Arriving at the B&B unfashionably early last week, after a much quicker than expected traverse of the city, we dumped the car in a side street and went for a walk.

We came back to a parking ticket. €20. It turns out, despite there being little info on the street, most of the Brussels Capital Region is covered by parking zones (with the rules and prices varying between the nineteen districts).

Our problem was that there were no car parks in the vicinity, Etterbeek, a suburb to the east of the centre where all the EU buildings are.

The multi-storey car parks are not normally expensive by European standards. The nearest one quotes €20 per 24 hours. The Grand Place car park right in the city centre charges €14.90 for 24 hours. Interparking has 30 sites in central Brussels.

Most of Etterbeek is Blue Zone short stay parking, for up to four hours at a time in two shifts, from 09:00 – 13:30 and 13:30 – 18:00. Parking is free from 18:00 until 09:00. Be aware that only the zone boundaries are obviously signed. On-street there are occasional signs, and one pay point.

Leaving the car where it was the next day – while we went for a meeting in town – was out of the question so we found ourselves driving into the city centre. Luckily there were plenty of places left – in Place Jourdan, opposite the Sofitel – at 08:15. This is a Blue Zone too, the type most widely used across the city. The first fifteen minutes were free, an hour €0.75 and two hours €3.

Theoretically you can pay for half a day at a time for €20 each but the machine wouldn’t accept cards, or sell a half day ticket. This meant nipping out every two hours to feed the meter but ultimately we paid €12 to park in central Brussels for the day, not bad by any standards.

There was one last test. By 8pm all the side streets around the B&B were jammed with parked cars. It took half an hour of trailing around in ever increasing circles to find a space, thankfully not that far away. Apparently 30% of the traffic in Brussels is looking to park.

The upshot is, when in Brussels, think about where the car is going to stay before deciding where you will.

On one trip to feed the meter we found ourselves caught in the middle of a high-octane security set down. A blacked out convoy screeched to halt in front of the Sofitel and several glamorous occupants leapt out and rushed inside. A high heeled tassled shoe-boot flashed past as I grappled with the camera.

Brussels is that kind of place. Later we heard that the Serbian ambassador to NATO had died in mysterious circumstances at Brussels Airport the night before. Shortly after greeting a six strong delegation from Serbia, Branislav Milinkovic jumped from a 30ft platform. Reports from Belgrade say he’d recently received bad news about his health. Brussels police are apparently not investigating.

Not all of the trips to the meter were this exciting.