The color of Gold!

The games are over and out for four long years!!!! London will be the four next years quite busy with preparing their Olympic stage and trying to be best host. It won't be no easy job because did these Chinese go hard! Jacques Rogge, (Belgian, yeah) the president of the IOC called it 'exceptional games'! Very diplomatic! He is still aware of how many people think about these games but they were quite exceptional over all!

There were many highlights and I am happy to say that once again I witnessed, by being a potatocouch. Here a list of my personal favourite moments:

- The eight gold medals of Michael Phelps: thanks to Omega (one of his major sponsors) he now owns eight medals gained in one Olympic Game! He made it look so simple. Wonder what he will do in London in 2012!

- Lucien Bold: Jamaica seems to have found the perfect recipe to make people run faster. They even don't have to make sure their running shoes are in order to run. Even then they break world records. Yes, you are the best, Lucien but according to the IOC president you will have to work a bit on your social skills.

- The little Chinese gymnasts: their age will never be revealed but they really showed us amazing things. These flexible girls can do things that my body wouldn't survive. I just hope that they make it to their thirties without ending up into a wheelchair.

The final days of the Olympics were for our nation quite colorful. We still had no medal what so ever and many were already that desperate to think they would fly into Zaventem empty handed! There were some Belgian atletes out there that were a bit offended because they really tried. We came in many time fourth but that is no use if the only thing that really counts is a medal. Many Belgian atletes ended top 10 or 15 but that seems rather a lost cause of all the hard work.

The Bird's nest, the Olympic stadium, is quite a sight from the outside. It was there that a few girls did what many before them tried to do but did not manage to do: winning medals for our small nation. Winning a medal in atletics is still a bit more special. It are these sports that go back into Olympic history quite far. Altletics are still called the mother of sports and so winning a medal in that catagory is very special. Belgians are rather special people so I guess these prices were rather fitting for them!

To start no medal but quite a race!!! The Belgian boys of the 4x400m. They are still quite young but they were convinced they belonged out there on the track with the big guys. They made it into the finals and what we got to see was rather very promising for London. Off they were and till runner 4 they were in position 2. It was one of those images that I will never forget to see a Belgian runner next to an American one!! Goliath and David!!! My adrenaline ran wild. So guys, congrats on a great race. Keep up the good work!!!

Kim Gevaert, the celebrated Belgian sprintster on the 100m, failed in the qualifications and was quite down. She canceled her run for the 200 metres. Kim has some good friends who run with her 4x100m. These four girls are quite a team. The final was a nailbiter. For a moment we even were in the running for gold. The British girls who had told them a few months before:'Hi girls we are going to get you in Beijing!', didn't even made it to the finish. Also the female collegues of the fastest man of Jaimaica didn't get there. Silver it was!!! That color looked quite well on them!
Out there was still one woman that could do it but she had to jump quite high. Tia Hellebaut is woman out of one piece. Very modest, knows what she is after in her life. Always works hard and has a coach she dearly loves. Before her final jumps she looked so serene. The stressbunny was nowhere in sight. It seemed that the only opponent she had to face was the height. One by one her collegues bumped into a long stick and before we knew we had silver once more.

Tia had to jump a personal record (2m05) in order to get her hands on gold. While I saw her running to that freighting height I closed my eyes! And she made it. Tia screamed it out!!!!!! It sounded like she let out all the frustrations the Belgian atletes were chased by. When her final opponent failed (and it was not one of the least: only the most talented worldchampion of Croatia with killing eyes) Blanka Vlasic we knew that this was going to be mental game. Tia called it the day and Blanka had to get over 2m05. She failed once more and Tia had that piece of gold that many are after but only a few can obtain: a gold Olympic medal and the title of Olympic champion.

It was amazing to see her do it and when she ran off to see her family the tears came!!! Out there was standing tall one of the most complete atletic women that our nation will ever have and when she hugged her family she just let things go. As an audience I always feel then a bit out of place. They have all the right to be there and when they saw their daughther, stephdaughter (Tia doesn't know her biological father!) and sister becoming an Olympic hero you just get out all these emotions that you had to hold back for such a long time. The tears were real, the smiles and hugs very warm!! I felt very priveledged to be a witness of such a private moment.

It is not only that moment that I will cherish of that very special event. No, it is an other moment during the competition. Tia and Blanka are compared by many and most people agree that our girl is more popular then the most talented Croatian superjumper!! Kim Clijsters seems to be quite a roll model or is it being Belgian (Flemish) that makes us so liked by others? I have read this before the competition but what I saw made my heart just melt!!

