A "Lille" more of France

The Saturday before last, we spent the day in Lille, France -- the birthplace of General Charles de Gaulle.

The town's center or "Grand-Place" (officially called La Place du General de Gaulle) was beautiful. Doesn't come close to the magnificence of the Grand-Place in Brussels (not sure any others will), but it still is a town worth stopping at. After strolling through the town center and its surrounding area, we stopped for lunch at a brasserie called Cafe Le Paris. Although we haven't practiced our French in quite some time (we need to bone up), we ordered what we knew: poulet for the girls and entrecôte for Ray (chicken and ribeye steak). Our meals came accompanied with green salad, frites, and of course, french rolls. We enjoyed our lunch outdoors, enjoying the warm sun and watching the many people stroll by.

After picking up a map and city guide, we took a short walk through the "old-town" of Lille, passing such sights as the Vieille Bourse, Opera House and the Chambre de Commerce -- complete with its 76-metre high belfry.

We stopped at Patisserie Meert, an 18th century tea room (said to be one of General de Gaulle's favorites). It's store front had a beautiful display of cakes and pastries that were soo pretty to look at. (It reminded me of an episode on "Sex and the City", where Miranda was admiring the beautiful cakes in the window, went in to buy one, but was shocked when she was about to be charged $80 for it). The individual pastries were not nearly as expensive as that, but I opted not to buy any. How could I, when there was a creme-glacee (ice cream) cart right outside?! Ooh-la-la, and it was so delish!!

Although I wanted to see a "lille" more of Lille (I couldn't resist), our day ended when PS told us in her charming (!!!) way that it was time to go home...

Another day in Paradisio...

Each year, the city of Mons re-creates the Battle of Lumecon -- a 4th century medieval folklore legend, where a Christian knight saves a princess whose kingdom was held hostage by an evil dragon. After the dragon is slain by the knight, the city of Mons is saved and enjoys good luck for yet another year...

After reading about this event, we decided to check it out. We almost made it. Even before we approached the city center, we noticed the huge crowd and suddenly realized how popular this event was going to be.

There was not a single parking spot to be found for miles around – every conceivable spot was taken. Knowing that Ray would never give up looking for a spot to park (for my benefit), I elected to give up the dragon and let Mons battle it out on its own. (Maybe we can give it another go next year, Ray?)

Luckily, with all the reading I've been doing, I knew Parc Paradisio was nearby. It was a no-brainer that the girls would love this alternative. Paradisio is an animal park most famous for its 3,000+ birds. Located on the grounds of a 12th century Cistercian abbey, this 134 acre park was filled with over 50 varieties of trees, a river, an old abbey tower and thousands of plants and flowers. Just walking through the beautiful grounds was quite lovely (yes, we are beginning to talk like Europeans!) The animal residents were an added bonus. One of the highlights was "monkey island" where cute little monkeys would jump on you as you walked by. Although DS and PS did not like the idea of monkeys crawling on them, it led to a HUGE challenging playground which made up for it and entertained the entire family. The park is also home to Nautilus, one of the most interesting and unique aquariums we've seen thus far. Located inside a 19th-century chateau, it was an underwater world inspired by science-fiction writer Jules Verne (remember those reading assignments at school?)

And I must mention the birds-of-prey show, featuring eagles, condors and vultures that fly just (barely) above the heads of the spectators. The birds were beautiful! Although it was really something to see these birds up close, it was sad to see these magnificent creatures chained to their little "houses" while they were not performing.

Although we did not have the chance to fight the evil dragon in Mons, we did get to experience our day in "paradisio" – sorry, I couldn’t resist!

"What Do You Miss Most About Home???"

During dinner this evening, I posed this question to Jo Ann and the girls. After a few moments of discussion, here are the answers that we came up with:

DS: Art Classes, Grandpa and Grandma.

PS: Grandpa, Grandma and Miss Terri. (PS' pre-school teacher in CA)

Jo: "Girls' Night Out" with her gal-pals back in CA

Me: I miss my garage... I knew where everything was and actually had room to park cars inside!

