Simenon bought his first pipe at the Grand Bazar at the age of 13 years. Before she married, his mother was a saleswoman in the haberdashery department at the Innovation store, which is today the head office of Fnac. This is where his parents met. The former Prince-Bishops’ Palace today hosts the law courts and provincial palace.
Whilst as a journalist Georges Sim often attended the law courts through his professional activities, he was also a diligent visitor in his spare time to consult Theodore Gobert, a historian who wrote Rue de Liége
[Liège’s streets]. In the mind of the novelist, the square is also linked to the social upheavals and anarchist attacks that left a mark in his memory.