In June and July of 1999, Rob and I took our first international trip together - a fun two weeks in Paris and Spain (Barcelona and Madrid). At the end of the two weeks, Rob had to return home to work, but I continued on to Belgium where I spent a lovely week visiting with Tony deRijck, who was one of my close friends during my year studying in Bergen, Norway back in 1969-1970, and his wife, Mimi.
The journal below was written during that trip...ten years ago! Putting the journal on my travel blog has brought back many happy memories. Many thanks to Tony and Mimi for being so gracious and generous to me during my visit!
Sunday, July 4, 1999 (Happy Independence Day!)
Paris, France to Heldergem, Belgium
Rob and I woke up in Paris (to heavy rain) and he headed back to California, while I set out for a week of adventures in Belgium with my friends, Tony and Mimi. I took a taxi from the Hotel Athenee to Gare du Nord and boarded the train to Brussels. By the time the train left, the rain had ended, and I enjoyed a pleasant ride through the green countryside. Upon arriving in Brussels, I had the good fortune to catch a train almost immediately to Aalst, the nearest town with a train stop to Heldergem, where Tony and Mimi lived. I arrived by noon, and the man in the ticket office was kind enough to phone Tony for me. Tony arrived in short order and greeted me with the traditional Belgian greeting of three kisses. We had lunch and took a little tour of a special historical art exhibit of the town and the lovely old bell tower.
By 2:00, we arrived at Tony and Mimi's lovely white home in Heldergem. Mimi greeted me very sweetly, and I met Katrien, their younger daughter, (who was on crutches because of a knee injury or surgery, if I remember correctly.) Mimi showed me upstairs to "my" room...which really belonged to Pieter, their son, who was on vacation in France. I had mentioned to Tony how very tired I was after the noisy cities, and he assured me that all I would hear in Heldergem would be cows and geese - so I found it very hilarious that my nap was interrupted by a very loud oom-pah band and a voice on a loudspeaker. Heldergem was having an annual celebration - kind of like our own Family Picnic - and they announced the music and festivities to the entire town. I was so exhausted that I actually slept anyway, then following my nap, Tony and I walked to town to enjoy the party. We went into the big tent for a drink, and I met two very nice friends of Tony - William and Chris. They explained that the tent was needed because of the constant threat of rain...and sure enough, we did get a few sprinkles.
Following our walk, Tony and Mimi and I waited for Annemie and her husband, Hans, to join us for dinner, but unfortunately, Annemie was not feeling well, so we had dinner without them. Dinner was delicious! Big sausages in a rich mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, break, and a lettuce salad.
Annemie and Hans finally arrived during dinner, and we had a good visit. I liked Hans very much, and Annemie was just the same as I remembered her, although she was perhaps a bit less shy than she had been during her stay with us in California a few years ago. She and Hans were leaving the next day for a trip to Egypt and Turkey, so I was very glad for the brief visit.
After dinner, it began to rain quite heavily. The coolness was such a relief after the heat of the last couple of weeks in France and Spain. I fell quickly asleep to the soothing sound of the rain.
Monday, July 5, 1999
A Quiet Day in Heldergem
I slept very well and woke up to the beautiful view of the countryside through my bedroom window. Once again, Mimi had prepared a feast - two kinds of break with salami, pate, cheese, and jam for toppings, bacon and eggs, juice, tea.We enjoyed a quiet morning at home. I caught up in my journal and did loads of laundry. In the afternoon, Tony cooked the big meal of the day - cauliflower with cheese sauce, meat and potatoes - while I tried learning some Dutch from his cookbook. Many of the words are very much the same as English, although I find Dutch to be very hard to pronounce!