Aside from a few miscellaneous things, the list is pretty short. It has been amazing how well the girls and I have adapted to our new surroundings. Of course, we all miss our friends and family, but surprisingly, nobody has had any issues with missing the CA weather, food or things that we used to do.

I'll ask everyone again in a few more months and see what happens...

Business Trips (no, it really is Business...)

I am fortunate that my assignment in Europe allows me the opportunity to visit many different countries where Toyota has business interests. Part of my assignment is to see how things operate in different regions of Europe.

Recently, I made a couple of business trips that have let me check off a few more countries off my list. Actually, it was one more country than I had anticipated...

In late April, I joined a Lexus dealer visit to Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. When Communist rule of Czechoslovakia dissolved in the early 90's, the country was split into two: Slovakia and The Czech Republic.

Slovakia has since undergone some dramatic changes, and you only have to just look around to witness it. Flashy new shopping centers are built next to drab gray, ex-Communist facilities.

My travelling buddy, Zsolt, surprised me by getting us lost. And not just by only a little bit...
Heading back to Vienna to catch our flight home, we must have made a wrong turn somewhere. As we crossed the border, we are shocked to find ourselves not in Austria, but in Hungary!!!

A day does not pass where I don't remind him of this. And the funny thing is that he is Hungarian!!!

Thankfully, my next trip to Oslo, Norway was without incident. Especially, since I was travelling with a new boss.


Oslo is about a two-hour flight from Brussels, and is one of the Scandinavian countries, just due east across the North Sea from the UK. When I think of Scandinavia, I think of long hours of sunlight or darkness, depending on the season.

And boy, was I right! We walked out of the restaurant from dinner at 9:00PM and it looked like 4PM in the afternoon. That evening, I woke up at 3:30AM to peek outside and it was getting light already!!!

Norway is a beautiful country with friendly people and a very relaxed atmosphere. Even the staff at the Toyota office I visited seemed to be so relaxed and laid back!

I will be making a few more visits to Norway during my assignment in Europe, and really looking forward to them. I will try to bring the girls along on the next trip and make it an extended weekend.

However, one of the things I saw at dinner was an entree called "Reindeer Rudolph". I'll just have to make sure that I don't traumatize the girls by ordering that dish...

Mother's Day in Durbuy

Since Belgium doesn't celebrate Mother's Day, Ray and the girls could have just let May 11th pass like any other day, but instead, they were sweet enough to indulge me... So, we spent the day in a small town called Durbuy. Durbuy is not just any small town - it was once known as the smallest city in the world until 1977, when it fused its borders with neighboring villages.

A 1-1/2 hour drive from Tervuren and located in the Belgium province of Luxembourg, this charming town had lots of old houses, cobblestone streets and a beautiful setting next to a steep cliff rock (La Falize) on the banks of the Ourthe River. It was founded during the 11th century around a castle constructed by the Count of Luxembourg.

We arrived right around lunch time, so first on our agenda was to grab a bite to eat. We walked to a large courtyard filled with brasseries, cafes, chocolatiers, and quaint shops. Due to the beautiful warm sunny day, all the outdoor tables of almost every restaurant were filled with people enjoying their meals and just soaking up the sun. So, we joined the crowd and decided to eat at La Brasserie Ardennaise. My scampi and fresh rasberry salad accompanied by a glass of red wine was the perfect mother's day lunch.

After lunch we decided to take a trolley bus tour which took us to a spot high enough to give us a great panorama view of the city.

We then took a stroll to the castle and crossed the bridge overlooking the Ourthe River. Several kayaks were coming down fast under the bridge -- all occupants having a great time. Hoping to join in on the fun, Ray went to see about renting a kayak. Unfortunately, the line was at least a 2-hour wait. So instead, we proceeded to take a leisurely walk down the backside of the town alongside the river and back to our car -- just in time before the time on our parking ticket ran out.

Thank you Ray, DS, and PS for a wonderful mother's day!! And, Happy Mother's Day to you, GM!

Labor Day Weekend comes early to Europe

Labor Day is celebrated in Belgium on May 1st. And unlike the three-day weekend we get in the US, Belgians get four days! So, for our first extended "holiday" weekend in Europe, we decided to journey to London, England to celebrate the Labor Day Holiday...

