Barge Date:  04-014-2018

From Diksmuide to Maastricht

OK. Back on the boat and everything is progressing nicely. The solar system looks awesome and we are not presently plugged in to the shore power. The installer, Davy, thinks I should never have to use the plug again even during the gray overcast days Belgium. 

There are a bunch of software things that will allow me to monitor the state of the batteries. This was something that was lacking in the previous system. In addition we now have huge solar panels and brand-new house batteries in which to store our surplus energy. I will keep you posted on how well this is working out and how well I am learning how to monitor the system to perhaps optimize performance. Davy says go out and buy electric products, even the microwave. They all should work and as a test, perhaps, I plugged in the toaster for the first time ever and made toast. Nothing pop or clicked or turned off.

The glass man has come and gone and we have replaced three troubled glass panes in the wheelhouse. Would have done the installation a little different myself as I believe he used the wrong color of silicone to seal the windows I think I can overcome this with a sharp razor.

I did a thorough examination of the engine room and all the tools and little parts that I had noted last year and never used. That is key. If I don’t know what it is for and didn’t need it last year I tossed. I purchased a new toolbox for some of the things that I use most frequently. This keeps them at hand and I am having to do less digging into some of the limited storage spots on the boat to get a tool.

I ordered LED lights for the boat as I want to conserve energy along with the new solar capabilities. Twenty four volt lights in LED are not inexpensive. But I have nearly all the bulbs I need and these should last a long time. We will see.

I did not have much free time after my arrival being kept busy with boat duties. When all was prepared we planned our first trip. I am traveling with the owners of the Silk Purse.  They will be crew on the boat and will be helping me to travel to my destination, Maastricht. The original plan was to go through Brugge, Ghent and then on to Antwerp. But somewhere along the line we were convinced to take a different route.

Unlike last year, we bypassed Brugge. It was a rainy day and we could use the extra travel day to make sure we arrived at our destination in time. I will be meeting up with a diesel mechanic that was recommended to me last year by new friends Rob and Sandra. They say their mechanic, Wim, is just the perfect guy to look after our engines. His regular day job is looking after the engines on other rather large boats.

So having skipped Brugge we are on to Ghent. The destination is a downtown harbor for small boats, Portus Ganda. Getting to this harbor had us going through the city on our own particular street of water. Most of the way we were surrounded by businesses and apartments.  We arrived in the harbor and tied up between other barges. Just a great setting and easy access to the town. My crew is excited to meet some other barge owners who were very gracious and invited us onto their barge for some refreshment. They are also active in a residential committee that has access to a meeting hall where various programs are presented during the week. One night it may be singers, another night some presentation about a book or some topic in the news. Maybe four or five times a week some program is being presented. They serve refreshments and have a good time. The night we attended there was a concert by an Irish folk singer.

We did spend some time visiting the city and found it enjoyable. Ghent is an old ancient city with a lot of history.

This is the 100th year since the end of WWI. Here in Ghent this bell will toll once every second for the hundreds of thousands of people who died anonymously.

It was in Ghent that we decided to skip Antwerp and take a different route over to Maastricht. To get there we must go down the Scheldt River. From Ghent on to Antwerp this is tidal water, meaning that the flow of water in the river changes four times each day. Although Antwerp is a good distance inland from Ghent there is a high tide time in the city and one tries to time departures to have the tide working for them. In our case we wanted the tide to be going out. This means we are using the speed of the downhill water to assist us as we make our trip. Also, at low tide the amount of water that is in the river is substantially less. If you make a mistake and leave at the wrong time you might end up being stuck in the mud.

With the tides running you all still have to be careful with the current of the water. There will be slow moving shallow water and fast-moving deep water and of course you want to stay where the water is deep. We made it down to the small town of Rupelmonde where we turned off the Scheldt to the Rupel River, On this river we were working against the tide, meaning our engine was working harder but our speed was slower until we passed through a lock.  I had been warned to be careful on these rivers but did not find them terribly difficult provided we made a correct departure time.

You never know what is around the next turn.

Although we skipped going to Antwerp, I was able to drive there after arriving in Belgium to purchase the new rope that I hope will make it easier for the crew to handle passage through locks or in mooring to a dock or wall. The rope feels good in your hands and is easy to work with. Because it is braided rather than simply twisted rope it drapes very easily and is easy to throw.

I now have on the boat several new boat books which I hope will make using the new rope easier. The boat hooks can be extended and have metal clips to hold the rope securely while the hook is used to place the rope on a bollard. Had to make some adjustments to the concept but I think it will be a great new addition to the boat. Thanks to the Brussels crew the 2 new extendable poles will be great.

