Belgium Travel NOTES
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INCLUDES:
Mardi Gras & August events
Liqueurs
Meuse Valley Chateaus - human scale
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Other carnivals: Eupen
+ Malmédy (four Thursdays before Mardi Gras & grand processional on
Palm Sunday)
http://www.festivals.be/
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(40 miles south of Brussels)
Mardi Gras - Binche, next to France border, about the middle.
Masked Revels of a Belgian Mardi Gras
By ANNE SHAPIRO DEVREUX; ANNE SHAPIRO DEVREUX, A WRITER WHO RECENTLY MOVED TO
OSAKA, JAPAN, WAS A LONG-TIME RESIDENT OF BELGIUM.
Published: January 22, 1989
IN the freezing predawn darkness of Mardi gras in the Belgian town of Binche,
a drummer and two costumed men dance along a lamp-lighted alley to round up fellow
celebrants for the day's procession. The Binchois call this precarnival dawn ''the
best moment.''
One can hear the drummer beating out the compelling triple-beat tattoo long before
one can see the growing groups emerging as shadowy animation from out of the gloom.
They appear dressed as the local carnival character, the Gille, in blouses and
trousers stuffed with hay and appliqueed with lions, crowns and stars, their hair
snugly bound in white kerchiefs, and their faces covered by exquisitely uncomfortable
wax masks with green spectacles and reddish eyebrows and moustaches.
By late afternoon, a throng of 800 feather-hatted Gilles sways majestically in
many ever-widening circles for a stately but frenetic rondeau in Binche's Grand'Place.
As they dance, the Gilles throw oranges to - or at - spectators, many of them
also dancing, caught up by the unrelenting drum beats and trying to get warm.
Thus the men and boys of Binche continue a centuries-old tradition that is not
merely a parade but a tradition of living folklore. What's more, carnival costumes
are literally the very fabric of life in this town 39 miles south of Brussels.
Year round, 14 Gille societies with rascally names like the Incorruptibles or
Recalcitrants socialize in Binche cafes marked with eye-catching scutcheons advertising
the locale's patron Gille group. Several children's societies dress up on Mardi
gras in group attire to resemble their clownish club names, like the Paysans (peasants),
Pierrots and Princes d'Orient. The Little Gilles Society is for boys only.
Mardi gras, or fat Tuesday, the last of three ''fat'' days of gourmandizing and
splurging before Lent, is for French-speaking Binche the culmination of months
of preparation and weeks of ceremonies. On the six consecutive Sundays preceding
Dimanche gras, or fat Sunday, the citizens strut away their winter chills in mini-carnivals
destined to arouse community gusto. The first two Sundays, drum corps rehearse
the triple-time beat, also called the limping beat.
The next four Sundays are called soumonces, or invitations to the carnival, and
villagers are decked out in masks and flamboyant paraphernalia atop their streetclothes.
The last two of these Sundays are the most splendid: The entire community, wearing
imaginative costumes that can cost many hundreds of dollars each, dances exuberantly
to 26 18th- and 19th-century Mardi gras airs played by brass bands.
The next night, after the last soumonce, a ball is held called the Trouilles-de-nouille,
where off-beat, eccentric costumes are worn (some men, called Mam'zeles, dress
as women), slightly in mockery of good taste, and all guests are masked , much
intent on perpetrating some gentle mayhem. ''Intriguing'' is the main pursuit:
from behind your mask, in a disguised voice, you softly intone specific allusions
to your neighbor about his personal life in Binche, unnerving him, especially
since he is not sure who you are.
Then the fat days begin: Sunday, Dimanche gras, is spectacular, with the whole
town sauntering mirthfully in a prideful display of original costly costumes concocted
over the past 11 months. These costumes will be worn again only for the last two
soumonces the next year and then stored in cellophane in the family attic, never
to be worn again.
Especially for Dimanche gras, for more than 50 years Roberte Danneau and her young
apprentices have created whimsical and extravagant novelty hats in her artisanal
millinery workshop loaded with sequins, beads, lace, ribbons, feathers and plastic
gems.
After Sunday's gleeful revelry, a contingent of Binchois go to the nearby village
of Battignies ''to look for hay,'' the traditional material stuffed into the Gille's
blouson to make him bulge with a traditional hunchback and ''hunchfront'' from
shoulder to shoulder.
Lundi gras, Monday, is mostly a quiet family day when small groups follow organ
grinders throughout the town, stopping at many cafes to drink hot wine.
