My lovely Reddit people that have the absolute privilege of living in Belgium!

Just a huge thank you, over the last few months you have answered my questions and helped me make my husbands surprise trip (40th birthday) to Belgium a success! Also been snooping at other posts and because of that we ended up in Leuven on Wednesday!

Your residential houses and architectural landmarks are beautiful and the land that’s been left natural is beautiful. Both myself and my husband commented today how we could live here had it not been for family ties, it seems to be a wonderful way of life you have here!

Two questions though….. what happens to the wire bins of leaves on the streets? Do they get collected? Stay there until they turn to compost?
Is Paep Thoon the original character behind the hunchback of Notre Dame?

by Greedy-Sherbet3916

15 comments

  2. So good to hear you had a wonderful time here!

    First question: yes, the leaves get cleaned up. For the second question, I have no idea.

  3. From wikipedia:

    Thoon was a natural child of Jan vander Phalizen, pastor of St. Peter’s church in Leuven. Thoon lived in the 15th century; the only date known is the year 1434 in which his father paid him an annual annuity. Thoon may have been hunchbacked. Thoon was organist and carilloneur in St. Peter’s Church. He became known for the jokes and pranks he played in the city. When it became too much, a judge in Leuven sentenced him to exile in Liège. Thoon was never allowed to set foot on Leuven soil again.

    Sometime later Paep returned from Liège riding in a cart with his feet completely covered in mud. Many people came to see the spectacle, wondering what would happen. It was then that Paep declared that his feet were covered in mud from Luik and that he was technically not setting foot on Leuven soil. The judge, possibly too busy for this kind of stuff, conceded and let Paep live in Leuven as a jester. Many stories follow this event, mostly about how he mocked the academics of the university.

    Thoon wished to be buried, standing, with his mouth under a gargoyle of St. Peter’s Church. That way he would never be thirsty. In fact, no one knows where he was buried.

  5. Thank you for this post. People living here like myself need to be more aware what a gem belgium is. So this post really makes me realise I love where I live.
    Thank you!!

  6. I’m so happy you’re happy (with your trip). About the wire leaf holders, they come by and vacuum them up with massive vacuum cleaners into a truck and they get composted.

  8. Yes the bins get emptied and turned into compost. When the leaves have fallen the bins will be taken away to storage for next year.

  9. The wire bins are collected once or twice during winter. So technically they compost a bit while still in the bin. The municipality has this sort of giant vacuum to empty the bins and they get composted even further. They are only meant to be used for leaves on the public domaine btw.

    In some municipalities you have to provide your own bin so if you see all sorts of bins in the streets, that is why. They are usually made of some left over fence materials.

  10. Aaaah so nice to see an update! Some familiar landmarks in these pics. Hope you’re having a wonderful time.
    Also to answer your question: the bins get picked up regularly and go to a collection point. There they’ll be processed as natural compost.

  11. You guys went to Limburg!? That’s awesome! We rarely get tourists. I mean, Ghent and Brussels and Leuven are great cities, but still…

  15. This all looks so mundane to me. Cuz it’s home I guess. Your post made me appreciated it more! Thanks for the lovely pics and words!

Comments are closed.