Olympic games are suppossed to be fair games and you are a priveledged atlete to compete in such an event. But we all know that once the battle is on for gold that friendship is hard to find out there. Well, when Tia went for one of her last jumps many of her collegues were still out there catching their breathes, getting their trainers back on, packing their stuff. Most of them felt defeated but while doing all these things they will still try to catch glimpse of what is going on. Tia made it over 2m03 and while she was getting it all out in the back there was a girl jumping up and down!!!

Believe it or not it was one of her fellow competioners: Chaunte Howard, from the USA. She really went bezerk!! This american girl showed real happiness for the achievements of one of her rivals!!! Yes, they are friends but they met on the sports stage while competing!! That is an achievement in itself!

To me that is the real Olympic spirit! I have not seen it that many times the last three weeks. Chaunte, you only came in seventh but if there is a price for a genuine, authentic sportmanship you are a true Olympic athlete!! Thank you for making one of the final days of these exceptional games so special!! You can sure that when you decide to high jump in London in 2012 you will have two extra fans: Tia (she wants to have kids by that time to sit in the audience with) and me!!

Thunderstorm on Olympos

The games are in the last straight line and most countries know by now how well/bad they are performing on the Olympic stage. Well for the moment I am a rather dissapointed person. Being Belgian is not an easy job in these political troubled times. A medal or two would have made me a bit more upbeat. But that seems to be mission impossible. Our national atletes seem not to be having the time of their lives there in Beijing. What is wrong?

Well, that is the question that is asked by many. The national press is full with interviews with officials and politicians who seem to have no real answers. There has to change something but what? For a long time we were told that these sporty minds needed more money to be able to perform better. Many organisations pump now some more coins into them but this financial dopping doesn't seem to do the trick. There are even voices that tell us that it would be better to split up Belgium to get in Olympic heaven. Others state then that most atletes don't want to go the whole way in order to be invited on Olympos.

Guess that some of these voices are right to say that something is wrong but changing it will take a bit longer then we want. We are not a country that has a sportive tradition any way. Belgians enjoy life, work hard for their paycheck, are taken care of when they pay their taxes, can choose out of more then 100 beers to drink, are rather modest, insecure and never brag about their achievements. 'Les petits Belges', say the French. Well we keep that vision alive and the ones that go against the stream will be told to behave!

Justine Henin (God, do I miss that girl) told herself, her family and whole the world very plainly that she wanted to be number one and that one day she was going to wake up with that number on her T-shirt! Well, many countrymen told us that she wasn't modest enough that she was just a small kid from Wepion. Well, were they wrong this time. She did exactly that. But what did she have to sacrifice was quite a lot.

When we are young you are told that when you get good schoolresults that you will get a good job. The kids who tell their parents that they want to be a professional athlete are forced to combine this as long as possible with their studies. One day they then come to this crossroad where they have to make up their minds. Many then pack up their swimming suits, running gear, hockey sticks, tennis racket, bike helmet, floret,ballet shoes, riding gear....... They leave behind their sportive ambitions and walk the way they are suppose to follow. One that is most of the time without too many hurdles to jump over.

Who makes us do this? Well partly we, ourselves. Once we have to take the bumpy road into the unknown we get sweaty palms. It is ot our cup of tea! The mind game in sports is rather difficult compared to go to classes and end up at parties where you can meet your first boy or girlfriend. Besides that are in Belgium sports and school not the perfect combination. Your achievements on the track, in the swimming pool, on the field, on the tatami, ..... don't directly influence your grades. Not many teachers and coaches will be interested to know what their pupils do out there. Sports and education are seperated. In many other nations they are linked. These sporty brains are nurished and taken care of and told many times that should go for the gold. Pushing the limits and just go for it.

Michael Phelps, yeah he just did what he intented to do: become the ultimate sportshero of the olympic pool by winning eight gold medals in the Water Cube, has been told that he can swim and that he should try to go for it. Even at school he will be told by many (including teachers, his biology teacher might have been his high school swimming coach!!!) that he can do it. Many believed in him before he even probably thaught about swimming so fast. So that could have made him even swim faster.

Belgians are not told that much that they are doing a good job. Our modesty seems to make us rather humble. We don't want to be show offs. 'Yes, your flick flacks are quite well!! But you should keep in mind that when you want to gym on a Olympic stage that you will have to suffer!' Not the most thrilling prospect for a ten year old to hear. Parents then will decide that their kid will be better of do be just average. Very safe. Gym will and stay then just a favourite past time when there is some time to kill.

On many forums I have read many solutions but many have said that our educational system should be more adopted to the needs of sportive minds. I have seen abroad that school and sport can do the trick. I have seen amazing achievement on the field by people that turned up on the Honor Roll or were a member of the brainy NHS (National Honor Society). I cheered for kids that had enrolled for Ivy League Universities knowing that we be still swimming, playing football, basketball, tennis, baseball or American Football. The sporty minds will be stimulated even in a intellectuel environment and when an talent coach then sees what potential you have you will hear quite often that you should go for it.