With the crew we made a successful trip to Maastricht and moored in a downtown harbor that is very close to the downtown area of this fine city. A perfect setting.

We were off the boat and soon exploring the downtown area. I had been told that it was very nice and it was just that. Many, many stores for shopping for eating for taking a coffee. There must be at least 10,000 outdoor chairs in front of restaurants and cafés and they had good crowd sitting and enjoying the afternoon and evenings

My Here is a picture to "Book God".  Large book store in an old church.

My crew at this point needed to return to their boat and we parted on market day with them going off to take a train to their destination. I stayed and had laundry done in the town and then prepared the boat for departure. At this point I would be on the boat by myself. But I have been training myself all winter and did not have too much concern about how well I could handle the boat.

While visiting a boat store on the river this working barge stopped to take on water. Some guys trick out their cars, this old mariner has done it to his boat. The cleanest barge to be seen.

I informed the harbormaster that I would leave at 2 o’clock and he prepared the lock that would allow me to escape the harbor to the Maas River (This river in Holland is called the Mass; in Belgium and France it is the Meuse). Everything went very well as I headed up river towards the lock that would give me access to the Albert Canal. At this location I leave Holland and enter Belgium again.

The lift in the lock was about 36 feet and I was the only boat to be carried up. The Belgians wanted to see my documents but with this completed I entered the Albert for a short trip westward to meet up with folks that I met last year in Namur. Rob and Sandra had given me the name of their engine mechanic and now I was to tired up to their barge so that Wim could visit the following day to have a look at my engine.

Wim has been on board the boat and will return again in several days with some parts that he has to make in his regular shop. He took time to explain some aspects of the engine and I learned a number of preventative actions that should allow this engine to continue for many years (it is now 50 years old). He had to do very little in terms of adjustments.

Rob and Sandra invited me on board their barge for dinner. We had interesting discussions and it is always fun to learn about other boat people. Sandra is a social worker and Rob works at a prison where he helps inmates think about their life and what they might do when they are released. He is not a guard so he has somewhat regular hours which I am sure is nice.

Their barge is very nice as it is a live on barge for 12 months of the year. They do move it around some each year so you might find them in downtown, at their current location or perhaps somewhere out on canals when they take a month of vacation. I was also introduced to other friends along the quai and always learn something important.

As I wait for Wim to return with the parts he needs I am taking time to give the boat a good cleaning. This will be the year when painting must begin again and the boat must be spotless with little or no rust showing. Painting is not one of my favorite activities but it might be fun to put new luster on the boa.

When I move again it will be to the city of Liege in Belgium, 22.5km upstream. This is Marianne‘s hometown and at one time I knew it very well so it will be fun once again return to rediscover the various parts of the city. When Marianne was living here her family's apartment was right on the Meuse River. I intend to tie up out front and to go off by foot or on bike to see what there is to see.

Barge Date:  04-11-2018

The Curse of the Toilet

Just a note of usage on this blog that might be useful to some of you. Yes, you can make comments and ask questions. You do this by looking at the bottom of each post for the not so obvious "no comments" (or just "comments" if someone has already made a comment) line that Google gives us. If you will click on this it will take you to a posting page where you can write to your heart's content. I will receive notice that you have posted. Now onto important things.

I am getting a little ahead of myself as I like to do things in the order in which events occur. But this post is perhaps just curious and may be of interest to others as the state of the toilets on the boat is once again examined.

Heard my guests having some trouble with the electric toilet. This has happened before and from those experiences I brought with me this year a suitable plumber's snake that will work on the plastic pipes of the toilets. So grabbing the trusty tool and disconnecting a fitting we tried to get the snake to go up the pipe. And it did, for a short distance and then progress was stopped where there is a U in the line that is needed to prevent water being siphoned into the bowl and flooding the boat.

So to get around the U-shaped anti-siphon part. I removed the wall and disconnected another part of the hose and was able to get the snake all the way out of the boat. Reconnected everything and still  no water was entering the toilet.

It is when I once again disconnected a pipe at the anti-siphon part that I noticed green crud  hanging out of this part. I removed the U  and gave this to my shipmate to clean out the crud at the sink. It wasn’t algae but rather this cute little catfish that you see pictured. Just by chance, the poor little guy was up in the tube when someone attempted to draw water. He made it up to this turn and no further. He probably took a number of pokes from my plumber's snake or at least we think he might. He arrived in our sink dead.