To travel from the European "mainland" to the UK, you basically have three choices: By air, by sea or under the English Channel. My English mates at work suggested taking the ferry boat to the UK, so that we could see the Dover cliffs upon arrival, and return via the Eurotunnel, or channel tunnel. (No one here calls it the "Chunnel", as many Americans seem to know it by...)

Thursday morning (Day 1) is damp and rainy during our drive from Brussels to Calais, France, but the channel Gods must have been smiling down on us, because the weather cleared up just in time for our channel crossing. For about $150.00, the four of us and our Toyota Corolla Verso sailed from France to England in about an hour and a half. The ferry boat is large and modern with on board restaurants, arcades, lounges and viewing areas.

We brought a picnic lunch and found a nice table by the window to eat at. The girls were sooo excited with this new experience! As we neared England, we ventured outside to the ship's upper deck to get a better view of the white cliffs of Dover. The winds were very strong and we had to hold tight to the girls so they wouldn't fly away!

After arriving in Dover and heading out on the highway, we made the two hour road trip to our hotel, the Windsor Marriott. In the UK, we found it nice to be able to read all of the signs again. Speeds were again posted in MPH and distances were in miles and feet, instead of kilometers and meters. However, since they do drive on the opposite side of the road, there were a couple of occasions where I had to think twice about which lane to turn into...

On Day 2, we headed out to visit Legoland, in Windsor. Although the park is similar to the Legoland in Carlsbad, CA, there are many different rides and attractions that make this park unique. And unlike the park in Carlsbad, Legoland Windsor seems to have a lot more rides that PS can get on. In fact, she just barely passed the 0.9 meter height restriction (hey, what happened to inches?) In addition, there were several more food options at Legoland Windsor and the food there was very good.



Legoland was a full day for us and we were beat by the end of the day (at least Daddy was!). We spent a quiet night back at the hotel, preparing for Day 3.

We began the next day with a drive to nearby Slough station, where we jumped on the train to London Paddington station. (TRIVIA: this is where a young English writer first saw a toy bear that inspired him to write a series of children's stories about an abandoned bear named Paddington!).

Just outside of the station, we caught one of the famous London Double Decker Buses, that took us on a tour of the entire city. Of course, we had to sit on the open-air top level and we saw everything from Big Ben and Tower Bridge, to Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London and MI-6 (James Bond's HQ).

After a lovely (that's an English term!) dinner in London, we retired to the hotel to prepare for Day 4 - a drive to Stonehenge.

Less than two hours outside of London (and through some of the most beautiful English country roads) lies this prehistoric monument that is still a mystery to most archaeological experts. Mainly because no one really knows what it is, except that its really really old (over 6,000 years, by some estimates).

After our Stonehenge excursion, we got very hungry and drove to the nearby town of Salisbury. We found a charming English pub called The Kings Arms serving "roast Sunday dinner", which consisted of stuffing, roasted potatoes, vegetables and Yorkshire Pudding. The only choices available were the type of meat (lamb, pork or chicken) and drink. The staff was very friendly and we had a nice time enjoying this traditional Sunday favorite.

Day 5 found us going back at Legoland! There were some rides that we had missed on the first day, so we went back to have another go at them. But first, we drove through the quaint town of Windsor and saw the magnificent Windsor Castle, the Queen's "other" residence. Actually, I think that this one is a nicer place and she should consider making this one her full time residence!



Anyways, I made sure that everyone knew we HAD to leave Legoland by 4:30P to catch our train back to France. So, naturally we didn't get on the road until 5:15! But, the nice thing about England is that you can drive so much faster than in the US. Our navigation system said that the 100 mile distance to Folkestone was just a little over an hour's drive away (you do the math!) Anyways, we almost made it on time...

We reserved the Eurotunnel back to Europe, and although we missed our reserved train, there was another one 20 minutes later. The Eurotunnel was a great choice for the way back, because you just drive onto the train, park your car and relax inside until the train arrives in Calais, France. All this for about 100 bucks!!!

