Belgium with friends

We spent a few days in Belgium last week with our friends Jan and Paul, former neighbors from Virginia. They flew to Amsterdam and spent a few days there and then met us in Brussels. We spent one night there and then two in Bruges followed by two more in Ghent before returning with them to Lille for a couple more days. We had travelled with them in Belgium previously so it was fun to return to some of our favorite places there and it was nice to show them a bit of our new life in France. Bailey went to her camp for the time we were away and from the pictures we saw and the report when we returned, she had a good time.

This is Bailey's cottage. Note the air conditioner unit. I'm pretty sure they could have rented out these spaces to people during the recent heat wave. Note also the height and security of the fencing. That was why I felt comfortable leaving Bailey there the first time. The play yard fences aren't quite as tall, but there's a taller fence around the perimeter of the property. 

One of the big play yards at the boarding facility. 

Brussels

Jan and Paul at the Duveloreum, overlooking the grand place in Brussels. 

Studying the beer book in a bar.

Cantillon, in Brussels, is a place of pilgrimage for beer lovers.

The gayborhood in Brussels. 

Brussels at night.

Bruges

At The Trappist in Bruges.

This church/museum had the best signs. See that thing at the right? You can turn it to read the information in six different languages, including English.

They had opened up the floor in the church to display painted crypts.

In Bruges, the center sculpture is the only piece of Michelangelo's work to leave Italy during his lifetime.

The canals are gorgeous. 

Bruges at night

This was a video mapping show displayed on the bellfort in Bruges. It told the history of the city and was very interesting. You could call up an audio file on your phone that provided an English translation from the Dutch. It didn't start until 10:45 at night, after it got dark.

Ghent

The most impressive parts of most churches, for me, is not the altar but the lectern, like this one in the cathedral in Ghent.

This Ghent cathedral is now really more museum than church, and they charge admission to see the good stuff, like these medieval wall paintings.

A reliquary for the head of John the Baptist.

This is the tomb of Hubert van Eyck, the first painter of the Ghent altarpiece. It was finished by his younger brother Jan van Eyck. 

This is the Ghent altarpiece. It was featured in the movie The Monuments Men. It was undergoing restoration when I was last in Ghent so I had never seen it. 

Another picture of the lectern in Saint Bavo's cathedral in Ghent.

We did a morning boat ride on the canals in Ghent.

Going through a canal tunnel.

The lectern in another church in Ghent.

Back in Lille

The Napoleon bridge at night.

There are tango lessons followed by dancing in the center of the old bourse in Lille on Sunday evenings.

Jan and Paul accompanied Bailey and I on our morning walks when they were in town. She enjoyed showing them her woods. 

Eleven months and counting

Yesterday was my birthday and today is the 4th of July, but more significant than either of those events is the fact that we've now been in France for 11 months and will soon be hitting the one year mark. This is still the best decision we've made since getting together.  

Street scene in Lille, looking down the street from Le Capsule. 

Pictures of Bailey, just because she's pretty.

Our recent Le Creuset purchase.

My first dish cooked in it—poached salmon.

Followed by a simple chicken pot pie a couple of days later.

Our other recent purchase is this indoor air conditioner. It arrived just after the first heat wave ended but we are now better prepared for the next. France is reluctantly beginning to embrace air conditioning.

This is an open doorway we passed when just walking around town. The mail slots outside and the corresponding mail boxes inside were something I hadn't seen before. 

Bailey chilling at the dog park.

Resting in bed with me during the day.

It was getting dark so this is hard to see but those are two sheep or goats grazing on an elevated area at the Citadelle. They use them to cut the grass and control vegetation.

Bailey doing an "up" on a downed tree trunk.

Just hanging out at the dog park.

Scents of summer

When I walked the trails at Pleasant Grove back in Virginia, the woods in the summertime had a particular smell, especially on hot days following rain. The air was heavy (because it was summer in Virginia) and it reminded me of the smell of a stale humidor, thick odor clinging to the earth like the smell of smoke emanating from damp wood. 

Recently I have been noticing a particular smell in the woods at the Citadelle and even elsewhere around town that I couldn't place. It's sort of a mild perfume smell, not unpleasant but it could be if it was much stronger. I've been looking as I walk, trying to figure out the source. There's some shrubs and roses flowing now, but they aren't particularly fragrant nor sufficiently abundant to account for the widespread scent. The place I notice it most is a wide stretch of treed green space called the esplanade that runs along the side of the Citadelle next to the old part of Lille. The tall trees are mostly one species and they've been trimming them lately leaving piles of limbs on the ground which gave me the chance to identify the trees from the foliage. They are Lindens, called Lime trees in Europe or Basswood in the United States. There are many species of the genus "tilia." 

I also discovered from the downed limbs that they are currently in bloom and those flowers are the source of the scent I've been experiencing. I thought that most trees were finished blooming by now but Lindens are just getting started. I had planted a Linden tree in our yard back in Virginia. It had been damaged in a storm but was recovering well by the time we left. I hope it still is. They are rather remarkable trees and a good source of pollen for bees. 

Lately we've been having a heat wave with temperatures in the 90s. That's not unusual for summer in the states, but it's warmer than normal for the north of France and it's particularly oppressive without air conditioning. I walk Bailey early in the morning and then we lay low for the day, emerging only for the evening walk after the sun has gone down. I'm getting less mileage in but I'm okay with that for this weather. 

Bailey on an evening walk on a rainy day.

Trees planted in giant pots are a common decoration for public spaces around town. That red is also the city's color.

Hanging out in the bedroom on a hot day.

These are beautiful, they don't even look real.

They look like they must be related to thistles.

Bailey wearing her lighted collar on a late walk.

The foliage of the Linden/Lime/Basswood tree. They are tall trees but they also produce a lot of secondary growth from the base, which makes each tree look like it's growing out of the center of a bush. The one I planted in Palmyra did this as well.

The heavily scented flowers.