Inspired by literature - Introducing the Victor Hugo Walk

Last autumn, The Viking and I saw Brussels from the point of view of Tintin and his creator, Hergé. If you want to know more about it, have a look at this.

This year, we decided to have a walk in Brussels, inspired by an even bigger name in literature: Victor Hugo. In case you don’t know who he is, let’s consult our good friend Wikipedia:

Victor Hugo, in full Victor Marie Hugo (French pronunciation: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo]; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist. He is considered the most well-known French Romantic writer. In France, Hugo’s literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831, (also known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame).

Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo’s views changed as the decades passed;^[1] he became a passionate supporter of republicanism^{[citation needed]}, and his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon.

What I didn’t know was that for some time Hugo stayed in Brussels:

Hugo decided to live in exile after Napoleon III‘s Coup d’état at the end of 1851. After leaving France, Hugo lived in Brussels briefly in 1851 before moving to the Channel Islands (first to Jersey in 1852 1855) and then to the smaller island of Guernsey in 1855, where he stayed until 1870).

The Victor Hugo takes you to all the places in Brussels where the writer lived and worked. Some of them will be familiar, others won’t. There are about 20 stops on this walk and The Viking and I have selected the most beautiful and interesting ones. Join us and see Brussels from a completely different point of view!

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