Saturday 18th March
Left Bousse-Lez-Walcourt for Saint Hubert which is the European capital of hunting and nature.
The architecture here goes back to the seventh century when Saint Hubert’s Abbey was founded and then rebuilt in 1729.
The locals were very friendly even if I couldn’t understand a word they were saying – languages spoken in Belgium include French, Flemish and a little German in the north west but unfortunately where we are it is only French speakers and my attempts at German have Fallen on deaf ears.
Fortunately the girl manning the tourist office spoke very good English which helped us out immensely.
Grocery shopping in a supermarket is an interesting experience when everything is labelled in French, particularly when you get to the checkout with fruit and vegetables and the operator tries to tell you in French that you were supposed to weigh the goods yourself – ah well – “Non Francais – Australie” seems to help particularly when said with a smile and a “Merci”.
All the wine we have been buying comes in bottles with corks which we haven’t seen for years at home.
Spent a couple of hours in a little bar which had over 100 varieties of local beers some of them as strong as 12.5%.
Very cold again today – got all the ski gear on.
Sunday 19th March
Visited our friend in the tourist office again for some more info, did a major shop in the local CarreFour Supermarket and then headed for Bastogne.
Bastogne is famous for the battle fought there between the Allies and the Germans in the winter of 1944-45 which is better known as “The Battle of the Bulge”
This area was also previously invaded by the Germans in 1914 so can understand why the German language is not too well accepted here.
There are 4 or 5 huge monuments and museums erected in honour of the US 101st Airborne Division which was surrounded by the German 5th Panzer Division until the 27th December when the siege was lifted by General Patton’s 3rd Army.
The Americans are somewhat heroes around here.
We are planning on heading to Germany tomorrow where at least we will be able to communicate with the locals, even if slowly.
Rob and Krys
Brings back many fond memories of hanging around phone shops in France trying to find our if tethering is permitted and working out how to recharge your sim.
One of the things we found convenient about shopping at Carrfour or Lidl is that the store layouts and many of the product lines are the same in whatever country your travelling through, so its easier to find what your looking for. Have fun with the container refund system in Germany !
Just a hint about photos for your blog. Uploading high resolution photos of 12 MB will cost a fortune to upload. 3 MB is plenty good enough for your blog. Have a look at the ‘BlogPad Pro’ app it may help.
Michael and Pam
Michael and Pam
Thanks for the tips – we seem to have been in a Carrfour or Lidl every day – they are becoming familiar
What is the container refund system? – some type of refunds for bottles and cans?
Yes I downloaded Blog Pad Pro before we left home but haven’t had a chance to play with it yet
Kind Regards Rob and Krys
Hi Rob & Krys, glad everything is going well. Krys, your written posts
are just wonderful, very informative. Feel as if we are right there with you.
Glad your Moho is comfortable! Weather will get warmer soon.
Lots of love 🍺🍺😊😊
Hi Rob and Krys, Makes me very envious but brings back nice memories for us to, keep enjoying yourself and I’m sure you will find a corkscrew somewhere…..we are having terrible weather so much rain….hope all your windows at home are all well closed?? Isn’t it fun all these currency deals…..we came home with a bag of coins… Cheers, Barb and Ramsay