Arrondissement of Nivelles

For our last morning at the AirBnb we decided to have breakfast at the Dominican Hotel that looks after our property. The hotel has lovely decor and is well designed. After breakfast we headed back to pack the last of our things before checking out and getting a taxi to Brussels MIDI where Ian will catch the Eurostar to London to begin his journey back to Australia. I was then catching an intercity train to Ottiginies where Brigitte would collect me.

I had bought my ticket and made my way to the appropriate platform when the train was cancelled without explanation. As I was heading down the escalator to find out what had happened to my train I received a call from Ian. He said that he had been stopped by security because he had knives in his possession and they are forbidden on the train! We had purchased several knives from the Laguiole, including a cheese knife and we didn’t want them confiscated. So Ian asked if he could come back through security and hand them to me as I was still at the station. ( I was only still there because a person had been hit on my train line and trains had to be cancelled till the tracks were clear).

The security guy had to check with his supervisor but finally the supervisor and Ian appear and the supervisor hands me the contraband. I will now have to arrange to have them posted back to Australia as I am also heading back to the UK on the Eurostar.

Crisis averted and Ian was on his way home via London. I had to wait another 30 minutes for a train and was picked up at the station just after 1:30 pm. I was sitting having a glass of wine and a late lunch within 30 minutes. After I unpacked and settled in, Brigitte and I drank more wine and just spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on life. We are going to have a ball over the next 4 weeks.

For dinner Brigitte made me a traditional Belgian dish of Chicon au Gratin, which is chicory or endive which has been boiled and strained being wrapped in ham and then the rolls are placed in a dish and covered in white sauce and cheese and baked in the oven till golden. It is a very delicious dish, which we worked out Brigitte had made for me 37 years earlier.Read more