Day 64...Belgium Beer Garden - 29th August

Woke up and had it out with the other guests for use of the shower (the trick is to keep your ear to the door, and when you hear it turn off = run in asap before anyone else can!)

We drove to Duvel, outside the factory where they make their beer. They do tours of their brewery but are booked months in advance. There was not much we could have done, as we didn't know even a week ago what day we would be there. Oh well! We had a poke around outside the brewery, then disappointed we pressed on. We drove into Brussels which is a shit of a city to navigate! The roads and maps don't match, and what makes it nice and impossible is that the signs and the maps have names in both French and Dutch. So flipping past a sign with two names isn't the best fun. In Belgium, they don't have their own language. The northern half, they all speak Dutch. The Southern half they all speak French. Brussels accomodated both of this with its signs. (But the moment we got out, everyone was speaking French) We gave up driving, so just stopped somewhere we could shove our car, and trained it around. It was pissing down with rain but we found a nice pub where Nate had a Trappist beer and one of the best steaks he's ever eaten. A Trappist beer, for those who aren't ofay with Belgium, is a beer that only applies to a beer brewed in a trappist monastery. The trappist are one of the most severe orders of monks, and have been brewing their beers since back in the day. There are six trappist breweries ever, 6 of which are in Belgium and one in Holland. Nate had the Westmalle beer and found it very fine indeed.

Brussels seemed a nice city which could be a fun explore, but as far as citys go, it was still a city and we were eager to get to the country. Also, most cities have your usual standard of hobos and beggars. Here for some reason though, every beggar was middle eastern. We couldn't figure that one out. And they kept having their kids perched on the ground next to them to elicit sympathy (none from me haha). So we meandered back to the train station and found a chocolatier on the way. Ahhh Belgium chocolates! Bugger the beer I say! They were called Neuhaus and they made the most exquisite hand made chocolates. They've been around since 1857 so they must be doing something right. The chocolates were all perched up on display trays with boxes and ribbons around them. I was enchanted. We picked a box and got her to pick a whole bunch, which she did with a white gloved hand and fine precision. Glorious. Weàve been since sharing 1 - 2 a day (and made it all the way down to the Pyrenees before finishing the box!) They are very lovely, and almost have a Nutella type taste, with a nice sweetness to them. We liked the sugar one, the pralines and the nougat. Go to their website ... www.neuhaus.be and have a look see. I am so looking into buying them online at home and getting them sent here, I don't CARE what it cost. yum.

After leaving Brussels, we headed to Chimay via Hoergarden to try and get into their brewery. They were closed. (What is it with Belgiums! They don't want you viewing their beer!) So we continued onto Chimay. (As we were driving down these country roads, there was a roadside building with a prostitute sitting in the window, like Amsterdam. Most odd.

The countryside was farmlandy and green (though not as green as Holland!) and very nice. We were heading to Chimay as it is a trappist monastery and also makes cheeses. Nate has drunk a bit of it at home, and was quite eager to take a look. We got there and it was closed (surprise) but we checked the details for the next day, as they are one of the few places we found that take visitors. Satisfied with that, we searched the local area for accomodation. Chimay the town was dead, but we saw a sign with a picture of a bed and forks (hotel and restaurant) so we followed it. And followed it....and followed it!! It took us out into farmland, then through a forest, and then through more farmland. We began to joke that it was a trap and we would be killed by Belgian bandits. Each time we were beginning to think we were lost - the sign would appear again to direct us! It was getting a matter of principle to find the damn thing. And boy, are we glad we did! It turned out it was the official Chimay guesthouse, which is in the old original brewery (while the new big one is in production up the road). I thought that was beter than the tour tomorrow, to be in the actual brewery that began! The old monks brewing their beer way back when...

We fenagled the last bed available, and it was so cool to stay where the monks used to orignally make their beer and cheese. Nate was wrapt. We were in a nice big room which stank of cheese, at the end of an upstairs hallway filled with Chimay memorabilia. Cool. We went downstairs into the restaurant which had big glass windows of the dark green farmland. We watched the cows as it got dark, and the clouds flashing with lightening in the distance. It was lovely. We ate their cheese and drank their Chimay (Nate ended up drinking all four varietals that night, I only did one). For dinner, it was totally delightful. Nathan had the local region speciality which ende dup being a massive pork leg. He almost made himself sick eating himself full it tasted so good. I ate a very delicious duck and we retired to bed absolutely stuffed. We watched the Exorcist dubbed in French and went to bed.