Just one more way the toilets can interfere with your workflow.

Barge Date:  03-01-2018

2018 - The New Year

It has been about 5 months since departing Lionel...d'Antan back in October. She has wintered in Diksmuide and I hope to find her in good health on my return.

The marina where she sits needs to have winter customers move their boats by April 1 as that is when the locals begin to move their boats from winter storage to the water. So I will be flying out on March 22 to start the new year.

While you might expect that nothing goes on during the winter period for me and the boat you would be wrong.  I think I can say that my mind has been on boating in Europe nearly every hour while awake and some during my sleep.

I have been busy making some items for the boat that are small enough to be put in a suitcase.  I will highlight them in future posts once I am on board.  These are mostly little things that might make life on the boat better for living and for working. Some, for sure, are whims but one has to keep the hands working while on land. Others I hope will improve our working of the boat.

A couple of things are happening now in my absence.  We are significantly improving our solar system to insure we are, this year, energy independent.  So 4 large panels will be replacing much smaller units and will be on the wheel house roof. Down in the engine room will be a number of new controls, a monitoring system to provide clear info about the electric status and 4 new and much larger batteries just for solar storage.  Will also replace the very old battery charger with a unit that will be wired into the system.

In the wheelhouse we had 3 thermopane windows that have failed and were frosted over between panes.  I removed trim last Fall (glued on so a pane getting off) and a local shop came by and measured the window holes. He will order the glass so it can be installed when I arrive or perhaps even before.

With a better energy system I think I will be replacing the current water pump (24 volt) with one that runs on 230 volt.  Should make operation less noisy and I am hoping it will fix the shower situation. Hot water for the shower comes through an "on demand" gas operated unit in the kitchen. But as the pressure drops the unit shuts down as it is looking for a minimum pressure to continue and the current system does not keep up. So you go from a good shower experience to a cold one.  Might want to have a real plumber stop by to give me the blessing  - or not.

So with these 3 jobs now beginning I hope to arrive to find good progress.

I also want to purchase additional locking lines for the boat.  Something that will splice well, be flexible to allow easy throwing, light enough so the crew will not struggle getting the line on to a bollard and, of course, long enough and strong enough. Given the length of the boat each line will be about 22 meters. My newly designed boat hook and pole will do a lot to make locking easier and safer.

As I did last year, I must return in May this year for the high school graduation of daughter #3.  Will spend about a week in town as brother and sisters of my daughter will be flying in to celebrate.  Will also use the time to do chores around the house, something I could not do last year since my return was only to Atlanta to pick up my visa.

On that note, this year no visa.  Instead, once Marianne is with me we will go to the local office - probably in Strasbourg  - to register as residents in France. Marianne, being still a Belgian and an EU citizen, can live in any of the EU countries and I, as her loyal US husband, get to live with her.  This is the last big hurdle for me and one that I worry about because, as is, I can only legally stay in EU countries for 90 days per year. But it is there in black and white on the French web site so I cross my fingers.  Know of others in same boat (ah, a boat joke) that simply stay longer and somehow get away with it.

 

Question:  Our barge was named after Hart Massey's brother. Do we refer to the barge as a "he" or a "she"?

Stay tuned for new 2018 posts. 

Barge Date:  06-09-2017

Namur to Diksmuide

Have been back home for over a month and have neglected to do the final chapter of this year’s travels.  So here it goes. 

For this last stage of the travel I have a crew from Australia. Tony and Robin have been thinking about barges for some time. Perhaps it all stems from Tony's time growing up in Holland where he was able as a young boy to be a mate on a ferry. He learned a few things and still remembers how to handle the lines. I can see I will be learning from him. 

Tony and Robin have done many things during their adult life including living in the outback doing church work with the aboriginals. Tony is also a pilot and holds a multi engine rating and at one time owned his own plane. He is also handy in thinking about and doing a lot of things on the boat that I will welcome.

For a shake-out cruise we decide to go up river to Dinant. This is further than what I traveled when Marianne and the kids were on board. It will give Robin and Tony at chance to use those confounded bollards that someone installed at each lock along the way. It does not take long to get to Dinant and as we arrive we see that there is considerable construction taking place right at the riverfront. When the work is complete, I hope it is good not only for the riverfront businesses but for boaters, including those of us with larger boats.

 

We are able to make fast at a public dock along the right bank of the river. In order to get electricity and to pay for our stay, we make a trip to the tourism office in town.  Part of our welcome package includes two cans of Leffe beer which is a big name and brand here in Belgium and Dinant is its hometown.

