Belgium Pub

Belgium Pub

 

We had dinner last night in a Belgium pub just 15 minutes away and it was fantastic! It was still light at 7.15 when we headed off and we wended our way along little country lanes that barely had room for two cars. Many of the fields have crops of maize in them to use for winter feed for the animals. It almost felt as though we were driving through the maize fields themselves as the road was so narrow. I also saw for the first time the huge Belgian breed of cattle - Bleu Bruge I think it was called. They are massive white/grey animals with dark bluish areas on parts of them. No tourist would ever have found this little pub that is a favourite of Bernard and Danielle's! We drove down so many little lanes, through villages, took nearly invisible turnoffs then voila! we were at this quaint little pub. The outside had beautiful gardens with caged doves but inside was something else! The walls, shelves and ceiling were absolutely covered in 'stuff'! Danielle called it very 'kitsch'!  The ceilings were fully draped in fairy lights and there were figurines of Laurel and Hardy everywhere! There were statues of animals, pots, and just so many figures of Belgium men. The place was full of people when we arrived and I was introduced to the chef who was very nice and showed me where he cooked all the meat - just a big fire at the end of the dining room!

 

 

The tables were all very close together but everyone chats with everyone else and the atmosphere was very much that of a neighbourhood pub. You can see the chef doesn't mind a drop of his Belgium beer!

Our entree was frogs legs and they were delicious! The sauce they had over them was also delicious and I was a real local, using my bread to mop up the leftovers!  Danielle tried to talk me into trying le cheval ( horse!! ) for the main but I had to draw the line at that I'm afraid!

 

 

For our entree we also had a little bowl of shrimp to put on pieces of local bread. The bread looked as though it had chocolate swirled through it at first, but this wasn't the case. It was just a mixture of light and dark dough.

Danielle had a specialty of the North - Mussels and chips with bread and butter! She loves it and it is commonly found on menus in many places here. The mussels are small by our standards but came in a huge pot!  You use the shell of an eaten mussel like tongs to eat the remaining ones.

 

 

 

 

Bernard had a 400gm piece of Belgium steak!

 

Dinner ended with L'eau de Vie served with coffee and a small piece of Belgium rice cake, a specialty served at the end of a meal and dunked in the coffee!

It was a very entertaining evening spent in a warm and friendly atmosphere and I hope to be able to do the same again.

 

 

 

My thoughts on spending time in village markets this weekend have somewhat disappeared! I discovered last night that Danielle will take me to Mauberge this afternoon where I will be met by 14 AFS volunteers! I will accompany them to the Ardennes region where they have a house rented apparently for the night. I have a sleeping bag and blowup pillow to take with me!  Tomorrow I have a 15km walk through the forest to look forward to! Hope all goes well.