The ones that have not been so lucky to be rather smart but turn to be rather good at sports then will be still stimulated to perform in the classroom. If they fail on a history test or math test then they might end up on the bench for a few matches. An atlete will be kept fit physical and mental. Motivation is so important and that bit is something we Belgian schools seem to be rather less good at. On the international scale our school system still gets high scores but for how long?

The excuse that professional athletes will destroy their body is of course one of the rather less nice truths about a gold medal. But let us be honest where are you safe nowdays? Our health is challenged in many other ways as well. Our food is not safe anymore, our air is polluted, we are obese and many other risks that will send us faster to six feet under. I feel the urge to say that we Belgians are too modest to create Olympic Gold getters. The ones that get there are one of a kind. They know what it takes and were lucky enough to find the strength, the drive, the motivation, the cheers, the sponsoring, the right attitude and coaching to get there. In the end they made sacrifices that many of us would never wanted to make. So Belgians out there still climbing the rocky cliffs of Olympos: don't be afraid. Go for it!!!!!! Zeus is awaiting you and God can he cheer!

Olympic heroes of the first week

Olympics are now almost one week old. And I am having rather a busy time with trying to keep up with them. Half of the time I seem to be too late. Due to the time difference I have to settle for latest news and surfing over the internet. The moments that I have spend in front of the telvision I was a witness of olympic history. Some of the highlights of the last days (before I start I have to point out that this is a personal selection!) were:

1. The synchronised divers in the Water Cube: just amazing to look at. While broadcasting it there should some words of caution in the corner to warn us not to try this out in your local swimming pool! Chen and Wang, Lin and Hua won the gold medals for China. But it was a little lad from about 150cm and 47 kilos who caught my attention. Tom Daly of Great Britain is only 14 and he dares to make circus jumps from that terrifying looking tower! His partner and he came in last but I am sure that when the Olympics take place in London (2012) he will stand on the highest podium as well!

2. Michael Phelps: okay he is a bit too much too handle but god can he swim. Appearently he has the perfect body to break all the records. The Baltimore Bullet wants to get it all. He wants to make sure he gets to Olympia for sure this time. And in order to make sure this dream will become true his first three golden tokens he has won along with a world record! I just wonder one thing what will this Bullet do when he has made it? Diving into a black hole perhaps! So perhaps settling for seven isn't that bad. London will welcome you with open arms!

3. The Chinese volunteers: the show must go on!! The opening show was just breathtaking!!! I have missed most of it due to a trip to a science museum with my son. But all the people I have spoken to agreed that it was a great show. My mother her favourite seqeunce: the computer. She pointed out that the Chinese must be brave people because if one had made one small mistake it would have been noticed by all. 'And you can be sure there was an official keeping an eye on them the whole time!', were her words. They also are the ones that are 'kindly' asked to fill in empty seats at certain events! So an extra round of applause for these people who make sure that there are enough fans to attend! But it was such a fun sight to see identical dressed ladies along the road cheering for the women cyclists! Perhaps they should have some extra clothes for these kind of jobs!

4. The Belgian Hockey team: they will not win a medal but they are true amateur players and god can they play for honor!! Their coach is an australian who made sure that these guys know why they are on Beijing soil. He made them sign a contract while they are living together in Olympic village. They have to take in consideration some rules of good conduct to make sure they stay focused. So they can't call to their children or wives in Belgian after the lights are turn down in the bedrooms. When I saw them at the beginning of the game against Spain singing our national anthem in two languages I was impressed with these guys with sticks!!! It has been a long time ago that I have seen belgian athletes singing it with so much power! Our prime Minister might get the DVD: success guaranteed!! When they keep up the good work for four more years they might play with the big guys! If they last then I am getting tickets for the 2012 Olympics and cheer for them with pompoms!!

5. Vincent Kompany and Mario Aerts: okay first mentioned has quite an attitude and a football player is rather a spoiled athlete! Vincent just made very clear that he regrets the fact that he is forced to go back home after two games in order to play for his home team Hamburg!!! Let us be honest what is more important attending the Olympics or playing local!!!???? Sad to hear that the Belgian officials couldn't reach an agreement and settle it for once and for all. The Hamburg football officials seemed to have more power. Vincent showed once more that the Olympics get under your skin!!
And I bet that Mario Aerts agrees with him. This cyclist who came in fifth confessed that he first doubted that the Olympics could add some to his life. It was again an australian, Cadel Evans, who made him see that the Olympics have that extra touch you are after in your carreer!! He now wants to become an even better athlete in the future and win a ride or two in the next Tour the France!!