After dinner, we took a nice walk into the countryside. It was very beautiful. Heldergem is a tiny village in a very rural setting. In fact, as I was writing this in my journal, I was listening to the squabble of a gaggle of geese somewhere nearby.) The afternoon was warm and the skies were blue. We walked for a long time through the woods and past meadows full of cows, sheep, and even a tiny herd of deer! Tony told me that there are no wild deer around here any more.In the next village, we stopped at a little dairy shop for some ice cream. (The kind owner opened his shop, which was usually closed on Monday, just for us and the ice cream was home-made and delicious.) The we stopped at the home of Tony's friend, Paul, who is an artist and jewelry-maker. I liked his paintings...very distinctive and interesting. Paul's wife and two teenagers were very friendly. Everyone has been able to speak to me in English, but I also enjoyed just sitting back and listening to them converse in Dutch. It is a rather odd experience being surrounded by people speaking a completely unfamiliar language. It makes me feel a bit shy and isolated, but I listened hard and tried to pick up a few words.
We finally returned home around 6:30, and I read a bit more and visited with Katrien while Tony attended a meeting. When he returned, we watched the video of Hans and Annemie's wedding. It was interesting to see that they were married twice...first in a civil ceremony and then - more formally - in the church.
Tuesday, July 6, 1999
Windmills, Ancient Romans, and Castles
I slept very well again - the Belgian countryside is very soothing! After breakfast, Mimi had to go to work and Tony and I made a little visit to the "supermarket" in Heldergem. It was rather interesting...a combination clothing, hardware, and food store...but there seemed to be no order to it...the yogurt was right next to the clothing which was right next to the hammers, etc. I bought some shampoo (and a bar of Belgian chocolate!), and then Tony and I visited Mimi's workplace. She is a nurse but now works at a school that trains nurses and teachers. The director of the nursing school, Etienne, was very pleasant and spent quite a lot of time telling me about the school and giving me a tour of the classrooms. He introduced me to the director of the teaching school. They face some of the same problems we do, with a lack of enough qualified teachers.
After returning home, I enjoyed some quiet time to read. It is such a rare treat to have time to read quietly with no other responsibilities. Tony prepared the afternoon meal (the big meal of the day) and once again, it was wonderful...a ratatouille of bell peppers, eggplant, onion, etc. mixed with ground sausage and poured over a pasta...really excellent!
When Mimi returned in the afternoon, we all set out on a little local excursion through several nearby towns. I was fascinated to see that each little group of houses, separated by just a few meadows, were each considered different towns.
We stopped first at an old wooden windmill to take photos, then drove past a second windmill made of stone. The next stop was a wonderful little Museum of Archaeology. This town was built on the site of an ancient Gallo-Roman settlement at the crossroads of two Roman roads, and the museum was filled with coins, pottery, weapons, bones, etc. from that time. Tony had been good enought to arrange for a private tour guide for me so I could understand the exhibits, and the young woman was very good. She needed a little help with the English words occasionally, but my knowledge of history, as well as the remarkable similarity between English and Dutch made communication very easy.That morning, we also visited the ruined castle in the town of Herzele.
The morning was fun, but the highlight of the day was our stop at a beautiful park, actually the grounds of the old "castle" of Grotenberge in Zottegem (although it was more like a mansion with lovely ivy climbing up the old brick walls). The castle is now a restaurant, and we sat out on the shady terrace overlooking the gorgeous trees and the pond below, drinking tea and enjoying Begian pancakes with powdered sugar. After the snack, Tony and I walked around the grounds, reminiscing about our days in Norway. It was a beautiful spot, uncrowded, cool and relaxing, and I found myself missing Rob and wishing he were there to walk through the park with me! 
Upon our return home, Tony had to attend another meeting and Mimi had to take Katrien to the physical therapist, so I watched a video of Disney's"Belle en het Beast" - in Dutch! It was quite amusing to detect Lumiere speaking Dutch with a French accent!
Wednesday, July 7, 1999
Ghent
We got up a bit earlier than usual, as we had a trip to Ghent planned, although the morning rain almost changed our plans. It cleared up a bit and we set out, but just as we arrived in Ghent, it started to pour again. I had been dragging my raincoat all over France and Spain for no reason, but I was happy to have it today!
