Happy Hallowe'en

Well, it's almost 11:00 pm here in Brussels so we're all hunkered down for a quiet Hallowe'en night. Our week of holidays was an eventful one, so we only arrived back home this morning, and had a lot of work to do to get ourselves settled back in. Maggie has just left for a weekend in Amsterdam, for more "professional development" (a pretty good gig if you ask me) and it's a boys' weekend here at Avenue de Visé 26: that means moules frites for dinner and movies in the evenings. Tonight it was "Ducktales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp", but there's lots more in the vault ready for viewing, including some classic Disney, such as "The reluctant Dragon" (1941) and one I've been waiting for for a while, 1971's "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" with Angela Lansbury... you can't neglect the classics if you're trying to educate your kids properly...

Anyway, speaking of holidays, a brief précis of our week away reads as follows: Saturday to Glons/Liège, Monday to Spa, Monday evening to Reims, then Wednesday morning to Chateau-Thierry, Epernay, L'Epine and finally Nancy, Thursday evening to Glons, then Friday morning back home to Brussels.


In more detail, we started out Saturday morning in our BMW 3 series touring car, courtesy of AVIS, and headed from the loft in Glons to Spa, where we planned to spend time at the hot springs, but instead had a rather rude awakening, discovering only in the lineup to enter that children under five were not admitted.

Needless to say Duncan was very upset, not to mention, Maggie; you'da thunk Christmas was cancelled, but we solidered on, and tried the public pools, only to find that they were closed on Mondays. After a restorative drink of hot chocolate (boys) coffee (Maggie) and Bobeline (Matthew) we felt a little better, and resolved to visit the Monopole SPA water bottling factory but bizarrely, it was also closed to tours for the better part of a week. We took this as a sign from heaven that we were to push on to Reims, so we shook the dust of Spa from our feet, drove the two hours to Reims, checked into our hotel, then walked about in search of a place to eat.


The next morning a tour of the Taittinger champagne cellars was our first stop, and we enjoyed a fabulous tour, exploring a number of different chambers hewn out of the chalk, some begun by the Romans two thousand years ago. The guide was very friendly and clear, answering the childrens' questions with equal gravity as she did those of the adults, and we were very lucky to witness some unusual work in the rebottling room, where the sediments from the second fermentation are frozen and removed; since they were doing this for magnums of champagne, the work was done by hand, and bottles were sealed and resealed with corks instead of with metal caps.

We next visited the Basilica St. Remi and then walked back to the cathedral, and went shopping for a demi-bouteille of champagne for lunch from a small producer (a great value when you are in the region). After a picnic lunch, we went to the Piper-Heidsieck cellars, but found, instead of a factory, a large hole in the ground, as they are in the process of relocating their business, and had no cellar tours on offer.


Instead we visited the Reims cathedral, big enough that it has its own weather - with gorgeous windows, including some by Marc Chagall - followed by a tour of the Palace de Tau, originally an archbishop's palace and now a museum, filled with staggering tapestries and statuary. That evening we ended up heading to Le Gaulois, a local pub, for a coupe de champagne, followed by a flavourful venison stew and a demi-pichet of inexpensive rosé.

Wednesday was a full day, involving a visit first to Chateau-Thierry, the birthplace of Jean de la Fontaine, an author of a great many fables for children. Malcolm is currently memorizing the fable of the fox and the raven as a part of his schoolwork, so it was quite interesting for him. We also explored the ruins of the castle above the town (see photo below) and had a picnic lunch before heading out for Epernay.


In Epernay, we toured the Mercier cellars, and saw the great cask that Mercier presented at the Paris exhibition of 1889, which held 20,000 bottles of his champagne. It was dragged to Paris by 24 oxen, requiring five bridges along the route to be strengthened and the purchase and demolition of several houses in order to allow its passing. The cellar tour was also interesting, although a bit more industrial than our earlier tour. We did puchase a couple of bottles of the Mercier champage, a rosé and a reserve, both quite good value.