6. The silver and bronze medal winners of the 10m air Pistol shooting event: It is said more then once these last years that politics and sports mingle at the Olympics. Well when you have seen the statement the Gregorian Salukvadze Nino and the Russian Paderina Natalia made when they got their medals was rather the opposite message! While the Russion troops were heading for Gregoria they made very clear to the world that it wouldn't affect their friendship and their sportsmanship. The two of them might be able to handle a gun very well but they only use it in a shooting alley!! Way to go girls, this is for sure real girl power!!!

I hope that the next few days will bring some more heroes. There are ofcourse also loosers. Belgium was so close to winning twice a bronze medal but I guess that this year we will have to settle for top 10. At least this year more athletes will have gotten into top 10 then the previous Olympics but one medal would make my Olympics sky a bit more brighter!!!

WallEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

P and I had made a mental list of the things we wanted to for and with A this summer. Well due to the oh so typical weather more then half of this list will stay fiction but we try very hard. So after P watched the weather forecast for this week we planned to go to the cinema! A is four now and has never been to a real movie theater before! We have got a surround system and so A can watch his favourite DVDs with lots of sound effects. I must admit that after watching 'Cars' for more then 100 times I am getting sound defects. There have been moments that I thaught that those cars were racing through my kitchen.


A also loves to copy cat a movie. So half through he start to act out the storyline by using all his toys. When the words: 'THE END' pop up on the screen our living room is turned into a real film set with costumes and props scattered all over the place. A thinks he is running for an oscar but it is me who ends up cleaning up the set. The prospect of still having a clean and safe to enter living room seemed rather nice!


We booked seats ahead and drove with one blind passenger on board to the place of action. A wasn't impressed with the enterance. 'Here is nothing to do for me', he said. Only when he saw a big commercial poster of "Walle', he got a bit more upbeat. He ran up all the stairs and then decided that he wanted to know what was behind those big doors blocking his way!


Surprise: lots of seats and a big screen! Once he was seated and checked out this place closely. 'I want something to eat! Can I have a drink, pleeeeeease!!!!!?', were soon to be heard. Well I ended up in front of a snack counter with a yelling four year old; 'Mum, come and see what I want!', while pointing at a special kidpackage containing a small popcorn and an action cup of Walle filled with a softdrink of his/her own choice!!! I was not going to get caught this time. But the dad next to me bought one for his son. But then I had the impression he was after the cup himself! A ended up with a bottle of still water (with a straw as compensation) and a small popcorn.


After the trailers and the commercials we were treated on a new short story of Pixar. A had by then already asked for a million times when Walle was going to come. Also the other kids started to wonder when they would stop with those stupid car commercials and shampoo ads. But then there he was: WALLEEEE! And he is so cute with his big black eyes! And he is so good at his job: picking up and recycling trash! Rather a modern man!


A hated it when the words 'Break' showed up on the screen. He almost started to cry. We tried to explain to him that all these kids had to get the chance to go to the loo. So he ran off and wanted to check this out for himself. I convinced him that this might be right time to go. We ended up in a small cubicle and he kept on talking about the movie and what was going to happen next. The result was that A left half of his pee next to the toilet. I ended up next to it with half of the toiletpaper.


I won't tell too much about the movie itself but A seemed to be waiting to meet all the friends of Walle. He must have seen a trailer or an article somewhere because I seemed to think there were not going to be any friends beside the white egglike girlfriend. 'Mum, Walle has got a long friend and small ones! When are they coming?' 'Shhhht! They will come soon!' And yes there were some other robots that were rather friendly to the small trashy robot and yes there is one who is rather tall!


By now A was a bit in need for some action and started to act out the movie. His waterbottle changed into a rocket and he started to imitate the sounds these robots make. I was shrinking by the minute. Ready to go undercover because all the other kids were so quiet and mine was talking out loud! I was rather a relieved mum when the words 'The End' came up.


A is now in bed and dreaming of robots, recycling, sun energy, space ships, stars and planets. I bet that starting tomorrow he will have an other movie that he can imitate. Will have to be careful when I enter the set! Many unidentified flying objects and so. I just wonder what I will be in it. I have a preference but I bet I will be the long friend of the cute little robot. P might end up being the cleaning robot but that is part that suits him well. In the end he is my favourite action hero and I hope that I am his true Eve!



Want to check out more in order to convince others to go this movie: www.disney.co.uk/DisneyMovies/Walle

Kitchenmemories from Santenay

Written in memory of my very nice holiday!!!

When you ask people how their holiday what most of them will mention the food they had. Well right they are. Food can leave a long after taste and those memories can laste for life time! So while being in Santenay my fellow travel companions and I created some tasty memories.