 
 One of the first things you notice walking around town are large replicas of saxophones. This is Belgium and one of her sons, Adolphe Sax, called Dinant home. For some reason the saxophones along the street are associated with member countries in the EU. Each piece of art is totally different but I was not able to find all of them. Hey, good excuse to return next spring as this will be our route into northern France.

I go with Robin and Tony up to the citadel which is perched precariously above the river. To make the ascent we use a cable car from the town below up to the fortress. Not only is this a great fortified location, it gives one a nice view up and down the valley. We take a self-guided tour through the citadel and enjoy some refreshments.

One of the stories you learn from the tour has to do with the tragic opening days of World War I. After a good bit of resistance from the Belgians, the Germans took over the town. At some point a German soldier was shot and as retribution the Germans gathered about 612 residents - men, women and children as young as 3 years old - and executed them. That is not something that is easily forgotten.

On my own I go by bike to the left bank to view an exhibition of paintings by Marc Chagall. It is a range of his art from his early beginnings to some of his last works. There is some that I like and some that I don't care for at all.  

I also go by bike along the river’s path until it is just a narrow rut and ends. I could go to the other side to go further but choose to return.

From Namur I wrote about Bayard and the 4 brothers out for a ride. Look at the picture to see the notch they all made in this rock. Today the road goes on either side of this outcropping.

From Dinant we head downstream and make the turn at Namur to head west on the Sambre. The weather changes each day and sometimes we end up traveling further than we expected since there is not much to do in case of bad weather.

Some of the next few days will be over territory I covered with either Bruce or with Marianne. But I want to show the Aussies a good time so we look for things to do. Up ahead we will be meeting up with the Silk Purse at a marina that has a small dry dock. Don't know what happened but the Silk Purse has sprung a small leak and needs to make repairs.  Barrie and Carole will use the dry dock and they have workmen coming in to weld some steel onto the front portion of their barge.

Of course Barrie suggests I bring Lionel into the Marina but, having seen this location previously, I am not convinced that this is something I want to do. However, with a bit of coaxing we pull in behind the Silk Purse and tie up.  The dry dock does not seem to have been used a lot as we see quite a bit of grass growing in the lagoon that will be flooded to first accept the floating Silk Purse and then to have the water drain so the barge will sit on supports. Tony and I offer our assistance and by carefully navigating the narrow channel to the dry dock we are able to back the barge in to the flooded lagoon. The boat is precisely located above supports and the water in the lagoon is emptied. A perfect job by Barrie, and the following day welders will come to make the repairs.

To add excitement to our stay, I plan on giving Barrie several books in the Jack Reacher series that we have been reading all summer and as I walk to his boat I trip on a line and make a five point landing on the metal dock. Of course I quickly get up and look around to see who witnessed this magnificent event. I climb on board the Silk Purse and drip blood in their wheelhouse from a small wound on my cheek. My palms are a bit red and my knees hurt like hell. Tough it out. But I sense that some of this pain will only go away slowly.

We say goodbye to the Silk Purse but we expect to see them again in Diksmuide. Next on our agenda is the big vertical lift that I used previously going east and up so this time we are going west and down. It is an experience, but I think the next time I pass this way I will use the older lifts that only operate on weekends. It is a recline lift where the boats in a big bathtub travel on  rails.  This will happen next year.

We spend a day in Mons then head again west to Peronnes and then Antoing, both towns where I have been before. We take time in Antoing to do some laundry in town. From this location, I contact our young Belgian teacher friend whom you have met previously, Sihame.  We arrange to meet her in the center of Tournai the following day for lunch.

We catch a bus just up the street from our barge and are taken to the center city in about 15 minutes. There is a market going on in the center of town and we do some sightseeing and some shopping. I scout out a location to have lunch and pick a restaurant right on the square. Sihame arrives with a gentleman friend and the five of us sit down for lunch in a restaurant with a lot of white tablecloths and napkins. Sihame updates us on her teaching work and introduces us to her friend who is a fireman in the area. The menu looks wonderful and we make our selection with the help of the owner/ maître de.  Sihame is her usual bubbly self and we learn a lot about her summer in Italy and Greece. And if I remember correctly, her position at the school is now full-time. Good news.

As I am paying for the meal, I strike up a conversation with the owners who also include the chef. Just the two of them operate this business. They are French and came to Tournai a number of years ago and from the looks of it have a successful operation. The two of them join us at the table and our conversations continue as we are the only table remaining from the lunch crowd.