Mardi gras begins about 4 A.M., before the dancers and drummers have come out
to the street. In each Gille's house, mothers, wives and sisters tightly pack
hay into the men's costumes. The rite of Gille-stuffing is attended by a few friends
and relatives.
In one Gille's straw-filled garage, a dozen guests watched Madame Raymonde Plume
stuff the costume of her neighbor Robert Ramboux. Madame Ramboux had ushered the
onlookers into the garage, handing each a Mardi-gras-morning glass of Champagne
and a warm slice of sugar tarte to bolster themselves against the daylong February
chill. About 20 costumed Gilles came to the Ramboux door, dancing the pas de chat
(cat step, which looks something like stamping), their belled belts jangling -
and Robert Ramboux was ready for them. He danced slowly from his front door to
the group, and there seemed to be something ancient taking place, as if a species
member were being taken in to his tribe. This society of Gilles amicably descended
on Madame Ramboux's tartes and Champagne. As they exited, some Gilles guffawed
when Monsieur Ramboux ostentatiously slipped a pack of antacid tablets under his
belt. After all, within moderation, this is a day of pure enjoyment - for Lent
begins tomorrow.
Elaborate white pleated collars, cuffs and gaiters, meant to resemble lace, are
confected from as much as 650 feet of ribbon painstakingly sewn in concentric
circles for each costume. A bell hangs around the Gille's neck, and a linen belt
called an apertintaille, thickly stitched in yellow and red wool, drags around
his expanded girth with eight chunky bells, weighing about as much as five pounds.
The Gille's shoes, locally made of smoked wood, with pointy tips, are handsomely
strapped with embossed leather.
As they stomp, the Gilles jab up into the air a small bundle of twigs, called
a ramon, symbolic of the brooms that last century's Gilles carried to playfully
poke spectators. Nowadays the revelers affectionately toss their abbreviated broom
to a friend and then jog over to retrieve the ramon with a quick kiss.
Mid-Mardi gras morning, the Gilles pause for a traditional Binche carnival breakfast:
more champagne and many dozens of oysters. On fat Tuesday, in this blue-collar
town, money saved all year is spent dazzlingly so that each Gille may feel like
a king.
Two hours before dusk, all the Gille societies dance down from the train station,
surging through the narrow streets. The crowd follows, pushing itself around corners,
through Avenue Albert I, and slowly filling Binche's Grand'Place. The Gilles have
doffed their masks and put on glorious ostrich feather hats, almost four feet
high and weighing about six and a half pounds. Into the hat's hefty potlike armature,
about 10 large plumes are incorporated, each formed by many smaller feathers deftly
lashed end-to-end. From a distance, the groups' white ostrich feathers bob in
snowy waves that ripple in slow motion as hundreds of Gilles approach.
THE billowing circles of dancing Gilles bunch up and then widen, nudging the spectators.
The crowd cat-steps and swarms slowly along, budging with sweet patience until
they can ebb their way to follow the Gilles. Sometimes, above the heads of spectators,
all one can see of the Gilles are their ramons, rising and descending.
Children run in a benign pandemonium, spraying harmless plastic string on spectators'
coats and in their hair. Admittedly, the intermittent booming of cherry bombs
can make one jumpy, but the firecrackers are tossed away from the crowd.
The Gilles' sabots patter bluntly on the cobblestones, and the drumbeats resound
in your ribcage. If you duck into a cafe for some coffee, or bubbly cider, your
space in the mob will be taken, but in the neighborly jostling, you can always
seep back into the crowd.
On this day, all windows are covered by protective metal grills against the barrage
of oranges that will ensue. Giving off a heavenly fragrance, the smashed oranges
look somewhat macabre since blood oranges, with a purple-red pulp, are thrown.
Before 1900, the Gilles tossed bread and walnuts, which were then considered special
treats. About 300,000 oranges are thrown on Mardi gras by 800 Gilles and 400 participants
in non-Gilles costumes.
If you weren't born in Binche, aren't descended from a Binchois family or haven't
been a resident for at least five years, give up all hope of becoming a Gille.
There is a distinct tradition of gallantry and dignity perpetuated by the Gille
societies. According to carnival custom, a Gille will only be seen sitting if
he is eating. Drinking to excess is prohibited, and two fellow Gilles will wait
with an occasional inebriated cohort in a nearby house until he is fit to rejoin
the carnival.
A rugged constitution is required to be a Gille, especially since Tuesday's dancing
continues far into the cold night, around bonfires, even long after the fireworks
and almost until Wednesday's sunrise. It is said that on Wednesday morning, when
the perspiration-drenched straw is pulled out of the costume, it emits smoky vapor.