Ghent was fabulous! It was for quite a while the second largest and most properous city in Europe (behind Paris) during the middle ages, and the medieval section of the city is still quite large and well-preserved. We went first to the cathedral of St. Bavo (in the photo, it is the one to the back, behind the Church of St. Nicolas in the foreground.) It was a gothic style cathedral, and although not as massive as Chartres or Notre Dame, still very impressive with a large collection of vestments, goblets, reliquaries in the crypt. The crowning glory of the church is the painting by Herbert and Jan Van Eyck, "The Lamb of God." I recognized this famous work from my college art appreciation class, and enjoyed the "guided tour" (via a headphone set) which was very interesting and helpful at noting the detail and history of the painting.
After St. Bavo's, we had dinner in a cafe (where Tony ran into a relative), then walked past the bell tower and the church of St. Nicolas and down to the bridge leading to the old sector of the city.It really was like stepping back in time. The buildings lining the canal were the old guild houses, and there were many reminders of the architecture of Bergen in the Hanseatic League style of the roofs, with their stair step profiles. We took a boat ride through the canals with a good English language guide, past the guild buildings and the very impressive castle. It began to rain a few minutes into our boat tour, but they provided us with umbrellas and the downpour only lasted about ten minutes. By the time the tour was over, the skies had cleared and the rest of our stay was quite sunny.
After the little cruise, we visited Gravensteen Castle, then stopped at a cafe next to the castle for coffee...and Belgian waffles
(per instructions from Rob)...then continued on to a "folk museum," that actually reminded me a great deal of Bakersfield's own Pioneer Village (except for the very odd collection of pigs that dominated practically every scene!) The Belgians have a saying, "Good luck comes to the pigs," although Tony also taught me the alternative saying (which he instructed me not to say in polite company), "Good luck comes to the hooren en het Boeren" (the whores and the Boers).As we walked back to our car at the end of the day, Tony ran into two more friends. (Belgium is a small country!) It clouded up again on our way home and all during the evening, we had quite a torrential downpour and a wonderful thunderstorm right overhead! I loved it...and it made everything smell so fresh and green. I also loved the view from my bedroom window, and had the window open most of the time...the only disadvantage being the fat Belgian flies who came to visit.
Thursday, July 8, 1999
"In Flanders Field" and Bruges
Another wonderful night...what bliss to be sleeping so well! Mimi had to work again, so Tony and I set off for a tour of the Belgian countryside and the North Sea coastline. We wound along through many little towns, with their distinctive brick houses and red tile roofs. We crossed the Flemish Ardennes, which Tony said are not as high as the French Ardennes, but are more beautiful. They were lovely, green hills covered with fields and forests.
When we dropped down into West Flanders, we stopped by a large memorial to the fallen in World War I. Tony said WWI lasted for several years in Belgium and caused great destruction, but WWII is only considered to have lasted three weeks in Belgium because the Nazis conquered it so quickly! I noticed the red poppies along the roadside, and told Tony that even in America they are a symbol of remembrance for the fallen in WWI. ("In Flanders field, the poppies grow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place.")
At noon, we stopped at a little cafe in the small town of Lo and had Caesar salads out in the garden. The staff spoke French, so I could communicate a bit better than usual (although by this time, I was reading more Dutch on the signs.) There were two little girls in the garden who were very cute. They would stick their fingers into the little pond, the carp would come up and nibble on the fingers and they would squeal and giggle. And there was an adorable little poodle who actually picked up little rocks out of the garden and laid them under our chairs for us to throw for him. Very funny!
After lunch, we finally arrived at the coast. Tony said it was not so pleasant now as it was when they used to come ten or fifteen years ago because of the crowds and the tall apartment buildings lining the coast. It actually reminded me a bit of Venice Beach in California, with lots of people, entertainers, and music...and long stretches of flat beach. It was not gorgeous coastline, but it was pleasant.
Following our visit to the coast, we arrived in the city of Bruges (Brugge). Tony remarked that he doesn't like it as well as Ghent because it is more "touristic," but once we left the touristy parts, I found it to be beautiful and charming, with lovely tree-lined canals winding through the town, horse-drawn carriages, and many stores selling the famous Belgian lace and chocolates.