Perhaps I should not mention this, but the chef has told us that he runs an illegal kitchen. What does he mean by this? It seems that the ever present health department does not want chefs to make their own sources  (from things like fish heads). You have got to be kidding me; this is Belgium and almost France. We are told that the sauces should be made from some powdered mix. So to make sure that his supply of mix is constantly decreasing, he throws away some of it each week. He does not use it. Having spent a good number of years at the best restaurants in Paris, he knows all the best food suppliers there and if he places an order prior to midnight, the best fish and meat and other supplies will be at the restaurant first thing the following morning.  Health department be damned.

After the meal, we are taken by Sihame and her friend to a location above Tournai for a spectacular view of the area and we are treated to a snack.  Hope to see Sihame next year and have another meal at our favorite restaurant in Tournai.

The next several days have us moving at a good clip. We are held up at the Bossuit lock as it is the weekend and we did not realize that their schedule has them closed. We soon press on to Kortrijk/Courtrai which is now a new area for me. But it is raining so we decide to push on to see how far we can go. Passing through Kortrijk we have the help of a lockman that follows us from one lock to the next through the center of town. In the rain we saw a very wet rat who must make its home at the lock. Perhaps this is the same rodent the Silk Purse saw here in town.

Our next stop is the town of Deinze which I visited in the spring when I had my friend Rich on board. We stay several days there then head north on the Leie River so that I can show Tony and Robin this small waterway with lots of twists and turns and beautiful surroundings. See my earlier post about this waterway.

We tied up for the night along a commercial Canal and did not realize that some of these large barges can operate during the night. We are occasionally shaking and if a large pusher barge comes along, we are shaking even more. The next day will bring us to Bruges where we will be stopping for several days.  

Along the way, Tony and I take some time to install 4 stainless steel fold-out steps that we attach to the sides of the main section of the cabin. This will make it easier for someone who needs to step up on top of the boat for whatever reason. The supplies and tools brought from the US by my son-in-law Trevor have worked out perfectly. We were also able to attach two gold stars at the bow of the boat. These stars, made of cast steel, were provided to us by the Silk Purse. The gold stars, I am told, signify that the boat is owned free and clear of any encumberments. It adds a nice touch to the look of the boat.

Also with Tony's help we have rearranged the items that sit on the top deck. Previously, the dinghy and gangplank were arranged from starboard to the port side. With some finagling with the items we have, we arranged it so that most everything now runs from bow to stern. This allows for easy walking from in front of the wheelhouse to the fore deck. Also makes the boat look more streamlined. Next year I will add a red coat of paint to the hull of the dinghy.

Into the city of Bruges we find a nice tie-up at the first bridge. The sign says that we may stay for 24 hours but no one else has asked us to move on so we stay. Unfortunately, there is no electricity at this location so we rely on some good sunny days to keep the power on.

Tony and Robin are new to the city so I send them into town to explore. I, in turn, take to my bike to do some circumnavigation of the town. It is so easy to get lost in the constantly curving and turning of the roads. But this is a great town to sit at a café with a coffee and a book.

One day, while I was on board by myself, a hire boat tied up behind us with some difficulty so I helped. The two couples on board were American, the first I have met this summer. They were waiting for the lift bridge and had some time and interest so I invited them on board to see what a barge looks like. I believe they were from Utah.  A nice visit.

On one of my bike excursions, I came across a flea market in town. It seems to specialize in brass items and as I have been looking all summer for something for the top of the mast I looked and got lucky. A good size brass dolphin was found and I have since mounted it to the top of the mast. Because of its shape, it looks good whether the mast is up or down. I think it looks great.

 As I noted earlier in this blog when I passed through Bruges in the spring, there are working windmills along the canal that you use to pass the city. Out on my bike one day, I saw that one windmill was open for visits and so I went. The woodworking of the mechanics inside is rather special.  Note the date painted on a part inside the mill.

To navigate around Bruges, a barge must pass through a number of lift bridges and one round lock. This round lock presented a big problem for me in the spring but this pass-through I was able to demonstrate some degree of competence in handling the boat. I just wish those people with smaller boats that are much more maneuverable would take positions on the curved part of this lock and leave the straight wall for bigger boats.

On the home stretch now and have no particular schedule to keep. But we are making good time and think we can make it to Diksmuide by the evening. At the turn south along the Belgian coast I again handled the boat quite well in a difficult turning situation. Hey, when you can do it right after a summer of travel you have to talk about it. I try not to mention when I have problems.