Binche's carnival is first mentioned in a document from 1394. The Gille was named
after a character who appeared in 17th- and 18th-century French dramatic farces;
a document from 1795 is the earliest describing the Gille mask.
Until the mid-1800's, each Binchois ordered his costume custom-made according
to his own whims for innovative embellishment. Around the 1860's, when all Gille
costumes were first produced and furnished by renters, ornamentation details became
more standardized.
Although 19th-century French and Belgian reformist journalists condemned carnival
as the financial ruination of the poor, increasingly prosperous Binche continued
to revamp the Gille's opulence. From 1875 until the present time, the Gille's
costume's appliquees were arranged in Belgium's national colors, red, yellow and
black.
Many Belgians cling to a legend falsely imputing the Gilles' origin to a festival
held by Mary of Hungary in 1549 to celebrate the conquest of Peru. Some Belgians
are still fond of the mythical Peru origin, and in 1957 the Gille society called
the Incas had been formed in the spirit of this tale.
Next door to Mary of Hungary's ruined chateau is the town's International Carnival
and Mask Museum, which displays carnival get-ups gathered from around the world.
When one grasps the antique carved wooden banister and climbs upstairs in the
250-year-old museum building, the mannequins on the second and third floors look
as though they have frozen and hushed because a visitor has entered. Most are
masked, seeming to have the same oblivious, defiant stare that marionettes have.
The silence of the museum halls contrasts with the raucousness of the spangly
folkloric outfits.
Dr. Samuel Glotz founded the museum, which officially opened in 1975. ''When a
Gilles dances, he dances in the name of the entire local community,'' Dr. Glotz
said. ''The only authentic folklore is living folklore.'' Dr. Glotz, an authority
on carnival and mask traditions, was curator-in-chief until 1981, when he was
succeeded by Michel Revelard.
The museum's Rumanian costumes are almost sentimental, seemingly made from scraps
of colorful old clothes and decorated with bits of old weaving, cast-off embroidery,
and re-cycled quilts. From the carnival of Lucerne, troll-like wooden masks peer
out of deep, dark eye holes.
In 1979, a special exhibition on the carnival of Basel, the Basler Fasnacht, remained
as a permanent display, bursting with hyperbolic masks and vibrant rollicking
colors. Basel's droll peasant character Waggis stands out with his peaked red
nose and rustic nonchalance. From Urnasch in Switzerland a three-foot-wide semicircular
shadow box forms a monumental headdress covered with thousands of pearls and pieces
of colored glass worn by a character appearing in the canton of Appenzell at New
Year's. From Rottweil am Neckar in West Germany, the Federhannes character, wearing
feather-covered clothing, is masked with a ferocious fanged mouth.
STUPEFYING masks and heavily ornamented costumes from Bolivia and India dramatically
depart from conventional depictions of body configurations, with unexpected head
shapes and bountiful quantities of limbs.
Among local relics of Binche's own Mardi gras, the museum has a Gille costume
dating from about 1870, and a Gille mask from before 1850. Fragile lace collars
worn by Gilles at the turn of the century are preserved.
After seeing the museum, a visitor may want to take a short walking tour of the
town. Binche's red brick houses are plain, appearing almost gray, under Belgium's
dreary skies. Some Art Deco store facades and sinewy Art Nouveau houses seem overwhelmed
by the preponderantly factory-town architecture of 100 years ago that pervades
Binche. Downhill from the museum, alongside the 14th-century Church of St. Ursmer,
are Binche's 600-year-old ramparts, graced with donjon towers. If you wander down
this rampart hill, overhung with drooping grass, you can regain the museum by
climbing up Faubourg-St.-Paul into Rue-St.-Paul, and then to circumnavigate the
park behind the museum.
On Rue de l'Eglise, between the Church of St. Ursmer and the museum, stands a
bigger-than-life bronze Gille, wrought in 1952 by a local sculptor named Delnest.
Long after carnival, you might find the rhythmic Gille music echoing in your memory.
Days after cat-stepping your way out of Binche, you may recognize the syncopated
rattle of the drums' triple beat in almost any loud repetitive sound. The reverberations
from a nearby construction site or from a child's mechanical toy will bring you
back, automatically, to the sounds of Mardi gras in Binche.
SEEING BINCHE'S CELEBRATION
Getting There
Trains to Binche leave every hour from Brussels' North, Central and South Stations.
