019 Belgium Part 1

What day is it? Tuesday. Oh, it must be Belgium. OMG it is!

Belgium: Louven, Gent & Bruges

We loved Belgium. More wonderful architecture, canals and a plethora of 'solid/ornate/big' pulpits and elaborate organ pipes.

Louven was a student town. I mentioned before about the competition between regions. Their 'Hotel de Ville' was extraordinary.

They had a claim that they had the longest bar in the world, but when we got there it was really just a long line of small establishments next to each other. But being a University town I could imagine this place really going off on a warm night.



Gent

A distinct Venice feeling but not so cramped or decaying.

018 Luxembourg

Luxembourg: Luxembourg city

 

It didn't matter where you turned, every nook and cranny had something marvellous. The streets were very narrow and twisty plus a few a bit hilly. This all added to the allure of Luxembourg. I  could quite easily see us living here.

There were some magnificent squares and at the weekend most contained a market. Markets seem to come in three styles: 1) Flowers and cheeses/deli 2) Trash & Treasure 3) Antiques. It was also 'safe' to sit and have a beer or a coffee in the squares as the prices were the same as elsewhere.

Luxembourg city is built over an old fort/castle that was extremely strategically positioned. There are over 21km of tunnels in the Casametes. We ventured only into the second level as it was very badly signed and once you got below the  first level there were no windows - just twisty tunnels. Both of us felt so claustrophobic we decided to just go back EXACTLY the way we came in!

 

One afternoon we had a guided tour led by a very amusing Octogenarian. As we watched the changing of the guard outside the palace (that he said the royal family rarely ever are in - so these guys guard an empty house!) he told us we were exceedingly lucky as we could now observe 1/2 of their army :)

Luxemburg: Vianden

Vianden was a hidden treasure. This castle had been restored and was magnificent. The Lonely Planet Guide paid for itself here. Great advice in regard to the chairlift. Firstly the chairlift starts off in what looks like someone's back garden and goes up above the castle to what appeared to be a seedy café. No signs, no car park, nothing to denote it was there or heaven forbid highlight a tourist attraction. So once you get off the chairlift you look around for something to do and notice there isn't much of a view but there is a 'goat track' back down with a small sign to the castle.

 

 

 

One or two cafe's were closed on Tuesdays yet their tables and chairs were just left out - not even loosely chained.

It was well worth the detour. Loved it.

 

Well that was Luxembourg. For some reason the photo's don't seem to reflect how wonderful the place was.

 

They are the highest paid per capita in the world. We didn't see one homeless person. Having said that every public toilet was 1/2 Euro, you even sometimes had to pay in museums that you had already paid to get into. It did get a bit annoying that the men's urinals were free.  

 

It was clear safety/security was not an issue.

 

They possibly benefit from the high number of EU bureaucrats to get so many grants to restore things so well?

 

There were vey few signs so being a tourist was a challenge. Their #1 tourist attraction is the Wenzel walk, which had intermittent signs. Frank worked out that if you spotted a really narrow passageway with steps, that was the way to go!

 

We loved Luxembourg. :)

017 Champagne Region

France: Champagne Region - Rilly-la- Montage & Epernay

Here is the map of just the Reims area of Champagne. In the village we are staying in there are 70 wine growers and 35 independent winemakers.

Each label has an area, or areas, where they grow their grapes and then the 'factory' where the champagne is made. This is the major growing (Grand Cru) are for Mumm. Each town has thousands of kilometres of underground caves on many levels. Mind boggling.

So we can't help but stop at a village called Bouzy.

  and I have my first 'degustation' (tasting) in Bouzy. Prices for tasting range hugely. Here it was 3 for 4 Euro. Very few places are free. Some are as much as 5 Euro per tasting.

At a roundabout in the middle of nowhere. Just our country home!

The rain hits again as we arrive at Moet & Chandon on the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay. Unfortunately all tours are booked and we can't go in.

Frank spots half size smart cars. These are real cars and we spot a couple on the road. Room for an adult and a child.

We 'discover' Hautvillers. It is the most beautiful village. In the church we find the tomb of Dom Perignon. Then we spot an independent winemaker with their setup in a courtyard overlooking the valley. The sun comes out. The clouds lift of the valley. The 'host' pours us a full glass, rather than a taste - heaven.

