The writing on the Brussels Bourse wall

Perhaps la vie is not belle, or beautiful, just now in the Belgian capital, but life can surely be Belge, or Belgian. Among several oft-repeated messages scrawled on or around the Place de la Bourse, this phrase appeared to be the most commonly uttered. Teenagers Sofie and Kimberly spent at least half an hour on their image, both signing it for posterity.

The thousands of messages, in all manner of languages, vary drastically. Poetry, song lyrics, bible verses, declarations of love (often for "my beautiful Brussels"), or one door covered almost top to toe in "Paz" - the Spanish for peace. A few meters on from it, however, somebody gives "Daech" (the French for "Daesh," an Arabic acronym for the so-called "Islamic State") an unequivocal challenge.

The front of the Bourse building is adorned with flags from all over the world, including the Palestinian flag and a giant banner simply reading "Kurdistan." Even the support for Brussels' plight is often tempered with broader criticism of Middle East policy. Another similar slogan to this one, unfit for us to show, likened "bombing to create peace" with making love so as to restore virginity.

Seeking to stand out from the crowd, some abandoned chalk, sticking their messages to the Bourse's walls instead. This kaleidoscope of paper butterflies included winged well-wishes from Brazil and Brussels alike.

Others used the stock exchange's facade to send messages referring to social and political tensions in the Belgian capital. "I am Brussels and I am Congo," one sheet says, following a common theme. Two more sheets say that death and pain have no color. The top left one, meanwhile, says: "Don't forget that our governments have supported the terrorists. Daesh and the others, they armed them."

Not everybody left their message in writing. One skilled Swiss visitor was filling the square with giant bubbles, aided by the gusty winds carried onto the continent by Storm Katie on Monday. Others would simply stand at a distance from the main memorial, hugging or talking in hushed tones.

Some of the positive messages recorded at the Bourse contrast with less cosmopolitan responses in Belgium to the attacks. "Diversity = richness," writes one messenger, at the same site where anti-immigrant football fans calling themselves "Casuals against terrorism" clashed with other demonstrators on Sunday, forcing Belgian police to intervene.

Despite being a clear minority, offensive messages are easily found. Several of the worst did not pass DW's decorum standards. Here, one chalk-commenter's appeal reads: "Stay united among Christians." It's one of the very few defaced messages - perhaps in response to what could be taken as exclusionary. Someone removed the "h" and an "e" from the French for Christians, yielding "cretins" instead.

It's not everyday that a city allows mass defacement, or rather decoration, of a prized public building. Some couldn't resist their chance, placing a series of anti-capatalist messages on the steps leading into the Brussels stock exchange.

Around 20 minutes' walk away, at the Maalbeek metro station hit in Tuesday's bombing, the messages are clear and pointed. "Live in peace," "We do not like wars," "Stop these attacks," and "We have had enough!" as well as simply "STOP" adorn this drawing, attached to a building wall outside one of the subway station's entrances. Maalbeek remains closed after the damage sustained.