The trip takes an hour and one-way fare is about $5 (calculated at 38 francs to
the U.S. dollar). On Mardi gras, early and late trains are added. These trains
are usually teeming with university students.
By car, Binche is about 40 minutes from Brussels.
The Museum
The International Carnival and Mask Museum is on Rue de l'Eglise, 7130 Binche;
telephone 33.57.41.
Tours may be scheduled for Monday through Thursday and on Saturday, between 8
A.M. and noon and 2 and 5 P.M., by reservation only.
A general tour is about $20 a person. For $15, one can choose a tour that focuses
on the carnival traditions of Bince and of the Belgian town of Wallonie; on European
carnival traditions, or masks from outside of Europe.
Only on Sunday from 2 to 6 P.M. can the museum be visited without reservations.
- A. S. D.
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AUGUST 14-16 (1998) - Tapis de Fleurs in Brussels - the Grand Place is filled
with two million begonias and fuchsias arranged to create the impression of a
brightly-colored, intricately-woven rug. And because the flowers are not wind-pollinated,
hay fever sufferers can stroll without fear.
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Brussels: A la Mort Subite cafe
The choice of beverages, also reasonably priced, is far more varied, as might
be expected in a country where citizens consume an average of 270 pints a person
each year, behind only Germany and Czechoslovakia, and where more than 200 different
beers are brewed, most of them for local consumption. While wine by the glass
for 45 francs (95 cents) and commercial beers like Stella Artois for 28 francs
(60 cents) are available at the Mort Subite, the specialties of the house are
the heavy, dark beers of the Brussels region that rarely travel beyond the villages
of the Senne Valley.
All of them - gueuze, kriek, faro and the very rare framboise - are based on a
liquid called lambic. Lambic is brewed from a mixture of wheat and barley that
ferments without yeast after exposure to microorganisms in the air of Brussels
and its environs. A brewing curiosity, lambic has never been successfully produced
outside the boundaries of the city.
The liquid completes its first fermentation in an oak cask. Then lambics of different
ages are blended to make a gueuze that is bottled and fermented a second time
for some 15 months. The result is a fruity, though not sweet, effervescent brew.
Kriek, a sweeter beer with a reddish color, is made by adding cherries; faro
by adding sugar candy, and framboise by adding raspberries. A glass of the
Mort Subite's brand of each variety averages 60 francs ($1.25), less than in the
more touristy bars that ring the Grand'Place.
(By A WELL-TEMPERED BISTRO - By JANE GROSS - Published: February 6, 1983)
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FARE OF THE COUNTRY; Liqueurs From Belgium, Steeped in History
By THEODORE JAMES JR.
Published: October 18, 1987
Although Belgium is renowned for its hundreds of varieties of superb beer, few
people are aware that the country also produces several excellent and unusual
liqueurs. And though some are exported to the United States, they are usually
available only in larger cities, in liquor stores with the biggest selection.
So, if you wish to sample them, the best place to do so is in Belgium.
Mandarine Napoleon, a sweet liqueur made primarily of tangerines and cognac,
is perhaps the best known outside Belgium because reasonable quantities are exported.
The beverage owes its name to Napoleon. Tangerines, a variety of mandarin oranges,
were first introduced to Europe around 1800, brought by sailing ships from Asia.
Shortly, the Europeans started cultivating them on plantations near the port of
Tangier, thus the name tangerines.
Around the end of the 19th century, a Belgian chemist who was also an amateur
historian, learned that Napoleon often enjoyed a drink of cognac flavored by tangerine
peel. In 1806 Napoleon organized the Paris Music Conservatory and later built
them a concert hall. His favorite actress and inamorata was Mademoiselle Mars,
called ''The Diamond'' because of her bewitching beauty and voice. Napoleon had
seen her in Voltaire's ''Merope,'' ''Agrippine'' and ''Semiramis.'' After performances,
Napoleon would invite the young woman to dinner, always crowned with a liqueur
called Mandarine, which the emperor apparently thought would increase his stamina
and endurance.
Shortly after his death, the pousse-cafe began to be referred to as Mandarine
Napoleon. The chemist experimented, and in 1892 produced a liqueur of cognac flavored
with tangerine peels. He named the liqueur Mandarine Napoleon.
The process involved in producing Mandarine Napoleon differs from most other orange-flavored
liquors, in that fresh, rather than dry, tangerine peels are macerated in French
cognac. The tangerines used in the process are not suitable for eating, since
they are grown for the taste of their skin rather than for the pulp. These fresh
peels, which today come from Valencia and Sicily, had been available only during
a brief season, which limited production of the liqueur. Since the 1970's, however,
part of each harvest is frozen so that the liqueur is now produced year around.
