Today we got up in Bouillon and went down stairs in the hotel to the breakfast room for our breakfast. Nice setup, with a high chair ready for us. The breakfast buffet was: cook your own hard boiled eggs, house made yogurt, fresh raspberries, pine apple, oranges, grape fruit, and other fruits (cherries etc), meats, cheeses (several kids of cheese!), cereals, and juices. And four kinds of fresh bread. The owner brought coffee to us. Very friendly, and a great way to start the day.
After breakfast we let Sara play in a kids playroom in the hotel (how family friendly that is!) and we packed up and left. It was raining, like a soft drizzle, which actually gave the whole place a romantic air. We drove through Bouillon (that is where the name of the soup came from), saw the castle, saw the town, and then we headed onwards.
Our destination was Orval, a trappist brewery (just like Chimay was yesterday). We wove in and out of France - something we are almost used to now, but it was so funny when it happened yesterday. Finally, we found a sign that said Orval and we saw the abbey where the monks live and brew the beer. Our first stop was lunch at this modern (built in 2010) restaurant right on the side of the road (nothing else was on the side of the road, just trees for miles around) and had a nice meal. I had shrimp in sauce with pasta, Dan had quiche, and Sara had a rather fancy open faced cheese sandwich made with local cheese (the monks make cheese too). We also had the beer - naturally - that is made just down the street at the brewery in the abbey.
After eating, we left the car where it was and strolled down to the abbey. It was an imposing place, sort of like a castle.
The abbey was a delight. You pay 5 Euro, and you get to stroll all around the ruins of the old abby (monastery), keeping in mind that it is several centuries old. Probably even a thousand years old. And in view of the old abby was the new one - where they make the beer / cheese. There was also a museum, that was far from a dry boring museum. It was very well done, extremely interesting, and told the story of making beer really well. Even SAra enjoyed it, asking to see parts of it several times. They get the water for the beer from a local well - and that gives it some special minerals and taste.
We strolled the abby grounds for about 2 hours. Looking at the impressive old abby, and looking in the distance at the new one. We saw a monk walking around too. There were other people there - some of them getting a tour. None of the tours were in English (which we kind of liked, that means that it is not a run of the mill tourist attraction.) Dan, a big Belgian beer fan, loved being there. He strolled around with Julia in the Baby Bjorn carrier. Julia mostly slept. When she wasn't sleeping, she was looking around with her curious blue eyes. She never made one peep. Just quiet and happy. She is such a good baby. I toured around with Sara. Most of the time we were with Dan and Julia - but sometimes Sara's three year old legs and curiosity lead us in different directions and at different speeds. She had two favorite activities: 1) throwing money into the wishing well 2) playing with the little stones in the abby ruins. When we were playing with the stones, she said "lets make a pile so high it reaches the sky, we'll need a ladder for that."
Our visit to the abby was 90% rain free, but towards the end there was a light shower. No problem, it is such a serene place, the rain just seemed to add to the feeling of peace. As we left, we stopped at the small gift shop for beer, a postcard, a cookie, and a beer glass (each Belgian beer comes in its own special glass, so Dan wanted an Orval glass). The beer was a huge bottle (wine bottle size) for 1.25 Euro. Practically free! The monks aren't out to make a huge profit, just to make expenses, and to make money for their charity work.
After that we drove to Luxembourg. Our third country on this trip (Belgium, France, Luxembourg). It is a tiny country. Dan and I have never been here (but we have been to Belgium, France before). So this is new to us. We are in the Hotel Royal in the city center. We have a nice room, Sara is on a single bed, Julia has a "baby cot" and Dan and I have a double. The bathroom is marble, and there are the nice things like robes, slippers, a pool, sauna, etc. We did dinner in a cute little square near here, but we made it a fast dinner since it was like 6:30 PM and bedtime is 7:00. We had a nice table on the second floor of a restaurant right by the window. So we got to eat and watch the hustle bustle of the square. We had pizza and a crepe. I'm sick of cheese. I'm going to try to not have any cheese tomorrow - I'm going to turn into a block of cheese.
We are here for two nights. Sara and Dan hit the swimming pool while I got Julia to bed. Sara just loves swimming. She was perfect at dinner since I bribed her with swimming if she was good.
Time to sleep now. Having fun. It is hard to believe we picked up the rental car two days ago. Travel makes every moment count - so many memories jammed into every day, minute, and hour! So much to explore and see--and enjoy.
:) Signing off, Lori
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