Hotel Du Casque

Carnival was always celebrated by Toon totally incognito. He would paint his whole face and even make his teeth black. This ensured that even his own family sometimes did not recognize him. At the Vrijthof, 'DuCasque' was a pub that Toon enjoyed visiting during carnival. Additionally, there are stories that Toon once spent a day hanging out with a 'Zaate Hermenie', the Limburgian equivalent of a street band. He would also buy rounds, but only for the brass players, as they, according to Toon, had to work the hardest.

The Vrijthof was a special place for Toon anyway. He even wrote a famous little poem about the large, romantic square – surrounded by the Sint Servaas Church, Sint Jans Church, Spanish Government building, theater, and numerous terraces – where international star André Rieu gives open-air concerts every year. It goes like this:

No place is the light so bright
As on the Vrijthof in Maastricht

Am I slightly exaggerating?
Oh, that's just Maastricht-like

Toon wrote numerous poems and rhymes. Millions of his collections flew off the shelves.

Mediahuis Nederland