Today more than 2.5 million three-quarter-liter bottles are produced a year. Of
this amount, 70 percent is exported, with some 400,000 bottles shipped to the
United States, primarily to Florida and northern California.
Since sweet after-dinner liqueurs have fallen out of fashion these days, Mandarine
Napoleon is taken most frequently as an aperitif, mixed with champagne, or on
the rocks with tonic water or orange juice. When it is drunk after dinner, its
full-bodied flavor is best appreciated in a snifter. It is not necessary to warm
the spirits to room temperature as one would do with cognac. Beyond its popularity
as an aperitif or after-dinner liqueur, Mandarine Napoleon is also used by Godiva
and other confectionery establishments as a filling for chocolates, as an ingredient
in sorbets, to flavor fruit salads, or in the Belgian version of crepes suzettes.
Each year the Grand Prix International Mandarine Napoleon takes place. In 1986
the competitors submitted recipes for a salmon trout in which the liqueur is used,
as well as for a charlotte.
In Belgium, Elixir d'Anvers is known as the national liqueur. During the
19th century, Europe was nearly flooded with sweet liqueurs of every flavor, most
from France. At the time, Francois-Xavier de Beukelaer, after having studied medicine
and pharmacy, was convinced that he could make a Belgian liqueur that would be
every bit as good as anything the French offered. He experimented for years, and
finally, thanks to his notebooks, we learn that at exactly 2 A.M. of March 19,
1863, he did just that. His Elixir d'Anvers, named after the French word for his
native Antwerp, was an immediate success and was awarded dozens of medals and
honorary distinctions; one of them, on display on the premises, bears the signature
of Louis Pasteur. Today, 114 years later, it is still one of Belgium's national
drinks, and the company remains in the de Beukelaer family, with Francois-Xavier
de Beukelaer's great-grandsons, Emile and Jacques, currently the directors.
Emile de Beukelaer escorted us through the distillery, the same premises, and
for the most part equipped with the same fittings his great-grandfather installed
more than 100 years ago. As we wandered through the hallways, offices and banquet
room at the establishment, he explained much of the memorabilia displayed throughout
the distillery. A collection of posters and advertisements dating from the founding
of the distillery can be seen on the walls, and Mr. de Beukelaer's office contains
a collection of bottles dating to the company's beginnings.
A vast hall contains immense metal vats where the liqueur is actually distilled.
In a small area, half a flight above the hall, is the storage room, where ingredients
used in making the elixir are stored. There are great bins and barrels of sage,
coriander, anise and other herbs and spices as well as dried peels of the four
different kinds of oranges and sugar used in the secret recipe.
Essentially Elixir d'Anvers is a herbal liqueur, made of natural ingredients except
for a small amount of yellow dye added for coloring, and is reputed to be good
for the stomach, thus good for one's health.
Many Belgians store a bottle in their medicine cabinets. It is not unusual for
Belgians who live to be 100 or older to attribute their longevity to a daily nightcap
of Elixir d'Anvers.
Frequently, horses that have developed stomach problems from eating too much clover
are given a dose of the liqueur. The drink is taken during holidays and as a digestive
or nightcap, particularly in Flemish-speaking Belgium. It is also served with
pan-cakes and taken with tonic or on the rocks with soda.
The de Beukelaer company also produces another liqueur called Elixir de Spa,
the origin of which goes back to the friars of the Capuchin order, whose monastery
was in the town of Spa, in the foothills of the Ardennes. During the 16th, 17th
and 18th centuries the town of Spa was the seat of European nobility in the summer.
In the 1717 season alone, the Queen of Denmark, the Queen of Sweden and the Tzar
of Russia made visits.
The friars had planted a garden often visited by the noblemen and ladies; missing,
however, was a way to support the effort. And so the friars created their elixir,
and offered it for sale to visitors. Sweet in taste and fortified with brandy,
it was distilled from plants found among the rich flora of the area. After the
French Revolution, the monastic order was suppressed. Then, during the 19th century,
at a sale of books that had belonged to the order's library, a lucky seeker found
the recipe reproduced in a manuscript. In 1858, it passed to a Spa distiller named
Schaltin Pierry, who started commercially producing the liqueur, which contains
over 40, mostly herbal, ingredients. The de Beukelaers have produced Elixir
de Spa since 1956.
