Once out of Reims this morning, we headed north toward Brussels our stop for the next few days. For awhile, the terrain looks much like what we drove through to get to Reims, with the exception that many of these fields were battlefields in WWI, which made driving through them a bit somber. As we neared the northern border of France, we again saw dairy farms.
Once across the border, the landscape changed to mostly woods and the architecture became more northern European with red brick the predominant building material. And Belgium apparently has the same two seasons we do, winter and road construction. I swear half the way to Brussels was under construction with many stretches of stop and go traffic. The line of trucks in the right lane was endless.
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| Our Belgian traffic jam |
But we still arrived at Dan and Paulette's in time for a lovely leisurely lunch where we spent time catching up on our activities of the past 6 weeks since we saw each other. Dan made us white asparagus with eggs, butter and crevettes grises, the tiniest of shrimp that come from the Belgian coast. Oh, my, delicious. We had told Dan that we preferred green asparagus to white and didn't see why it was so popular. This lunch changed my mind.
We spent a bit of time going over suggestions for activities Dan had gathered and made a tentative calendar of activities for our visit. Then we hit the road. And then we put away the wines we brought from Provence into Dan's "cave".
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| Dan's cave is organized in his wine app - he can find a bottle in 30 seconds! |
Dan and Paulette live in a section of Brussels called Anderlecht, so we started there. The church was our first stop near the center of town.
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| Collégiale des Saints Pierre & Guidon |
La Collégiale des Saints Pierre & Guidon became a pilgrimage church after the death of St. Guidon in 1012. Guidon was a farm boy who, as legend tells it, led a holy life filled with miracles. Early in his life he worked for a farmer who was mean and cheated his workers. When the farmer came to the field to chastise Guidon for laziness, he discovered an angel plowing the fields. Guidon became sacristan at a nearby parish, taking care of the church and its grounds. He cared for sick animals and people alike, living a Christian life of poverty. He also made pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to other churches. After his death, this "poor boy of Anderlect" attracted pilgrims to the church in Anderlecht and today his feast day is on September 12 when cattle and horses in particular are blessed. He is also the patron saint of sacristans and those who are ill.
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| St. Guidon carving under the pulpit |
With the growing wealth from pilgrims to St. Guidon's, a new church was built in the 16th century in Gothic style, replacing the earlier Romanesque church. The walls are painted in places, but need restoration and there are many statues and paintings as well.
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| nave of St. Peter & St. Guidon (pulpit is on left) |
We got out my chariot and wandered a few streets (including Paulette's favorite) of Anderlecht
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| Paulette's favorite street in Anderlecht |
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| main square in Anderlecht |
before stopping at Erasmus' house museum.
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| Erasmus house |
Behind the house is a lovely medicinal garden where I stitched while Dave and Dan explored the house.
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| Lynn is in the garden while Dave is inside the house |
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| angelica archangelica |
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| the sign shows that angelica archangilica is useful against plague |
I had to deal with a bit of rain and a spill on my chariot that bruised my shoulder, but still it was warm and the guys weren't too long in the museum, although Dave pronounced it most interesting.
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| inside Erasmus' house |
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| inside Erasmus' house |
Erasmus was a 16th century priest, philosopher and humanist and contemporary of Martin Luther. While, like Luther, he decried the extravagance of the Catholic church, he could not support Luther's radical break with Catholicism, fearing (rightfully so) a deadly schism in the church.
We next headed into downtown Brussels to meet Paulette for a drink before dinner at the Maison du Roy. It started to rain just as we exited the parking ramp so we ducked into the Gallerie de la Reine - a covered shopping street from the Belle Epoque of the 19th century. It's a lovely arcaded walk between stores selling leather and chocolates neither of which one can afford to buy here.
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| La Gallerie de la Reine (The queen's gallery) |
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| gloves in every color in this leather shop |
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| Délices du Roy (delights of the King - candy shop) |
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| a coffee shop in the Gallerie de la Reine |
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| A candy shop in the Gallerie de la Reine |
The rain stopped and we made our way to the Grand Square and the table Paulette was saving us at La Maison du Roy (the king's house).
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| our table overlooked the Grand Place in the Maison du Roy (King's house) |
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| Dan and Dave and their beers (note the guy at the table behind them) |
We spent a pleasant 45 minutes over beers for the boys (Dave says, aaaahhhh) and wines (Cava-Cassis) for the girls. The inside was bustling with people stopping for a drink after work or just drinking - like the group of Flemish speaking revelers at the table next to us. That glass holds 2 liters of beer.
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| This guy and his tablemates were a bit rowdy - might the 2 liter beer have something to do with it? |
With the sun out and the rain clouds gone, the Grand Square quickly filled with people of many languages, most, like us, taking photos of the beautiful buildings with their gilt statues.
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| Panorama of the Grand Place |
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| Dan and Paulette standing on a very important monument on the Grand Place - the location of their engagement in 1974 |
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| lots of gold on all these buildings |
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| like this guy |
We headed back to the car and to Anderlecht where we got a table at Dan and Paulette's favorite local restaurant/brasserie, Le Chapeau Blanc (the White Hat).
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| Le Chapeau Blanc |
We ordered foie gras before dinner with Gewurztraminer. I ordered Duck à l'Orange, Dave the salmon. Delicious both. Dan and Paulette both ordered sweetbreads along with a Beaujolais Brouilly (delicious). We finished with Benedictinr complements of the establishment.
And thus ended a lovely, but long day, as we got home at 11 pm. Good night Erasmus.
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| Erasmus lighting up the night in Anderlecht |
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