This is the label of the family where we are staying. Florence is our host and she is wonderful. Her English is restricted so we enjoy an opportunity to practise our French and we are happy that we can make ourselves understood. She gives us a real continental breakfast. Each morning there is bread, ham, eggs, home made yogurt and then she brings out the cake of the day. Yes - cake.

The Champagne region in conclusion:
Those who know me well know I am a strong advocate for Australian sparkling wine and my opinion is now totally cemented. Champagne is bureaucracy gone mad. The grapes must be picked by hand. They must be grown within certain borders - just 100 meters outside and you have to call yours sparkling wine. The rules are mind boggling. There are over 21000 (yes 21 thousand) wine producing families on just this tiny space. If you go into a bar/restaurant you get the champagne they are serving - no choice. everyone is affiliated with someone.
Most things open at 10am, close at 12, reopen at 2 and close at 7 (you don't even need to feed the parking meters outside these hours - the inspectors must also go to long lunch?)
The pastries blow your mind/tastebuds
The villages are magnificent, most well kept and well maintained. You get the feeling there is huge rivalry between them.
I've had a real educational experience here that will aid me appreciate Australian sparkling wine for the rest of my life.

016 Reims

France: Region Champagne, Town - Reims

So we pick up our brand new car (5km on the clock) and we are off for the 'independent' part of the trip.

In every little place we visit there is the town hall - Hotel de Ville. Some are more impressive than others, this is Fismes. We are travelling on May 1st, which is a major public holiday. There are flowers, mainly Lilly-of-the-valley, for sale everywhere. It is difficult to find somewhere serving food but we locate a brasserie selling toasties, the hosts are Delores (a platinum blond) & Patrick (an old rocker)

We arrive in Reims and find a car park right besides this wall that was built in 300AD. Because it is a public holiday, there is no traffic and we enjoy driving around.

Reims is a bit bigger than Fismes, so their Hotel de Ville reflects their size.

 and so the Champagne experience begins - we turn into the village where we are to stay, Rilly-le-Montagne and are greeted with .... Tattinger.

The vines are very low, to reduce the impact of frost. Our host says this is very hard on the back.

 I pay the due respect at the 'holy grail' - Allee Dom Perignon :)

Yes - more stained glass, I warned you I could bore you with it!

A great number of battles were fought in this region. Each village has their Hotel de Ville, a patisserie and a war memorial.

The patisseries are magnificent. The vanilla slices are easily, by far, the best we have EVER eaten. Not sure now if this little tyre I have around my middle is from beer or cake!

 

 

015 Paris part 2

Paris part 2:

Paris is about love and this is the subject of this wall, in hundreds of languages

The climb to the top of the Arc de Triumph is less than 300, so a walk in the park!

Looking down the steps as we descended from L'Arc de Triumph

Our favourite place, this visit was L'Opera. Magnificent and we were lucky enough to be there when the orchestra was rehearing

We had dinner at Tour Eiffel. It was one of those places where you don't know if you are supposed to photograph it or eat it. As it had cost a lot, I did both. It was a 9pm seating so we got to see the lights come on but the location was disappointing as the restaurant is stuck in one corner on the first level, resulting in most tables only having a view of the structure (which is like looking at scaffolding!)

And our last day touring was at Versailles.

The gardens were immense as were the crowds. We were very lucky in that we did the gardens in the morning, when it was sunny and the palace in the afternoon, just before the rain set in.

Paris in conclusion:
It rained every day. It was drizzly and annoying but didn't last long.
It took us a while to work out how to order a good coffee: Café American + L'eau chaud.
The pastries are to die for.
The underground trains are very efficient, we never waited longer than 4 minutes, and very inexpensive. Many of the stations are dirty and tired and there are many homeless people but due to the pure volume of people around all the time, you soon realise you are safe.
Staying still for 8 days has let us charge our batteries. I was a bit under the weather for the first two days but sleeping in, sleeping in the same bed and leisurely days did the trick to fix me.
We didn't find any decent red wine or beer but I did find some very good champagne. Researching was an enjoyable pursuit.
So off to Reims, where we are staying at a vineyard.