I wasn't staying in a hotel but I was a guest in the holiday house of one my collegues. Her father who is a very good cook was our host. P is a very nice guy who ended up buying a house in a small and quiet wine village called Santenay. If you would ever end up there and walk through this sleepy village: it is a pink house with numerous flowerpots on the balconies. It looks like one of these houses you come across while flipping the pages of glozzy travel magazines. Behind those walls there is quite a paradise hidden and the kitchen is for sure a place where you want to spend part of your free time.



Most of my travelcompanions already had a kitchen reputation and so I felt quite nervous of performing in there. Kitchen highlights that landed on our plate to end up in our stomachs were: home made lasagna (W two tumbs up for that taste experience), spaghetti (T his tomato sauce was very tasty), Paëlla (the master chef of the house P his dish was approved by his three year old godchild, son of a local cook!!!), white Sangria (A, you got us in the right mood with that drink), homemade vegetable salads (the one made in the oven turned out to be quite a hit in combination with chicken), macaroni and cheese (3 different ones and the one with bacon got the highest marks), Pana Cotta (A and I managed to impress the local cook with this dessert!), and last but not least our last supper: poulet de Bresse (devine chicken!! prepared by our host) with French Fries (once I don't mind calling them French) and a passionate triffle (A and I managed to get very juicy passionfruits)!



Like you can read the calories have found their way to our tastebuds! We also ended up one night in the favourite family restaurant where we were treated with Burgundy's delicacies. I ended up with froglegs!!! The garlic butter turned it into one of these dishes that can abduct you to holiday heaven. A, one of our harder to please kitchen princesses had a wonderful time with the fish she had chosen. Most of us went fruity with sorbet for dessert! W decided to go very chique and had profiteroles! We all were in food heaven!



In order to get back in shape we ran home. We even didn't need a flashlight to show us the right track. Lightning was our beacon and God, were we happy to be back in time. Once we opened the door of DL Residency heaven decided to treat us on a spectacular light and sound show.



Worth to mention as well was our Fresco dinner at one of the family friends. He got that one dream kitchen you want desperatedly. Out of his professional oven came superb spiced chicken. And having tarte tatin for dessert was as well quite nice. I am not going to mention the swimbad that was close by. It just added some extra class to the dishes. After dinner some of us went for a final dive.


Cooking and eating in Santenay was quite a nice experience. I went home with some new kitchen secrets. I can go on for hours about this subject. But like we all know once you are home all these dishes become less apealing because you have to prepare in your boring kitchen. The Englsh have the saying:'No kitchen is big enough to hold two women'. Turns out that when you are travelling you even can stand tons of people in that room!! Miss that place!!

The best medival hospital of the world!

Written after a museum visit to the Hospices de Beaune during my holiday in France!

One of the rather less nice things while travelling is getting sick. But sometimes I just gets to you. Sour throats, sunburn, migraines, toothaches, sun allergies, coughing, upset stomachs and constipation are some the things that made us visit the local pharmacy. Very helpful people who send us home with small plastic bags filled up with pills, drops, creams, lotions, syrops and gels. Day by day our house was starting to look like a hospital. It makes you think about what people did in the past when there was no pharmacist or doctor near by!


Well if you were living in the region of Burgundy you were rather lucky. In Beaune there was and still is the ‘hospice’. It is one of the highlights on your trip through the region. For the moment the front is still covered up for restorations. But don’t hesitate to pay the entrance fee because it worth the money!


Thanks to two people (Nicolas Rolin and his beloved wife Guigone de Salins) the inhabitants of Beaune had something nobody else had : a real hospital! I guess we all know what a hospital looks like. I have been to many and have tested out some them. But this is nothing like it! First of all the building itself. If it would be still a working hospital I guess many patients would turn into imaginary ill people. Your house looks like a shed compared to this monument. Oké I bet that the chances you would leave this place alive were rather small. This was the last stop before heading for heaven. All you could hope for was miracle once you ended up in one of their beds. Still this was a four star place compared to many hospices.


The food you got was prepared in very clean kitchen. The stove and sink I would kill for! The copper pots and pans were filled with many dishes that fed the poor and the ill. Hoping they would find the strength to recover of face death! Working in this kitchen was like having a workshop in Marta Stewaert’s kitchen. The best materials and ingredients were used. Many patients had a short moment of recovery when the smells came out of the kitchen!


Walking through the building makes you realize that these people were rather smart. In contrast to many medieval disasters they were the first to treat patients according to the care they really needed. Going into quaratain when needed and making sure that you took care of your hygiene were common treatments in the hospice. Healthy food, clean water, tons of herbs, loving nurses, trained pharmacists and a man in love with his wife made many ill people travelling to Beaune. He had the money and the power to make this place work. I just wonder if he got his hands really on one of these sick people who entered his house.