Then we piled back into the car for a trip to L'epine for a browsing of a wine merchant there, but not before stopping at a small producer, Bauchet Pere et Fils, and stocking up on six bottles each of the brut rosé and the Millésime 2000; the total was about 200 euros, or on average 16.66 EUR/ 25 CAD per bottle, a good sight better than the cheapest champagne to be had here in the Delhaize at around 20 EUR per bottle, and much better than the 45 or 50 CAD you'd pay in Canada.

We continued to Nancy, and stayed in a lovely place called the Hotel Guise, inexpensive yet ideally located, and very charming, furnished very tastefully with antiques, with special emphasis on Gallé Art Nouveau glass. We dined at a comfortable Turkish restaurant just down the street on La Grande Rue called "La Pacha du Bosphore", run impossibly well by a single waiter/chef/bartender, and it was fabulous. Lamb, grilled meats, hot pots and other Turkish delicacies, cooked in a wood oven. A bit too "slow food" for the kids, as we didn't sit down until after 8:00, and weren't starting on our food until after 9:00, but if you are in Nancy it is worth a taste.

The next morning it was off to see the Musee Historique Lorrain, followed by a trip to the Daum factory, and then lunch at a local brasserie. We headed next up the street to the Musee de L'ecole de Nancy, which was really a discovery. Coming from Brussels, we are accustomed to Art Nouveau, since Victor Horta and his contemporaries produced many examples of their art in architecture, including mosaics, wrought-iron, glass, and sgrafittes that are visible in our neighborhoods to this day. Nonetheless this museum knocked both Maggie and I completely flat. The work of Emile Galléis is staggeringly beautiful, as is that of his contemporaries, Louis Majorelle and Victor Prouvé. As the Fodor guidebook said, there isn't a right angle in the place; everything looks organic, and melted, softened to curves instead of straight lines.


The Masson dining room by Vallin (see the photo above) completely blew our minds, it is a must-see for anyone interested in the Art Nouveau movement. After filling up on the fantastic pieces there, we had little hunger to see anything else in Nancy, and headed back to Glons for a relaxed evening before coming home to Brussels this morning.

I'm sure Maggie will have lots to blog about on Monday when she gets back from Amsterdam.

Happy Hallowe'en to one and all!

Blog 0.5: the "book"

As our computer had some trouble this past week and was banished to the silicon sanitarium for a cure, I had to resort to blogging the old-fashioned way: with my notebook. I've kept a journal intermittently since the early 1990s but have been religious about it since my summer 2004 trip to Europe; since then I'm on volume #6, and the last five have all been filled since February 2007. Obviously I've had a lot more time to reflect and to write living here than in Toronto, and reflection is both essential to an artist's life and in short supply in general terms in our modern world. The notebook is one way to make reflection a part of one's daily routine, as is this blog.

So let's see; we're most of us down with colds at the moment, affecting our voices to differing degrees. Duncan is almost completely hoarse, but that hasn't stopped him finding a new girlfriend at school: "Luisa" and he were married yesterday, he tells me, and when I dropped him off at the garderie they were holding hands and giggling together. (This affectionate romantic phase will soon pass I'm sure, to be replaced by the "ewww, girls are GROSS" period, one which Malcolm is in the midst of, apparently. There are signs that we are coming close to a truce, however, and some sound diplomatic progress has been made; he is polite to Lara during her visits; he has a female pen pal in Devon who he is very pleased to be corresponding with, and he made a comment yesterday about a certain kind of language being "the kind of thing you wouldn't say if you wanted to invite a girl around to tea". "Civility" is all we're aiming for at the moment, and he's meeting that requirement). Malcolm seems fine except for some coughing in the evening, and Maggie had the sniffles earlier but seems to have escaped the worst of this bug. I'm better voice-wise, although still very scratchy. Not much singing going on right now, except in my imagination.

