Belgium Visits

(Except Brussels, Brugge, Ghent , and Antwerp)

Years ago, during border crossings between European countries, passports and vehicle papers were almost always inspected, at least a little. However, even then, crossing the border between France and Belgium often required only a nod and a wave, no stop required, and sometimes there was no border control point at all.

We went into the town of Tournai, Belgium where there is a very interesting church with five large steeples. The buildings around the town square are also interesting, but dirty.

Little towns and the houses in Belgium, really do look different from those in France or Germany. Many houses in Belgium are made from a red brick, with white trim and dark roofs. Pretty countryside, farms, and pastures filled with cows.

We stopped at a Holiday Inn for lunch. Emmy had a $12 Buffet, expensive for what it was — couple kinds of rice, smoked fish, stuffed salmon, tomato (excellent), cold chicken, dessert, and ice water. I had an omelet with French Fries for $4, that was very good.

One campsite we stopped at, right along the English Channel, was huge. It had room for thousands of people, and there are a dozen campgrounds nearby, located just across the street from the English Channel. That evening we crossed the road and walked on the sandy beach along the English Channel, but it was very cold. Although it was August, we each wore two pair of pants and a heavy jacket to keep warm.

As we left Luxembourg and drove north in Belgium, we could see gasoline stations advertising they are in Luxembourg. What we found is, the entire road and everything on the left (west) is Belgium, but the gas stations setting a half block back from the road on the right (east) are in Luxembourg, and their gasoline is cheaper. Luxembourg issues its own money with their own pictures, etc., but they also use Belgium money interchangeably.

We drove through the town of Bastogne, Belgium, famous for the Battle of the Bulge in WW II. This is where the General said “NUTS” when the Germans asked him to surrender. My brother Paul fought in the Battle of the Bulge, right here, and we are sure that “Nuts” does not begin to express his opinion.