low-key approach rapidly proved inclusive and effective. But just as the press were hailing him Super Rompuy the prime minister was headhunted as President of Europe (November 2009). A second chance then for Yves Leterme whose reputation among many voters has never recovered from a TV interview where, when asked to sing the Belgian national anthem, he mistakenly sang the French one instead. A sceptical press welcomed his re-appointment with headlines like Est-il fait pour le job? (Is he up to the job?).

A major continuing challenge for any prime minister is facing up to the countrys massive budget deficit. The Belgian bureaucracy is an expensive animal to feed. Indeed its the most expensive per capita in all of Europe, according to October 2009 press reports. Thats not so surprising when you realise that each language community (Dutch-, French- and German-speaking) and region (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels) has its own parliament and civil service, who together employ a remarkable 18.5% of the countrys workforce the highest percentage of any OECD nation. That costs around 7.5 billion a year, yet curiously few locals complain. In contrast the royal family costs a paltry 13.8 million per year (under 1.50 per Belgian), yet a July 2009 poll suggested that 70% of Belgians thought that too much, while 32% wanted to stop financial support to the royals altogether.

Whatever the state of the economy, both Belgium and Luxembourg remain countries where people live well. There are strong social support systems, liberal attitudes, imaginative museums, a vibrant theatrical and artistic life and fabulous food. Belgian beers are divine and endlessly varied. And Luxembourgs sparkling wines are merrily quaffed on many a summer street terrace. Crisis or no crisis, big new attractions for visitors continue to blossom. Recent additions to Belgiums portfolio include state-of-the-art galleries in Mons and Leuven, the superb new Herg museum at Louvain-la-Neuve, and the Magritte Museum and subterranean Coudenberg experience in Brussels. Then theres the incredibly ambitious Grand Curtius in Lige, which is also where one of Europes most extraordinary 21st-century architectural talking points, Lige-Guillemins station, opened in 2009.

Belgium is much more than chips and chocolate, Luxembourg far more than boring banks. Come prepared for plenty of positive surprises as you discover the good life in this fascinatingly undersold duo.