We returned home to Brussels about midnight and carried the sleepyheads from the car to their bedrooms. They were both fast asleep and hopefully were dreaming of the wonderful weekend we all spent in England...

Botanical Field Trip

On one of our recent daytime excursions, DS and I visited the Royal Greenhouses in Laeken, which are open to the public for only 3 weeks during the year. This architectural masterpiece (made of glass, iron and steel) was completed in 1902 under the direction of King Leopold II to compliment his Royal Palace. With a tiled ballroom at its center, this beautiful facility was also used by the Royal family to host many social gatherings.

The Glasshouses are located on the same beautiful grounds as the Chateau Royal (home of the Belgian Royal Family) and house tens of thousands of plants and flowers, some of which were originally planted during the days of King Leopold.

Ray and Jo go to the Opera

The email read, "Click here for a chance to Win!!!"

I figured why not? So I clicked and a week or so later came the email stating that I had won 2 tickets to see the opera Medee at the historic opera house, La Monnaie. Boy, lucky me!!!

Actually, lucky Jo Ann. She is always up for some cultural enlightening. Me? I was hoping for some tickets to the Formula One race, or maybe a nice Lexus jacket...

Anyways the big day finally came and we got a last minute babysitter for the girls. La Monnaie is located in downtown Brussels and for some (subconscious?) reason, I mistakenly thought the opera started at 3:30. It was actually at 3:00, so we were already running late...

We pulled up in front of La Monnaie a few minutes after 3. We figured we would just pull into a parking spot and get to our seats a few minutes late. WRONG! As luck would have it, we found ourselves on a one lane road, directly behind a car that decides to break down.

Our luck doesn't improve. La Monnaie doesn't allow latecomers inside until the first intermission. We ended up watching the first half of Medee on a TV monitor... Not sure how Jo Ann is taking this at this point. I decide to get her some wine...

When intermission finally comes, we are led to a private salon, where they served champagne and desserts made from the finest Belgian chocolates. My luck is improving...

We are shown to the private Toyota box and the view is terrific. It was also very comfortable... As soon as the lights dimmed, Jo was glued to the stage, paying close attention to the remainder of the French opera and trying to follow the story line. I was trying hard to stay awake...

When the show ended (and I woke up), we headed outside and had dinner just outside the theater. Summer has arrived early in Brussels and we took full advantage of the weather and the fact that the girls were with a babysitter.

"Welkom" to Never-Netherland...

"I really like it here in Neverland! No, DS, we are in the Netherlands, not Neverland..."

The Saturday before last, we hit the road and crossed the border to the Netherlands to visit Keukenhof, located in Lisse, labeled by many as the most beautiful spring garden in the world. The drive across the border took only 45 minutes from our home in Tervuren. To reach Keukenhof, however, took another 2-1/2 hours. It took an hour longer due to very heavy traffic the last 5 miles. Keukenhof is only open for eight weeks from March through May and on this day, April 26, the annual flower parade was taking place. Hence, the exceptionally large crowds. Yes, I planned it that way...

The gardens were truly breathtaking. A photographer's paradise, even we amateurs got a few great shots (see our slide show to see more of the beautiful gardens). Due to its large size, we did not see everything in the park, but we saw enough to our satisfaction. There was also a large playground and petting zoo the girls enjoyed as well.

After leaving Keukenhof, we set out on our next adventure of seeing the flower parade. I say adventure because the parade was already in progress and we had to get to a spot ahead of the parade to see it. Combine that w/about a thousand other cars and buses on the narrow roads trying to do the same thing. But, amazingly, with a little bit of luck, Ray made some fancy moves (partly by driving on the wrong side of the road), made a quick turn, and voila! -- front row seats to see the parade! Look out Pasadena Rose Parade!

We stopped for dinner at a town called Kinderdijk, Netherlands - a small town known for its traditional windmills. We enjoyed the beautiful weather eating a casual dinner in a courtyard overlooking the charming town. Due to the late hour, the windmills were already closed. So, like Wendy, Michael and John Darling, we headed back for home...