A GUIDE FOR SWEET SAMPLING
- One can visit the F. X. de Beukelaer distillery between 10 and 11 A.M., on Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday. Either call 237.98.06 or write to F. X. de Beukelaer,
Haantjeslei 132, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium, giving at least 10 days' notice.
- Belgian liqueurs can be bought at a chain of gourmet shops called ROB Alimentation;
in Brussels there is one at Boulevard Chaussee Ixelles 9. (telephone 513.39.10).
Mandarine Napoleon and Elixir d'Anvers are both about $12 for a three-quarter-liter
bottle, while Elixir de Spa is $14 for the same size bottle.
- In Brussels, one bar that serve liqueurs by the glass is the Drug Opera (Rue
Gretry 53; 218.18.37). Any of the three liqueurs costs $5.50 a glass.
- In Antwerp, De Pelgrom (Pelgrom Straat 15; 234.08.09) serves liqueurs at $2.65
a glass. At this bar a bit of chocolate is served with the Elixir d'Anvers, to
bring out the flavor of the drink. At De Pelgrom, one can also buy (for a dollar)
the small glass in which the liqueur is served. T. J. Jr.
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Exploring Chateaus Of the Meuse Valley
By THEODORE JAMES JR.
Published: June 12, 1988
IN Belgium, the Meuse is a river of two faces. The stretch from the French border
passes Dinant with its ancient citadel perched like an aerie overlooking the town.
Then it flows on to Namur, through some of the most beautiful countryside in
Belgium. Here the riverbanks are lined with summer villas, chateaus, inns,
outdoor cafes and towering cliffs. Pleasure craft, some towing water-skiers and
excursion boats, ply the water along with heavy-duty barges and other commercial
craft. Fishermen along the banks and in rowboats haul in trout, pike, carp, bream,
eel and tiny fresh-water lobsters called ecrivisses.
Between Dinant and Namur there are five locks, attractions in themselves. At Namur,
the river joins the Sambre and widens as it flows east past the ancient cities
of Huy and Liege, crossing into the Netherlands, where it ultimately pours into
the North Sea. This stretch is far less picturesque, lined with industrial complexes
and factories, in short, a no-nonsense, hard-working waterway.
For centuries the Meuse Valley has been a pawn in power struggles between the
great powers of Europe, spurring the erection of fortified castles, often upon
ancient Roman ruins, during the Middle Ages. Later, manor houses were built and,
during the last 300 years, many titled and not so titled affluent Belgians built
elaborate chateaus. Today many are open to the public.
The chateau country of the Meuse is relatively unexplored turf. Tour companies
aren't yet busing visitors in from Brussels in droves and guides do not hold out
their hands for gratuities. In some chateaus, your guide may be the lord of the
manor, the chatelaine or another member of the family. Compared with the palaces
of kings in the Loire Valley in France, the Belgian chateaus are modest. You won't
experience too much art, too much fine furniture and too many rosebushes, for
these were built, furnished and landscaped on a human scale and remain so. In
many cases, they are still inhabited by families whose ancestors built them.
The best way to tour is by car. Allow two days, the first covering Namur south
to Dinant, the second the countryside along the Namur-Liege arm of the river.
The recommended first stop is the Château d'Annevoie in Profondeville,
about a mile away from the riverside village of Wepion, strawberry capital of
Belgium.
Although the 18th-century Louis XV-style graystone chateau and furnishings at
Annevoie are surely worth your time, the water gardens are the real attraction,
one of the most romantic settings in Belgium. This paradise of flowers, ancient
trees and cascading water was created by Charles-Alexis de Montpellier during
the late 18th century, 100 years after Andre Le Notre laid out Versailles. It
is a harmonious blend of formal French, romantic Italian and informal English
garden styles unified by a network of fountains, cascades, canals, pools, waterfalls
and grottoes. And although the succeeding nine generations of de Montpelliers,
down to the current scion, Jean de Montpellier, have added their own touches,
to a great extent the design remains true to the original.
DE MONTPELLIER'S inspiration was the Tivoli Gardens in Rome, with its mysterious
hidden gardens and gushing fountains operated by gravity. He had also visited
Versailles, the now defunct Marly gardens, also designed by Le Notre, and the
great gardens of England. A system of reservoirs feeds water into conduits that
channels into a descending system of fountains and other water spectacles. Gravity
creates the pressure, without pumps or machines. Annevoie was the first water
garden of its kind in northern Europe and remains today the only one in that part
of the Continent operated by gravitational pressure.
