Spring is with us.

We are now in our fourth year in Europe and thoroughly caught up with the basics of European life. Spring is now upon us and we find ourselves almost looking forward to doing those things that are done in Spring. We have removed the accumulated winter grime from Matilda, made some minor repairs, tidied up some paintwork and generally she is now spick and span. We have had a few weeks of good weather and everywhere is looking bright and colourful. Even the garden in front of the Nancy police station is almost beautiful.

The flowers just appear! We did find the Council Nursery and were surprised to find it open to the public as a showpiece and to assist gardeners and the public generally with free advice.

We had already commenced our gardening on Matilda and now have our vegies, herbs and flowers ready for the season.

We struck a problem earlier,  we had run out of the paint we used on Matilda. We are very impressed with the brand but can’t find it in France. We had bought it in Belgium while in dry dock. So, we decided to go to Belgium to buy some more!

That was our excuse. We had been to Belgium on two previous occasions but had seen little of Brussels.

We started out, leaving Matilda about 0730, catching a train to Luxembourg, changed for Brussels, changed for Antwerp, taxi to the paint supplier we knew, train back to Brussels and we booked into our hotel about 1600 hrs the same day, after a hot dog for lunch at Antwerp. As you all know, Peter has always been fascinated by trains and has always been intrigued by Antwerp station. It was originally built as a six track terminus. But in 1998, an eight year reconstruction programme added another eight tracks. As space was at a premium this was done by excavating and adding the new tracks on two levels below the first. The station now handles high speed trains on their way north to the Netherlands.

The original booking hall is considered the finest railway architecture in Belgium.


We returned to Brussels and the next day, wandered around the historic areas.

Belgium has had a very chequered history which is clear in the variety of architecture around the older areas of the city.

The building above is the Royal Palace. The family currently use it as their City Pad. While we were there they entertained Barack Obama for lunch and we suffered the consequences. All roads and public transport around the city were interrupted.

The police cleared the public away from the palace. It made a bit of a mess of our touristing but we had a good look around any way.  A part of the Palace is a museum that gives a good history of the Royal Family and the building itself.

We were surprised to find ourselves in the cellars that actually cross under the road outside and exit behind a building on the opposite side. These passageways, cellars and in some areas whole streets were part of the Coudenburg Palace. Commenced in the 11th century, it was demolished and the site levelled comparatively recently. It was filled with rubble to build the current Palace. Archaeological teams are continually working to excavate the remains of the site – difficult because of the buildings standing above.   

We returned to Nancy next morning, happy that our trip was successful. We had our paint.

Nancy declared it to be Spring on April 1. We wandered into Stanislas Square and found this:

We still don’t get it and even “local” contacts couldn’t help. But it all seemed like fun.

We start our cruising next Sunday, 13th April and will meet Jane and John in Chalons en Champagne. There will be more stories to tell so we will keep in touch.