A welcoming family barbeque

Yesterday was quite an adventure. We decided to take a trip into Maastricht to visit their farmer's market. This was our first trip into Holland, apart from the brief stopover in the Amsterdam airport, and we found the profusion of ring roads and other highways around the city somewhat confusing, not to mention dutch-only signs... All I can say is that GPS is a godsend.


After taking a walk around the Maastricht square (unfortunately the market was closed by the time we got there, apparently it is a morning only thing) we bought some frites with mayo and shared them among the four of us. Then we headed back onto the highway to go to a barbeque hosted by Chi-chi and Nathalie, members of the Cloes extended family. Their four kids were fantastic, and our two enjoyed looking at the chickens and rabbits, and were particularly excited at seeing the newborn rabbits. They have a beautiful house within walking distance of the barn here in Glons, and we also saw Nathalie's brothers Cristophe and Jean-Remy, as well as our friends Jean and Chantal and Madame and Monsieur Cloes.

Language didn't seem to be a barrier for Malcolm, he was making some serious attempts to communicate in French, which was heartening, and Duncan and the six year old girl were inseparable. Maggie's French was surprising for me; she pulled several 98 cent verbs out of her hat over the course of the evening, and is set up to do some cooking with Madame Cloes tomorrow in preparation for another family meal. I also had a chance to speak more in French, and it really is starting to come back.

Today we are heading into Brussels to visit with the family whose house we will be renting after the 7th of September. That should be an exciting trip; we are expected there at 5:00 but will probably try to go early so we can poke around the city a bit first.

More to come soon!