And there is always money that makes things a bit easier. Even at that time when you had the money you got a nicer and bigger room. Perhaps you were that lucky to get operated on. I am not kidding, they even had a small room where they performed rather complicated operations like trilling into the brain of cutting of hand or leg! Doubt that there was laughing gas or sleeping pills to pass out when lying there! The only thing that they could offer you was a look at one of the divine paintings. All you could do then was pray that you would make it to the end of the procedure!


But it were not just minor artists who were granted exhibition room in the hospice. Rolin made sure that he only got the best for himself and his patients. Proof can be found in the darkest room of the museum. There is hanging a big altar piece depicting the last judgement. It is said to be painted by one of the Flemish masters: Rogier Van der Weyden! Rolin was quite eager to stand model in paintings. Van Eyck also made a painting of him in the company of the holy virgin! While standing in front of that piece of art try to imagine that you were that sick and all you could hope for was granted eternal peace in heaven. Many dying patients used this painting to find the rest they were after so that they could find peace of mind. Palliative care in style so to speak!

By the time I got out of the museum I felt rather thankful. Now I am walking around with sun allergy, a sour throat and pain in the ears but I doubt if that would have been enough to be granted entrance at the time. So I will have to settle for a painkiller or two before going to bed and drinking an extra glass of wine. Now that I mention wine, even the hospice knew the importance of drinking grape juice! Every year Christy's comes to town in order to auction wine for extra funding. And I guess Rolin would feel quite well to know that up till today his spirit is still living on in the modern hospitals of Beaune. So from now on George Clooney and Patrick Duffy you will have to do a bit more then just wearing scrubs!

P.S.: If you want to find out more you can surf to: www.hospices-de-beaune.com

Spider-invasion of Taizé

Sunday, 27 of July (written during my trip in Burgundy)

We had many things on the list to do when being on our break. One that perhaps some might find rather strange, is going to Taizé. It is one one of these spots in France where you go to find yourself and sing out your love for God, the saints, Jezus and the world in general.. In the world of today it seems to be a rather unpopular destination to head for but was I in for a surprise.


We visited that day the local market of Beaune, bought shiny olives and tomatoes, goat cheese, baquets, water melons and melons de Charentes and litters of water. These were the ingredients of our divine picnic. The meal took place in front of a petite chateaux and in the back of vineyard! Once our stomachs were filled we headed for the real thing: the winecellar.


Being in a state of Delirium we headed for Cluny. For me that brings back so many memories. Professor Sneyers, one of my favourite professors ever, called Cluny a true paradise for the Romanic architecture and all what it stood for at that time. I didn’t remember that many pictures of that place but of Clugny I, II and III is not that much is left over. You have to use your imagination to call alive the city Clugny once was.


Here Napoleon passed through and so many stones were recycled to wipe out all the clergical monuments. Well Clugny did a very good job indeed! Most stones you can find in the wall of the city. For some people this might sound rather harsh. The modern architect finds this not such a bad idea. You create open spaces for new creations. The art-historian that I am thinks differently. They did not just tear down buildings but also wiped out a way of life.
Clugny was in medieval times the example many monasteries based their way of life on. A monastery had to be able to be self efficient and at the same time it had to be place for contemplation and soul-searching. So while walking through Clugny you encountered history in very surprising corners.


But revenge is always sweet and because of the sake of Professor Sneyers and my whole course of Romanic Art I left the half of my pineapple juice in a shop on the floor! Eat that Clugny!


Remorse became that part of me and fortunately we were heading next for Taizé. And all Clugny stood for you will find here. Tons of people that are trying to spend time together in a very peaceful place, sing, reflect about their faith, celebrate their love for that drive that makes us go on. I was amazed by the number of people that were in that same spot. It is hard to describe what I saw and felt but is was sure a special experience.


One of my travel companions had a very different experience going on. Toilets are very important while travelling and the experienced traveller knows that you have to be able to stand a bit smell and dirt. I was told by the experienced Taizé-people that going to the smallest room is not that much fun. But we found some rather clean ones at the bar!


Appearently W liked them that much that he was spending quite some time in there. When he finally appeared he was looking pale. ‘I was attacked by a spider in there!’ He even had to sit down and shake off the fear. ‘You know they jump and bite, and so I tried to sit very still!’ W then was so kind to tell us about his anarchaphobic tendency. I guess if we could have looked for a spiritual person in order to help him out. But instead we ended in a field eating (water)melons and sharing horror-stories. Splashing, jumping, biting, creeping and spooky eight legged animals became the main ingredient of our dinner conversations.


