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Published: July 21st 2008
Sunday 4 May 2008 After a not-so-early start - due to some mild hangovers - we checked out of the Sheraton Four Points in Brussels and caught the train back south, this time to the French university town of Louvain-la-Neuve. There we were greeted at the railway station by the very charismatic Jacques, Michael's family friend from his old Belgium days.
Jacques took us back to their ultra funky apartment where the lovely Nicole was waiting for us. Once we had settled in and briefly caught up, we were taken on a small tour of Louvain-la-Neuve which is an innovative purpose-built French university town - cars underground, people and bicycles only above ground - very clever! Our tour took us to a lovely parkland at the edge of the city, the lake of which was breeding ground for dozens and dozens of frogs! Spring was in the air!
After our "birds & the bees" lesson by the lake, Jacques and Nicole drove us in their hybrid car to the nearby town of Wavre. This was Michael's home town when he lived in Belgium as a child. So we drove past his old house and stopped by his old
school.
Monday 5 May 2008 After Nicole spoiled us with a deliciously indulgent breakfast we ventured out to the Villers Abbey. Villers Abbey is the ruins of an old monastry outside town. We explored the fantastic ivy-covered ruins for hours!
Tuesday 6 May 2008 We spent the day resting because we were just sooooooo exhausted! We had truly learned the difference between traveling and holidaying!
We took some leisurely walks around town to discover more of Louvain-la-Neuve. We also found that it is amazingly cheap (relatively) to post parcels home from Belgium. Accordingly we bundled up lots of our no-longer-required possessions and sent them home.
Wednesday 7 May 2008 In the morning we caught the train into Brussels to see the Comic Strip Museum. It was great. We ran around like a couple of kids laughing at the cartoons and playing with the exhibits. It was a hoot!
Michael's family fiend Jean-Pierre met us at the museum when we were done and took us to a delicious lunch at L-Orangerie du Parc d'Egmont which is a lovely cafe situated in the middle of a beautiful park. Lunch was delicious and the company
was superb. We also spent some time in the park playing around the Peter Pan statue there.
Jean-Pierre then showed us the Museum of the Far East containing the exquisite Chinese and Japanese Pavilions. Then we continued on to the Atomium to the north of the city. The Atomium is a remnant of the 1958 world fair and there was a great photo exhibit to commemorate the 50th anniversary. We went up inside the Atomium, up the many stairs and escalators and almost to the very top. We could see views all across Brussels in all directions. We signed a post card and gave it Jean-Pierre as a momento when we bid him farewell.
The train then took us back to Louvain-la-Neuve.
Thursday 8 May 2008 Although we had a great time with the Jacques & Nicole, it was time for Barbara to use her best-learned Fringlish to join Michael in wishing them a (hopefully temporary) fond farewell. We also promised to encourage Michael's dad to holiday with Jacques in the Congo. Jacques then kindly drove us back to Valerie's house in Genval.
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