Once you've passed through the towering wrought-iron entrance gate, the fantasy
of gurgling, splashing and gushing water envelops you. At every turn there are
such enchanting surprises as Italianate grottos dedicated to Neptune or peopled
with amusing stone dwarfs. There is a large reflecting pool fed by bronze dolphins
flanked by the Giants' Walk; a planting of 200-year-old purple beeches; a series
of descending fountains, the only one of its kind in Europe, and, at the end of
the tour, a two-tiered cataract that spills into an octagonal pool with a towering
flume, then a fan fountain culminating in another waterfall.
Beyond are the recently added descending tiers of fountains and symmetrical parterres
of flowers, not quite successful, but intended as a concession to tourism, according
to Jean de Montpellier. ''Tourists love lots of flowers, so we have had to install
them,'' he said. During July and August the gardens are illuminated and open at
night. The next chateau to visit is Spontin, about a half-hour drive along
the Meuse, and then through the surrounding hills and valleys. The countryside
here is an amalgam of forests and farmland, planted with wheat, hops and golden-flowered
colza, whose seeds produce an ultrafine oil used in such delicate mechanisms as
watches. En route, you'll pass through a scarlet poppy-strewn Bruegelian landscape
dotted with castle farms, ubiquitous in Belgium. Since there are more castles
per square mile in Belgium than anywhere else in Europe, far too many to preserve
as national monuments, many ancient keeps and castles are simply used as barns
by the farmers who own them.
Spontin is Belgium's oldest inhabited castle, complete with dungeon, turrets,
drawbridge and a moat, a quintessential evocation of a fairy tale fantasy.
As you enter the court, you'll pass through a monumental gate with details dating
from the 12th through 15th centuries. Then you cross the moat that surrounds the
castle section. You can operate the drawbridge if you wish. Just beyond is the
keep, which houses a library with a 15th-century Gothic fireplace and 16th-century
boiseries, a collection of weapons, some 17th-century furnishings and a 16th-century
printing plate. The rest of the castle, dating primarily from the late 16th through
17th centuries, contains an eclectic collection of museum quality furnishings
and art, including an ivory Christ by the 17th-century artisan Francois Duquesnoy.
All was assembled by the succeeding generations and descendants of the Beaufort-Spontin
family, who inhabited the castle until 1986, when it passed into English hands.
About a mile away in the village of Dorinne is Le Vivier d'Oies, a country
inn with one Michelin star, owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Godelet-Peters,
an ideal stop for lunch. Here you can dine on Meuse River ecrivisse and asparagus
in custard, eel in cream herb sauce or sweetbreads in port wine. And, once you've
finished , second helpings are served.
After lunch, head for Veves in the village of Celles, to the south of Spontin.
This castle, another multiturreted fantasy, is perched on a hill, its medieval
mien maintained inside as well as without. Originally built during the 7th century
by Pepin de Herstal, great-grandfather of Charlemagne, the present structure dates
from the 13th century. Twenty years ago the castle was in disrepair, but efforts
by the family and government have restored it.
Military history buffs in particular will find Veves of interest, for the main
attraction is the collection of Renaissance armor in the armorial hall and the
watercolors of military uniforms worn through the ages by members of the Liederkerke-Beaufort
family, owners of the structure. Unique in Belgium is the genealogical library
and the heraldic engraving collection. Should your antecedents come from Belgium
or France, and you wish to research your family history, you need only write or
phone for an appointment to use the comprehensive archives (Genealogy Department,
Noisy 5561, Celles, Belgium; 66.63.93). The castle also contains an impressive
collection of Sevres porcelains, an 18th-century Aubusson tapestry and much Louis
XV furniture, all set in elegant rooms of appropriate style.
On the return trip to the Namur environs, follow the west bank of the Meuse. On
the way, near the village of Freyr, is a promontory upon the cliffs where you
can view the entire Meuse Valley. Adjacent to the vantage point is a steep cliff,
a challenge to the many mountain climbers you will see testing their courage and
skill.
Next day, head west out of Namur beyond Huy toward Liege. Just beyond Huy is Aigremont,
a two-story rose-brick, early 18th-century chateau, built on a steep cliff overlooking
the Meuse. Aigremont is one of only three chateaus out of over 100 in Belgium
that is owned and maintained by the Royal Association of Historic Houses. Like
the other chateaus visited, Aigremont has its own particular character, in this
case a near-perfectly preserved 18th-century interior as well as exterior. The
foyer wall surrounding an intricate, monumental staircase was painted in trompe
l'oeil style in 1720 and has never been restored. Nor has the 18th-century ceiling
rendered in the style of the Italian master Tiepolo. A clock in one of the anterooms
has been ticking for several hundred years and has never been repaired. The Delft-style
tiles were made in 18th-century Liege. All furnishings, chandeliers, fireplaces
and mantles, floors, carpets and boiserie are 18th century.
