If there ever is one town that truly embodies a sleepy town, I think it will be Bouillon, Belgium, at the end of summer. We got here late afternoon on Sunday and discovered that hardly anything is open. And in fact, also on Monday and Tuesday. The town is literally asleep. It drizzled pretty much the entire time. The air had a chill, but also had the pungent smell of fireplace smoke escaping through some chimneys. The houses are old yet they stand proud and strong like formidable old ladies with linked arms. Our residence for the last two nights was built back in the 1600s and inside are artifacts that could have been passed down from multiple generations. The town is rich in history in culture. A castle dating back to 1000 is proudly overlooking the town and Semois River.
What an idyllic place.
Monsieur Adam is our host and he gingerly prepared our petit dejeuner of fresh bread rolls, soft boiled eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice, an assortment of homemade jam, and coffee and tea every morning. We stopped at the boucherie yesterday to buy jambon and pate and had that for our breakfast as well. Monsieur Adam told us stories about the history of the place, the Spanish, French, German occupations (not necessarily in that order) and about life in Bouillon in general. I wouldn't know from looking at him, but the man can laugh.
I was taking some bags out to the car and walked through the alleyway next to the house. There were posters on the wall (in French) that I never paid attention to. I finally paused and with my pocket dictionary, I worked through every single word on this sign:
"The country of artists, artisans, writers, poets and those who dream. The country of 1,000 years of history, culture, of mysteries and legends."
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| Church of Peter and Paul |
Just as I was getting done, the church bells started chiming.
Oui, c'est la Bouillon.
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| Front stoop of la maison de Monsieur Adam |
(Written from the stoop of la maison Monsieur Adam)
P.S. More pictures are coming!
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| Our temporary cache pour deux jours dans Bouillon |
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