Instead I've been a bit of a bargain hunter and a "bricoleur", finding things and fixing them up for the apartment. I found this antique brass chandelier being thrown out near the school:


and after wrestling with rewiring it, getting new sockets and other assorted bits, managed to restore it to use over our dining room table:


I was so pleased to get that done that I went ahead and ordered myself one of the best charcoal barbeques I've ever seen: a Barbecook grill. Our friend Jean-Remy had one and I admired it a lot, and I said at the time that as soon as I got my first opera contract here I was going to buy one.


I wasn't back from Cork more than a week or two before I had completed my research. I didn't go crazy and purchased the cheapest one they make, but it's still got the same type of fire-lighting system that they all use: two or three sheets of newspaper and you have coals ready to go in 15 minutes. Maggie prefers the convenience and ease of use of a gas grill, but they are incredibly expensive here (400 euros +) and the propane isn't readily available.

Curious about how it works? Watch the video here. Notice the smile on that guy's face? Look familiar?

This weekend is the beginning of a week of holidays leading up to All Saints' Day, so I think we're going to head down to Glons to say hi to the Cloes, maybe hit the Tongres antique market, and then head south to France; visit Reims and tour the Champagne region, and maybe head to Metz or Trier. Maggie has a school trip next weekend, so we'll have to be back by Friday, but that should give us enough time. I'm not sure how far south we can get, but we'll do some planning tonight, and we're going to rent a car starting on Saturday morning for the week.

Talk to you later!

A beautiful day of Thanksgiving

It's been a busy last few days. Maggie's parents arrived on Friday from Amsterdam; they've been on a Netherlands trip for more than a week, and are here for a five or six-day visit. We've had a great time catching up with the news of their adventures, and showing off our new apartment. Last night they helped us organize a big cocktail party for Maggie's birthday (but I'll let her blog about that herself), and enjoyed meeting all of our Brussels friends and celebrating with us.

Today we went off in different directions; Maggie, her parents and Duncan headed to the Place Gilson Sunday market, which is fabulous, and Malcolm and I stayed home for a bit. He painted while I sang through a couple arias, and then we headed out to catch the GB grocery before it closed at noon, to pick up a few things, then headed to the Hippodrome de Boitsfort where I've heard there is a brocante every second Sunday of the month. We are still on the lookout for all sorts of things to continue furnishing the house, but even if you aren't actually looking for anything specific it pays to poke around these flea markets just to keep up on what sorts of things they have. You can sometimes get some fantastic bargains if they don't quite know the value of the stuff they're selling...

Unfortunately there wasn't a brocante in sight, so Malcolm and I were about to walk home when we spotted the sign for the Brussels Golf Club, and decided to take a look, hoping that the visit wouldn't be totally wasted. It proved to be a great idea: Malcolm and I rented a couple of clubs and hit a bucket of balls on the driving range, and got the details on green fees. It turns out that when the old Hippodrome shut down, someone bought the land and built a nine-hole golf course, range, putting green and clubhouse on it. It was fairly cheap, and there are four golf pros there (one Canadian) offering private and group lessons for kids and adults. They play here all year round, and it's fairly inexpensive, although you need to take a test and get your "authorized golfer" card before they'll let you on a course in Europe.

I forgot to mention the weather today that made it so beautiful; we started out in sweaters but were soon in t-shirts and jeans. The sky is a gorgeous blue, and it's still and quite warm, well over 20 degrees.

Duncan has a friend over for a play date this afternoon, his buddy Valentin, and you should hear the three of them chattering away... Duncan operates like a native speaker in French, it's really amazing to hear. Maggie's on the back terrace ironing in the sunshine, and her parents are having a little lie down. I'm drinking a small Jupiler and having a little snack; in a few minutes I'll start prepping for tonight's Thanksgiving dinner: leg of lamb, green beans, carrots and potatoes (I couldn't find a turkey but no problem; lamb is always yummy!).

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Day off yesterday

There was a general strike yesterday, and although I could have taken the boys to school and let them play in the garderie, I decided to keep them home with me. Fortunately the weather cleared in the afternoon, and we pumped up the boys' new football (a WILSON!) took a little walk past the 10th-century church around the corner, and played in the park nearby.

