This February, I had the incredible opportunity to give a talk at FOSDEM 2025 in Brussels! I decided to make the trip a bit more fun by capturing my experiences through photos along the way. Here's my visual story.

Day 1: Arrival in Brussels

This was my first time visiting Brussels, and I was buzzing with excitement. I boarded the train from Massy-Palaiseau at 8 am and arrived around 11 am. The weather was sunny, a welcome sight, but with a definite chill in the air that hinted at the winter still clinging to the city.

After checking into my hotel and grabbing a quick lunch, I set out to explore. I was eager to soak in the city's atmosphere and capture some of its beauty with my camera.

My first stop was near the Poelaert Place Ferris Wheel, a mere five-minute walk from the hotel. Perched high up, it offered a panoramic view of Brussels stretching out before me.

Next, I strolled through the Parc de Bruxelles. Though bustling with people, I managed to find some quiet spots to capture a few shots. The bare trees cast long shadows across the paths, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere.

Later, I headed towards the city center to meet up with my colleagues from Hugging Face. While waiting for them, I stumbled upon the Church of Saint Catherine. I was immediately captivated by its charming architecture.

Thanks to the perfect timing, I managed to capture a magical photo bathed in beautiful light streaming through the windows.

Finally, I met up with Ben, Chris, VB, and Sof. We enjoyed dinner together at a cozy restaurant. It was a fantastic opportunity for team bonding, away from the usual office environment. Sharing stories, laughter, and of course, delicious Belgian cuisine, strengthened our connections and created memories that will last long after the conference is over.

Outside, the scene became even more enchanting as the moon made its appearance.

Day 2: FOSDEM

The day kicked off with an inspiring talk by VB. His words filled the conference with positive energy and a renewed appreciation for the power of open source. In today's world of AI, open source is more crucial than ever. It fosters transparency, allowing us to understand how these powerful technologies work. It also encourages community-driven innovation, empowering individuals to build incredible tools and applications on top of existing frameworks.

If you're not already following Vaibhav (VB) Srivastav, be sure to connect with him on LinkedIn or X! He's an incredible source of the latest AI news 🐐

One of the talks I was most looking forward to was by Iwan Kawrakow. For those who don't know, he's the genius behind the famous quantization scheme used by GGUF 🐐. Thanks to him, we have the Q4_K_M quantization that we all know and love!

The event was held at ULB Université libre de Bruxelles. I took the opportunity to capture some of the campus's atmosphere.

As one of the main contributors to the llama.cpp project, I also had the chance to share my work. My talk explored ways to bring its capabilities to the web through WebAssembly. I've been working on wllama, a lightweight TypeScript library designed to push llama.cpp's limits in a web context, enabling on-device inference without servers or external APIs.

Huge thanks to VB for taking this photo! You can watch the full recording here: wllama: bringing llama.cpp to the web

I was exhausted when I returned to the hotel, but also incredibly grateful for the opportunity to connect with so many people. On the way back, I was lucky enough to capture a "La La Land" moment as the sun set.

Day 3: Atomium

This was my last day in Brussels, and I had only two goals: visit the Atomium and head back to France.

It's hard to grasp the sheer scale of the Atomium from online photos. Seeing it in person, I was truly impressed. It's a testament to human ingenuity, to build such immense structures with a deep understanding of nanoscale physics.

I also explored the nearby park, discovering some peaceful scenery.

Incredibly, my camera battery died at the perfect moment - just as I was packing up to head to the train station!

Until Next Time, Brussels!

Brussels surprised me. From the medieval charm of the city center to the futuristic gleam of the Atomium, each day in Brussels offered a new perspective. FOSDEM was, of course, the highlight - a reminder of the vibrant, collaborative spirit of the open-source community. I left Brussels with a head full of ideas, a camera full of memories, and a renewed appreciation for Belgian waffles!