Last week I waited in a packed press pen for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to descend the stairs at the Egmont Palace in Brussels.

Axar.az reports that she'd already had lunch with King Philippe and later would go to a farewell concert featuring the works of Mozart and Beethoven. In other words, they were laying it on for her.

"You've always kept your cool," she was told by Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander de Croo as they prepared to face the media.

And she certainly appeared calm, even poker-faced, despite the heavy outpouring of warm words. Others might have blushed, maybe even visibly enjoyed it.

After 16 years as chancellor she's been to many European Council (EUCO) summits - 107 is the popular number floating around.

Frankly after all those emergency EU summits and the odd "virtual" event, I've been advised that it's hard to be entirely sure. But we're talking big numbers.