We left Bruges at around 6:30 p.m. and hit terrible traffic on the freeway back toward Brussels, so Tony left the highway and we once again wound through the countryside toward home, arriving around 8:30. It had been a long, but very rewarding, day.
Friday, July 9, 1999
A Beautiful Day
We woke to blue, sunny skies and perfect, moderate temperatures. After breakfast, I took a little walk to the town supermarket for some film...but, although the store had clothes and motor oil, it had no film! Happily, I found a camera story at the corner of Tony's street.
After our midday meal, we set our for Geraardsbergen, the town where Tony was a teacher. He gave me a tour of his school, which, of course, had similarities to schools everywhere, although there were a few interesting differences. The walls of the classrooms were quite bare, and Tony explained that the teachers move, rather than the students, so they don't have classrooms they can call their own. 
Following the tour of the school, we met a colleague of Tony's who gave us a good tour of the old city. Geraardsbergen was an important fortress during the middle ages and is one of the oldest cities in Belgium. We toured the city hall, with its stature of "Mannekin-Pis," which is - rather oddly - one of the best known symbols of Belgium - and then we continued on to the Abbey, which is now a museum.
Tony's friend, who gave us the tour of Geraardsbergen, did not speak much English, so he gave the tour in Dutch and Tony translated, but many words are very similar and I could often follow his descriptions even without a translation. I was not at the point where I could even begin to speak Dutch, but I could usually made a good guess as to the topic being discussed.
The museum housed a number of exhibits, including a display of gorgeous lace, all hand-made in the city, and an exhibit of the cigar-making industry for which the city was famous until the last century...and an exhibit of the match making industry, which had ended only a few months ago! (It was moved to Yugoslavia, I believe, due to cheaper labor.)
We then walked up a very steep hill along the old city wall to a chapel and monument at the top. This had been a sacred site to the ancient Celts - and Celtic rituals are still held here each February. We enjoyed the wonderful views of the Belgian countryside below, then went to the outdoor cafe for Belgian pancakes and tea. 
Following our snack, we headed home where Mimi set out the evening meal - bread, pate, cheese, etc., then we all watched Altman's film, Shortcuts, which they wanted me to see because part of it takes place in Bakersfield...and I'm sure some of it was filmed in the Kern River Canyon. It was a rather strange and depressing film, and gave me some very odd dreams.
Saturday, July 10, 1999
"French" Belgium - Beloeil Castle
After a quiet morning of reading, Tony and Mimi and I set out on a trip to the French (southern) region of Belgium. We first stopped at a chateau called Beloeil (Beautiful Eye) that is still owned by the Prince de Ligne, but is open to the public. The castle was very pretty, surrounded by green lawns, ponds and trees.
We then continued on to the town of Tournais (Doornik) which had a Roman-style cathedral and medieval marketplace. The French part of Belgium had become more impoverished over the last few decades because the textile industry has moved to the Far East (due to cheaper labor), and the towns were noticeably less well-maintined than their Flemish neighbors. The countryside, however, was lovely. Pretty much every inch of land that isn't lived on is used for farming and livestock. One of the surprises to me were the large number of corn fields...there are even corn fields between the houses in Heldergem!
In the evening, we met friends of Tony and Mimi at a local restaurant which was beautifully decorated from ceiling to floor in colorful mosaic tiles.
Sunday, July 11, 1999
Brussels
Tony and Mimi drove me to Brussels to see the sights of the capital city before taking my train back to Paris to catch my flight back home. We started in the old Town Square, which is one of the best preserved medieval town squares in all of Europe. There was some sort of festival going on (possibly preparations for the upcoming 21st of July, the Belgian equivalent of our 4th of July) and we enjoyed watching the entertainers parading around the square.
We spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around the city looking at the sights,
including St. Michaels' cathedral,
Kruidtuin, the city's beautiful herbal garden,
the Royal Palace,
and the city's big park.
Then, sadly, it was time to say good-bye. But as I write this journal - 10 years later - I'm happy to end it with the knowledge that this coming summer, 2oo9, Rob and I will be returning to Belgium for another visit with our dear friends.
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