CHIEVRES BELGIUM...OUR TOWN

Our town is old....very old. (I've added a link below that has a little history of the town) This is a picture of our church...Église St-Martin. Our house is on the other side.

When we got here it was all a blur. The jetlag, the kids, living in the hotel....it was all very intense. I thought it would be easier. I don't really know what we expected. But it has been a rough few months. I can easily say that it is as tough as deployment. But once we moved into the house in Chievres we felt at home......There are still a few bumps in the road but we're part of this community now and it feels nice. Sundays are very special for us. It is a day of rest in Chievres and we have embraced that as well. Americans are so used to go go go...lots to do and no time to do it. Eat alot and eat it fast. Shop 24 hours a day...wake up and go until you can't go anymore. It's all about convenience and alot of it.

Things don't go that way here. Dinner is long. They don't shovel. Their idea of fast food is a baguette , cheese...really good cheese, yummy sausages and a bottle of wine or beer. They like their beer. The Belgians chat and enjoy their company as well as their meal. The only thing they do fast is drive! But once they get where they are going they like to stay awhile and enjoy. Hours of operation are short and that is something we have had to get used to. But don't worry if you run out of bread and the market is closed....there is a Bread vending machine in front of the boulangerie (bread shop) that is stocked daily with fresh breads. It even keeps them warm...it's conveniant.

Our house is in this picture. It's white and next to the other white house with ivy growing from the window boxes. You can see our van in front. Our landlord and friend is in the white house with ivy and his wife is Brigite. They are very good to us and tollerate our noise. They say they can't hear us but the girls can get wicked loud and think they are just being nice. The other picture below is of the Grande Place where our house can still be seen as well as the church. To the left are some shops and a pub and on the right is a couple of eateries, banks and the city hall. It's very small. You could walk the entire center of town in 3 minutes. The town as a whole is larger but you could still walk it.

The people here are hard working and kind. Though we don't speak their language it hasn't stopped them from talking to us and making us feel at home. After church we head to our weekly outdoor market where we gather our fruit, bread, sausage, cheese, roaster chicken and potatos. But you don't just buy food here. The market is where you see friends, chat and again...stay awhile. We've made friends at our market and look forward to seeing them each week.

This is Alan our fruits and vegi's guy. He is a riot! There is a lot of shouting going on between the vendors....you would think they were arguing, but then they all erupt in laughter and you realize they are just giving each other a hard time and having fun with the customers! We get it now so we use our very little french and give it right back! It's great. We've learned that bread goes quick so sometimes I run over to the market before church by myself and grab a few baguette's and a couple of treats like waffles or cream puffs. After the market we take our loot and go home for a big feast. Meme is a fan of the rib and chicken bones...the larger ones of course, and we throw her a bone or two to keep her happy. She's become fond of berries but there's nothing better than slurping on an old bone. We've added a video clip below of her enjoying a bone...it's a typical Sunday thing for her but for first time viewers it's pretty funny!

It has become a routine for us and we quite look forward to Sundays just hanging out in our little village very much.

The girls love it and are very familiar with stinky cheese...in fact when we take pictures now they call out..."Stinky cheese". We always have enough leftover for dinner and anything extra finds its way into lunchboxes. After the feast we hunker down for the big family nap. The afternoon is usually just tinkering around the house and getting geared up for the week. So...who coming for dinner next Sunday?

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