W was so kind to share with us his unforgettable spider tale. ‘There was once a spider in my bathroom and one of my guests run out of my bathroom, telling me that a spider was having a sanitary stop. I went in there armed with my flying bat in order to send that beast to the eternal battlefields. Just took one look, aimed and went for the kill. I just like to hit once and hope then that they are dead. Well this one had a very splashing end! My whole body was covered with small bits and pieces of the black enemy! ‘


By the time we were heading for the church I was feeling spiders everywhere creeping down my body! It was then the six of us became part of one common rituals in Taizé: singing out our love and faith! I was the only who hadn’t done this before. When I entered the huge church and sat down on the ground I was soaked up in a spiral of emotions. Of course I have to admit that it was also nice to do what we people of Limburg are so good at: singing. And for once nobody cared if you sang off key!


One of the highlights during the service is the moment of silence. I always thought that you couldn’t make a crowd being silent for more then five seconds. Well, I was wrong. I suddenly was sitting amongst thousands of individuals who were silent for more then 10 minutes. It was there and then that you become part of that what Taizé stand for: trying to find back yourself and letting in all the thoughts and emotions. I even had the impression I was for a few seconds in a trance but then I felt suddenly eight legs crawling down my legs. Over and out all the peace I was looking for that hard.


We managed to get out of the church in time without being attacked and drove content and with peace in our hearts home. Guess what I was dreaming about that night?! And to make the spider-invasion complete there was this Garfield cartoon in the newspaper the next morning! Garfield got kidnapped by spiders! In oder to get rid of the spider tales one of my travel-companions is hoovering spider-webs! Let us hope that the spider knight will prevail!!!

'La Vie en Rose' in Burgundy

Written during my stay in France!!! Sunny memories!!!

Thursday, 24th of July



We had almost forgotten what it was like to have sun all around us. But once we were on the way to live like gods and goddesses in ‘la douce FRANCE’ we saw what we had missed these last three weeks: pure landscapes in the sun. We were ‘on route’ for ten days of joy, delicious food experiences, conquering castles , emptying out their wine cellars, driving scenery and touristic routes, discovering unknown treasures, awing at views to kill with a camera, speaking high school French at the local pharmacy, walking around like a world traveller and acting like one, ……



I could go on for hours what we were heading for but once you land there fiction becomes reality! I can get up now in the morning opening up my window and just have that one feeling that I was after: genuine calmness. Everything looks so much better in the sun and especially when you are looking at a fountain that is producing clear water and in the background you know that the grapes are spending the last month on the hills.





Life moves on and we are privledged to witness the life in Santenay that moves on the seasonal waves to produces these tasty wines that will decorate many tables around the world and will end up in many mouths. But a true wine lover knows that once you have seen, smelled, touched, sensed the country where these grapes have rested, their nostalgic aromas it will be a better wine. Your glass embodies all these cherished memories. The taste that touches your tongue gives that one sparkle you need to feel alive.



Being Bachus in France is being in paradise and feeling just lucky to be alive! My drinking companions seem to have that same drive in life and once I am back home opening up a bottle of Bourgogne wine it will be followed by an explosion of memories that will boast my life for the better. Emotions produced by fruits that are filled up with tons of anti-oxidants, just what the doctor has prescribed! So tonight when I am sitting on the terrace sipping a local red or white wine I will feel healed and in balance!! Santé is for sure one of my most favourite words for the moment!!

Bread and Games in Beijing!

Two more days to go and we are off again for that one of a kind sport event: the Olympic Games in Beijing! I love them. There was a time that I would be glued to my couch to watch as much as possible. Even weightlifting could make me feel rather excited! Archery, swimming, atletics, wrestling, horseriding, sailing, tennis, cycling, judo and many more are for three weeks all my favourite sports. Every four years I become a true Olympic fanatic and try to keep up with all the atletes. A sport in its own!

These last months Olympic fever got rather high. That China got them in the first place is rather a difficult issue. The Chinese people consider it an honor but at the same time they just call it something normal. Organising the Olympics is a symbol of being treated as a grown up. The 1,35 miljard Chinese already were waiting for 100 years to get them! A few years ago the IOC told China that they were unable to organise such a sporting event because of air pollution. And when you look at the pictures of Beijing you know these guys were right to say so!

A few years ago the New York Times described competing in Beijing as following:'Beijing you can compare with an athlete who is trying to get into shape by running on a traidmill but at the same time is eating a double cheeseburger!' Most athletes know that they will have a hard time to breathe or catch a breath of clean air when they enter the Bird's Nest. For the very first time in history many sportive souls will blame the air when they won't win a medal! Or when it is again a Chinese it will be the best excuse ever:'Well, he/she is used to competing in such circumstances!'

To make things even worse many people got Tibet back in the picture. It even caused stress because the Olympic flame was attacked a few times. Even the Daila Lama had to say outloud that he thaught that the Olympics were a very good thing and that this isn't the right place and time to deal with his beloved homeland! For the record try not to find a Chinese Olympic athlete who agrees that Tibet should be independent. Many young Chinese can't think of China without Tibet. It is just one of their rightful provinces they own and this is historical justified!