Arrived in Diksmuide to see some confusion. The marina was updating the docks and we understood that the work would be done by the time we returned. But whole sections of the wall have no floating pontoons and many boats have been squirreled away in unusual ways. We tie up to the wall which is the public dock. The weather is cool and damp and over the next several days we work to get Lionel d’Antan ready for winter.

As a surprise I get a visit from Barrie and Carole.  They could not get here fast enough by boat so they took a train to town to wish me a goodbye.  A nice gesture and I appreciate it.  They have been a good resource when something new happened on my boat.  At times I could even help them. They have decided to sell the Silk Purse and hope to find a smaller boat to continue their life afloat.

My departure is one day before Tony and Robin leave for a trip to Holland to meet family that he has not seen since he was 14 years old.  I leave them to do some final things and lock up.

My brother-in-law offers to come to pick me up for the return to Brussels. The Belgian family has been very supportive of our barge adventure and we thank them.  I spend one night with them, we have a farewell dinner, and I am dropped at the airport for the return home. I can tell you that I am already planning for next year’s outing.

Will gather some thoughts about this summer and will make one final post at some point. I think a summary is in order.

Barge Date: 03/09/2017

Wedding Bells

The family is beginning to arrive in Belgium. Aliénor and her husband Trevor have flown in and have been met by the Brussels family. They are off to Ghent and the North Sea for several days. They have rented a car which will come in handy later in the week.

Andy and Christina arrive in Brussels two days later and will be with the Belgians for dinner that evening. 

Aliénor and Trevor travel to Namur to visit the boat and town and we all make a trip to the citadel for pictures and refreshments. I think we had some ice cream too.

Late afternoon, the three of us travel back to Brussels and arrive at my brother and sister-in-law's house about dinner time. Andrew is traveling with Christina, a young lady we have never met. She is an accomplished artist and is a curator at a museum in Pittsburgh. 

The purpose of the gathering is to have a family meal with the Belgians and Americans with the bride and groom in attendance as well. After some talk and a visit with the new chickens we have a wonderful meal prepared by Monique and Philippe.

One of the events of the evening is the unboxing of a wedding gift from the Americans to Morgane and David. It is a Pennsylvania spice box that I have made for them and was able to transport on the plane.

Following dinner, the Americans depart for the boat and on arrival we must set-up the sleeping quarters in the wheelhouse. In the morning we will take a trip up river to the same gardens and restaurant that Marianne and I have visited.

Early in the morning I walk across the bridge to the other side of Namur to purchase fresh croissants for the new crew on board. After breakfast I make some instructions about the boat and how to pass through the locks and we are ready to push off.

The trip upstream is uneventful and I think everyone was interested in the countryside and nice homes that are along this stretch of the Meuse. Once again we tie up at a small dock and make our trip up the hill to the gardens and restaurant. We have left early so we have a bit of extra time and we all walk through the gardens before we must walk back to the boat and make way for the return trip.

Andy and Christina will remain on the boat while Aliénor and Trevor return to a hotel in Brussels. An evening walk through the town allows us to select a restaurant and I have a nice meal and discussion with Andrew and Christina.

On Saturday, the day of the wedding, I send them out into town to explore and they also manage to sprint up to the citadel for a view.

We have arranged for taxi transportation to the wedding site which is close to Namur. We arrive mid-afternoon for the beginning of the festivities. In Belgium, people who want to get married must have this taken care of by city administration. Morgane and David were actually married several weeks prior to today's event but they wanted to include a great number of friends and have arranged for a grand party to take place. The setting is an old farm/castle/interesting spot in the countryside.

Morgane and David have put a lot of time and energy into this ceremony and they want everything to go perfectly. And it does, including an impromptu flyover of Belgian jets just as the new couple are dancing through an alley created by their friends. A meal followed and at 11 o'clock the real party began. There is a DJ on hand and we are told that the celebration lasted well into the following morning.

Andrew and Christina depart Sunday morning for Brussels and I am talked into taking a train later in the day so the family clan can have a restaurant celebration for our nephew's birthday plus a send off for the kids. I was seated beside Christina and was able to talk to her about her life in Pittsburgh and in the arts. Morgane and David were able to attend and we all had a good evening.

 

Aliénor and Trevor have one more day in Brussels and then they will return to the old grind back home near Syracuse, New York. Andrew and Christina have a bit more time and will visit Belgium and then fly off to Venice for three days then a return to Brussels for a final departure. I really enjoyed having the four of them on the barge and I hope they found it interesting enough to want to come back for a real trip.