Beer & Cheese

July 3, 2010
Good Morning! We slept in after our late night. The Crutzen Clan, however, got up early and flew to Spain. Elia said that they would all sleep when they got to her father’s place. What a busy week they had – two boys returning from a year away, company from the states, big party, packing for a holiday – I’m not sure how they held it all together.

Berangere arrived around 11:00, we finished packing, cleaning up our room, said adieu to the dog, and we were on our way to Chimay, France.

We had a terrific time in Chimay. We grabbed some lunch and then met her lovely parents in the “Grand Place” of Chimay. We then went to the Chateau de Chimay. It is unusual in that the royal family still lives there; in fact the royal princess, herself, gave us a tour. The tour was all in French – with lots of dates, people, and history that Berangere found difficult to translate. The palace was nice – especially the chapel, dinning hall, and the theatre which is a replica of the one at Fontainebleau. Evidently, music was a large part of life at the palace. Many of the motifs were musical, the princess talked about a person – long ago – who brought music and lessons to Chimay, and there were frequent concerts in the theatre. At then end of our tour, I shook the princess’s hand, said, “Merci”, and then patted the royal dog on the head.

Berangere’s father the head of the quality control laboratory of the Chimay fromagerie (cheese factory). He gave us an afterhours, behind the scene tour of the factory from milk to final product. It was fascinating! Poor Berangere – she had to translate everything he said about the cheese making process. Many of the technical words she did not know, however, having studied microbiology, Phil and I were able to figure out most of the scientific language. An Erlenmeyer flask is an Erlenmeyer flask in any language – just with a slightly different pronunciation. We really enjoyed the tour. We even got to wear really cool hair nets, gowns, and booties!

Chimay is known for two things – cheese and beer made by the Trappist monks. We went by the bottling factory and to the monastery to see where the beer is made. It is a very simple, peaceful place. The grounds are beautiful. Berangere’s father took us to the cemetery where the monks are buried and showed us the grave of the monk who taught him the art of cheese making.

The evening was capped off with dinner at the Auberge de Poteaupre which has the same name as the newest form of Chimay cheese (poteaupre). A lovely dinner was had by all. Berangere’s father even shared a bite of his eel with Phil and me. {I forgot to mention that we also ate ostrich at Bernards’s and dried horse meat at Portia’s - all interesting gastronomical delights!} We sampled several Chimay beers and Phil enjoyed some cheese as well.

Back at the Fortemps’ charming home, we were given a tour and then retired for a good night’s sleep. I’m sure Berangere was tired as well – she really worked overtime being our tour guide and translator. {Thanks, Berry!}


July 4, 2010 – Independence Day!
We had fun at breakfast naming everything we knew in French – fourchette (fork), couteau (knife) ,banane (banana), café (coffee), suchre (sugar), pamplemousse (grapefruit), lait (milk), etc. The Fortemps had fun listening to our accent. Berangere’s father has been taking English lessons. He is very shy about trying out the language – but named some simple nouns as well.

After breakfast, we went to see three WWII memorials. The most touching one for me was the one with the inscription, “On September 22, 1944 at 11 o’clock were killed here the first heroes of our liberation”. There were 12 to 15 grave sites of men, many of the Americans, who came to liberate the Belgians from German occupation. We also drove to the French border to see where the Americans entered Belgium during the liberation. Phil jumped back and forth into France / Belgium to say that he had been to France more than a dozen times. 

We returned to the Fortemps for a wonderful afternoon with Berangere’s family – mom, dad, grandmother, sister, sister’s boyfriend, and uncle. The weather was beautiful so the event was held outside under a wild cherry tree. Grandmother Fortemps briefly told some stories about her memories of the American soldiers coming to liberate them during 1944. She said that they were very glad to see them and that they brought chocolate bars and chewing gum. It was a great afternoon full of much eating, drinking, laughing, more eating, and playing petanque – the national game of Belgium and France! With a lucky come from behind victory, Berangere’s uncle and I beat Phil and Berangere 20 to 21! It was a lot of fun.

Phil and I left around 6:00 p.m. and headed SW toward Paris. We really enjoyed driving through the agricultural country side. It was so beautiful. We ended up staying at a hotel in Laon, France. Around 11:00 p.m. we heard fireworks. We went outside and saw a display far in the distance. Quietly, we sang the Star Spangled Banner as we celebrated our independence. It has been quite a while since we have been in the Ohio on the 4th of July. This will be one of the most memorable Independence Days.