Abbeys and Ardennes

Oh, October, where did you go? Unlike our buddies in San Diego (100 degrees last week) we have ample proof of the arrival of fall; the trees are yellow or nearly bare, the skies are covered in a uniformly oppressive grayness, and our longing for Christmas music and cranberry sauce increases every day. October was the beginning of our French training, and now that we're 5 weeks in, we've got a good base going. We're still not very confident, but we can get around. Enough to get our hair cut, order food, or ride public transportation anyway.
Last weekend we took a little two day trip down to Dinant, Belgium. Dinant is a little town of 10,000 south of Brussels along the banks of the Meuse River. Over the centuries the Meuse has repeatedly served as a natural boundary between warring Dutchmen, Germans, Frenchman, and even Americans, most notably for those of us from the States during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. It was a beautiful area, and it was almost impossible to stay on our itinerary because it seemed like there was a something to see around every corner.
We started at Château Frëyr, an immense castle/garden complex built initially in the 14th century and inhabited by the same family until the late 20th century when it became a museum. The house hosted guests like Louis the XIV, German troops (World War I), Nazi troops (World War II), and the prince of Japan. The gardens are beautiful, and surprisingly the main attractions are the orange trees.
Next we went to Les Jardins d'Annevoie (The Gardens of Annevoie). Billed as "The Versailles of Belgium", work began on the gardens in the mid 18th century. Using a natural spring to provide the water pressure, the designers utilized the wonders of physics to produce numerous fountains, some of which fire water as high as 20 feet in the air! The grounds are beautiful, with winding gravel paths, sculptures and small architectural pieces, and even a moat around the castle with a pair of swans. Awesome.
After the gardens, it was getting dark and we were getting hungry, so we decided to head to the Maredsous Abbey to chow down on some of the monks' famous cheese, meats and beers. Little did we know that the monks' operations have long since been transferred to mainstream commercial companies since the monks couldn't keep up with the hefty demand for their wares, and we ended up eating our dinner in what reminded us a bit of a mall food court rather than a place for spiritual reflection. Also, our "dinner" two pieces of buttered bread with two pieces of cheese in the middle was a little too monastic. At least the beer was good!
We arrived at our hotel around 8pm and were warmly welcomed by the owner, Monsieur Vincent Lagneau. When I made my reservation at L'Auberge de Bouvignes I informed him that I was attempting to learn French, and he responded that he wouldn't speak a word of English to me and also threatened that if I spoke English I would be responsible for doing the dishes. Unfortunately for my French progression, but fortunately for our cultural experience, he didn't hold me to the no-English provision, and the three of us ended up sitting in the bar of the hotel talking about Belgian culture for the next two and a half hours, while drinking Belgian beers of course. He was incredibly welcoming and also a great conversationalist, and really gave us some great insights into the fractured Belgian political landscape. The hotel was great also, but I'd go back just to hang out with Vincent!


The next morning we went into the town of Dinant to see the church and the citadel. The church was beautiful, but dark and, sadly, falling apart in places. The highlights were a handful of 13-17th century works, like a large wooden cross, and numerous paintings that showed their age. After the church, we made our way up the rock face (in the gondola) to see the Citadelle. Each of the towns along the Meuse have some sort of defensive structure that helped them protect themselves during the frequent and bloody conflicts that have gripped the over over the centuries. Dinant's is substantial and certainly on the more modern end of the spectrum. We waited 15 minutes to join a tour with a guide, only to realize that the guide gave the commentary in two languages, but neither was English. Belgium's bilingualism strikes again! We tried to keep up with his French, but we definitely could hack it, so after he took us through the parts of the Citadelle that are closed without a guide, we snuck away and saw the rest of the structure on our own.
Our trip to Dinant was great and we saw so much in our two days, but we still have a very full list: Bastogne and the Ardennes, Liège, Antwerp, Ghent, the North Sea coast...