What is interesting is that the park borders on a river, and there is a large wooded enclosure that has at least one large male deer living in it... the boys were excited to discover this new place to play. Just across the road is another park, with a big fishpond, and more climbing equipment, so there are in fact lots of places where they can get out of the house and have some fun.

Today I'm going to run some errands, and then head out to Tervuren, where a British woman has some furniture to sell (including a couple of beds and a large armoire) that should pretty much set us up completely. Maggie's parents arrive in another few days and it would be nice to have the place fully equipped in advance of their visit. This afternoon I have some time to myself and will do some singing and some audition requests, to keep my momentum rolling, and maybe do a little bicycle shopping. Without a car, a good bike makes a big difference.

Maggie's birthday is early next week and we'll be celebrating it here on Saturday evening with a cocktail and nibblies party. I think we'll have room for everyone; I certainly hope so!

back home in Brussels

It's a rainy Sunday, and we're all in our apartment together... the weather is looking a bit better so perhaps it will clear up later on and we can escape to the outdoors. I hope we'll get some sunlight and maybe duplicate the Irish rainbow I mentioned seeing in Limerick (see above).

Yesterday we went to a brocante or street sale around the corner, and picked up a few things: a light fixture for the boys' bedroom, a sweater for Malcolm, some bowls, and a sideboard in flamed oak, with two doors with art-nouveau inspired marquetry, two drawers, and a really beautiful warm brownish-grey marble top for a very inexpensive price.

We've been thinking carefully about additional furniture for this place, and have have also found a desk for the boys' room; our neighbors have a couple of armoires on offer. A bed for us and a desk for our room will likely do the trick. For the moment I can use the virtual piano that comes with my computer, but I do need to get a keyboard of some sort both for my own practice and so that Duncan can hammer away at his original songs, and potentially continue with the piano practice we started last year.

The boys liked the presents I brought them: two Munster rubgy jerseys. Munster were the winners of the 2008 Heineken Cup and so were became Champions of Europe for the second time. The Corkonians are understandably proud of this, so I thought it an appropriate present, and brought the boys home and away jerseys.


If the weather tomorrow is poor, it will be like a rugby pitch in here; there is a trade union day of action planned for tomorrow, and while the school will provide garderie (daycare) they suggested that we not send children to school. Given that I've been away for a month I'll keep them home with me and we'll spend time together, but I do hope that we can get out at one point during the day.

Maggie will be blogging later; be sure and check out her next post here.

Farewell to the Emerald Isle

The opera performance in Limerick last night went very well, and the stage management was to be congratulated: despite significant differences in the layout of the theatre (this one was a concert hall and had no proper wings, different entrances, much reduced dressing facilities and minimal set) no one missed a cue or a prop or an entrance in Limerick. Still, it was a very long day for everyone, and the company had to bring in another tenor to sing the part of the king from the pit, while our tenor lip-synched the words. It actually worked quite well; our tenor was a very good sport, and it's really too bad that he got as sick as he did; the second night performance was really thrilling, and we all would have loved to have him finish it out. As it was it was a team effort, and very well-received by the audience.

After a pleasant after-show celebration in the hotel involving lots of pizza and Heineken, I crashed out around 3am, but still was up in plenty of time to meet with the stage manager and Simon (the Renato) for breakie at 9:30, and see them off. Then I went for an exploration of the town of Limerick, located on the river Shannon. I walked the couple of km into the proper town, visited King John's castle, and climbed the tower just in time to snap a photo of the green hills in the distance and the river Shannon in the foreground, crowned by a double rainbow! How Irish is that?!

Then it was off to the post office to mail a last couple letters. I paid a visit to the Hunt Gallery, a private collection of artifacts that was donated to the state, articles from prehistory to early Irish, medieval, renaissance and modern artifacts, including a small DaVinci bronze, two picassos, and many other interesting bits. Quite a nice afternoon.

Now I'm in the Shannon airport, waiting to fly out. The place is absolutely crawling with USAF personnel in camouflage, it's interesting. Not sure why they're here, but apart from them, there aren't many other passengers, so it should be a quiet flight.

Bye!