Finally the big boss of the IOC: Jacques Rogge (Belgian!!!!) is asked to resign! Some human rights organisations think that he didn't deal well with the situation. China and human rights are not succesful combination. Rogge stays very calm and poised when asked why he thinks Beijing is worth the Olympic Games. Sports and politics seem to be entangled very closely. In the end he just says that he still thinks that it will be worth in the end.

China is ready for the games: 'One World One Dream', is the slogan they choose for these games. They will show the rest of the world what they are worth and it will be a lot more then just all the things you have bought with the label: made in China! Many Chinese have been dreaming to compete in this event but only a few will have gotten through. Here they create Olympic heroes when they are four and you can forget it when you are ten and wake up after dreaming of becoming an Olympic athlete! The chosen one are the ones that will give China what it is really after: worldy recognition! They want to be treated as grown ups!

The Olympic stadium is a real architectural pearl and the Water Cube where the swimmers and divers are to perform is so magnificent that you just want to dive in! And to make sure that we were not going to forget these Olympic games the Chinese introduce very proudly not just one mascot but five Fuwa: Beibei (fish), Jingjing(panda), Yingying (Tibetan antelope), Nini ( swallow) and Hucinhuan (the Olympic flame) are the chosen ones to be the olympic embassadors. A friend of mine has them and they are so cute!!! When I get my hands on them my money won't be safe anymore!

The lucky atletes who conquered the air, water, fire, earth of Beijing will be able to take home one of the precious medals. This round piece of precious metal is inspired by 'bi', an ancient jade piece and inscribed with dragon patterns. It stands for nobilty, virtue, ethics and honor. So when you end up on the stage you will be treated like a king or queen! And when you can catch again your breath you will be able to eat the olympic delicacy: roasted 'lucky' duck!

I wonder what Pierre de Coubertin would have thaught about these games. Pierre wanted to make sure that the French got their education system back into shape. These games had to represent four principals: to strive to perfection, represent a moral elite, create a truce and glorify beauty! The aim of this all: make men!!! In case of the Olympic Games of Beijing: one nation will be made bigger then ever. ''Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni." (meaning: Welcome to Beijing!, just add up the five mascots and you can speak Chinese!)

P.S.: Want to know more just surf to: http://en.beijing2008.cn/. And Kim, Oliver, Sven, Tia, Evy, Karin, Ilse, Steven, Tim, Joris, Dirk, Carolijn, Hans, Nathalie, Mathieu, Filip, Kenny, Bob, Kevin, François, Veerle, Iljo, Kristof, Dirk, and the other Belgian Olympic heroes just keep in mind: participating is more important then winning. But then some jade would look nice in your living room!

Feeling blue

I am back and for the moment I feel rather blue. Guess I just have those feelings of trying to get used to having no sunny balcony in the morning! Or a running fountain while trying to fall in sleep and have I mentioned the fresh baquets? My suitcases are empty again, the first souvernirs are handed to their thankful owners, the pictures on my digital camera seem to be made in the distant past, my laundry basket has turned into a monster and some of the other typical symptoms after travelling .

So I am feeling down!!! People who know me well, know then what thaughts start to haunt me then. And cleaning out one of my filing cabinets didn't help at all. I tried to throw out many things that were just garbage and ready to be recycled. And when I came across some of the wedding services I am keeping in order to compose my own wedding service I just crashed. While I was sitting there I felt empty. No real happy thaughts, leave alone a prospect of good tidings to come.

For the record P and I are now for 7 years an item and A is four years old. We have lived for three years in Brussels before moving close to his parents. I promised myself never to have children before taking weddingvows. Well, never say never! I ended up just doing that. Not that I regret that. When I look into the blue-greenish eyes of A I feel very content. But I miss something.

And every year around this time I feel so down. P seems to have still not found the right moment to pop the question. He is so preoccupied with work, staying into shape and trying to get where he wants and that is up! Me I feel a bit left out and seem to have to be very patient. I know that people around me think that I will never marry or that I just give up. Many have stopped asking when the big day will take place. When P is asked he will never give a straight forward answer! It hurts!

I still believe that one day it will be me and that I can get all these booklets out of my filing cabinet and use them for real. For now all I can do is hope and wait! I also know that in a few days time I will feel better. What helps is getting some laundry done and I have decided to get some fries at my favourite 'frituur'. Comfortfood will do the trick and then I am ready to attack the laundry monster as well! For now I will have to settle for a Bacardi cola and a good book! Just keep your fingers crossed that P will keep his promise! Sorry for the cramps causing this!

P.S.: In a few days time my French travel journal will be published! I had no access what so ever to internet.