I left Paris for Brussels last weekend, and in 1.5 hours was in the land of fries with mayo, chocolate, comic books and of course René Magritte. The inauguration of Brussels’ Magritte Museum is June 2, making it all the more interesting to head for Brussels for a weekend or even for the day – easy to do with the high speed Thalys (www.thalys.com ) trains leaving Paris’ Gare du Nord on the half hour on weekdays.

What to do in Brussels?  Of course everyone heads to the historic Grand Place surrounded by ornate brick guild houses.  Nearby are beautiful glass-roofed galleries filled with endless chocolate and antique shops.

Out of the center of the city center, but a must for anyone interested in design and architecture is the Victor Horta Museum. It is located in his fully furnished home surrounding you with Art Nouveau detail and beautiful woodwork.  Unfortunately, the museum (a little bit of a walk from the Metro) is only open in the afternoon, so you need to manage your time.

And then there are the art museums, of the Place Royale, just above the old city. Here is where you find the Musée Royaux des Beaux Arts (Brueghel, Rubens; www.fine-arts-museum.be ), and down several levels, the 19^th-20^th century art collection (James Ensor). Almost next door, in its newly renovated building, is the Magritte collection. Brussels hopes this building will become a magnet for international tourists. I should say that one of their other very popular museums in the Comic Book museum. My children loved this place, but they also grew up in France with Tintin, Lucky Luke and others famed characters created by Belgians. I liked the Victor Horta designed building that houses the museum and pleasant café.

Brussels is full of good restaurants serving copious plates of seafood and local specialties (and yes, paper cones of fat and delicious French fries). I had lunch right next to the museums at the Museum Brasserie (3 Place Royale; you can enter from the sidewalk or from within the Beaux Arts museum; www.museumfood.be) and the food by chef Peter Goossens was excellent from the just-seared tuna to the perfect lamb. A fixed-price lunch menu makes it affordable, as does a three-course dinner menu at 35 euros. There is also a café inside the museum.

Quick note for Art Nouveau fans: I had always wanted to stay in Brussel’s Metropole Hotel but, in the end friends told me just to visit the café and lobby for a glimpse of the architecture, but stay someplace else. The website room photos were also discouraging. While the hotel still has it’s beautiful front desk and ornate café, it is very dark and needs a facelift.

In the end Brussels was a good destination for a short break. It was also very rainy! Beware that while top notch, hotels near the European parliament buildings are expensive during the week, when delegates on big budgets fill them up.