FOR lunch, you might return to L'Aigle Noir hotel-restaurant in Huy. Specialties
are fish prepared in classic Belgian manner.
Plan on spending the rest of the afternoon at Jehay-Bodegnée, a
most unusual and highly personal chateau. The present structure, with its strikingly
original checkerboard facade made of white and brown stone, dates from the 15th
century. Within lie attractions that are diverse to the point of being amusing.
The grand old man who owns the chateau is 82-year-old Count Guy van den Steen,
an inveterate archeologist, collector and internationally known sculptor. Years
ago he began excavations on his property, uncovering Roman ruins in the courtyard
and, in the bowels of the castle, Lacustrine, Celtic, Roman, Gallic and Carolingian
remains. He has installed an extraordinary museum of archeology and paleontology
in the vaulted Gothic cellars. The collection, with many artifacts discovered
on the grounds of the chateau, numbers in the thousands, spanning more than 30,000
years of history. Included are dressed flints of the Grimaldi and Gravetian eras,
human skulls, tools, arrowheads and jewels from paleolithic and mesolithic burial
mounds, neolithic ceramics, glassware of the early middle ages and, perhaps the
most bizarre, an ancient musical instrument made from a human tibia.
The collections in the chateau are vast: ivories, wood-carvings, ceramics, jewels,
watches, stamps, cameos, coins, snuffboxes, tapestries, Gothic through 18th-century
furnishings, paintings of Bruegel, Tintoretto, Murillo, Ribera, Giordano and others.
The 300-piece silver collection spans three centuries.
The Count's own artistic contributions are seen in the garden, where he has installed
extensive wrought-iron work of his own design, rare trees, fountains, cascades
and many of his whimsical bronzes, such as his sleeping Venus reposed in the middle
of a pool, usually covered with ducks who find her voluptuous form a perfect place
to bask in the sun. A VISITOR'S GUIDE TO CHATEAUS
Chateaus
Following is a guide to chateaus in the Meuse Valley. The exchange rate used was
$1 to 36.1 Belgian francs. The area code is 32.
Aigremont. Open from Easter to Oct. 31, every day except Monday, from 10 to 12
and from 2 to 6. It is advisable to call in advance. Admission $1.70, children
under 12, 50 cents. Telephone 41.36.16.87.
Annevoie. Gardens: March 30 to Nov. 3 every day from 9 to 7. Guided visits from
May 1 to Aug. 31, on request in April, September and October. Castle: from Easter
to June 30 and Sept. 1 to 30 on weekends and holidays from 9:30 to 1 and from
2 to 6:30. In July and August open daily the same hours. Admission, gardens only,
$3.90, castle only $2.50, both $4.70. Admission for children, gardens only, $1.95,
castle only $1.25, both $2. 35.82.61.15.55.
Jehay. May 1 to Sept. 15 weekends and holidays from 2 to 6. Admission $4.15, children
under 6 free. 85.31.17.16.
Spontin. Year-round from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. Admission $2.80. 83.69.91.93 or 69.93.06.
Veves. Easter Sunday to Oct. 31 from 10 to 12 and 1 to 6. Admission $2.80, seniors
and students $2.20, children from 6 to 15 $1.65. 82.66.63.93.
Hotels and Food
This is a sampling of hotels and restaurants along the route.
Chateau de Namur (1 Avenue de l'Ermitage, Citadelle, 5000 Namur, Belgium; telephone
81.22.26.30 or 22.25.46). Rates: $24 single, $80 double, with Continental breakfast.
The Novotel (1149 Chaussee de Dinant, 5150 Wepion, Belgium; 81.46.08.11). Single
with view of Meuse River $73, single with view of garden $65, double with view
of Meuse $98, double, garden view, $86.
Le Vivier d'Oies (7 Rue de l'Etat, 5190 Dorinne; 83.69.95.71). The five-course
lunch is about $39 to $42 without wine, served from 12 to 2. Dinner 7 to 9. Closed
Tuesday night and Wednesday.
L'Aigle Noir Hotel-Restaurant (8 Quai Dautrebande, 5200 Huy; 85.21.10.64). Lunch
for two without wine costs about $37 to $44. Open every day for lunch and dinner.
Closed Wednesday for dinner. T. J.