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  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 10

    Marvelous Mons

    September 23, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Today we headed to Mons a delightful little town about an hours drive from Limal. Our reason to be in Mons was twofold first to have lunch with Brigitte’s kids and grandchildren to celebrate her birthday and second to attend the Beatles day ( a separate entry required for this).

    I had no expectations about Mons and was pleasantly surprised by this beautiful city which is full of character and culture and beautifully set out.

    We were supposed to have lunch at this up market Chinese Restaurant ( a friend Brigitte’s aunt and uncle run it) but we discovered after trying to ring for a few days that the restaurant was closed until mid October. In a panic, Brigitte looked on-line and found a place that had good reviews, was situated just off the Grand Place and got 4.7 on trip adviser.

    It was a small “restaurant” with Formica tables and when you asked for a soft-drink there was no glass provided and you required to drink it directly from a can! Brigitte was mortified but we soldiered on and had lunch there, the food was pretty basic but edible and the price of the entire meal was substantially lower than Brigitte had expected (the silver lining?). We had advised the waitress that took our orders that Stéphane was allergic to nuts and she advised that the dish he had ordered was “nut free” but then we saw that the rice and noodles that accompanied the meals was covered in nuts.
    We checked again that Steph’s meal was safe to consume and were assured it was, however, as Steph started to eat the meal he started to feel unwell. He took an anti-histamine and started feeling nauseous and generally unwell. He went out for some fresh air and we fixed up the bill and headed out.

    As we had some time and the kids were having dessert, Nathalie and Melanie and I took a little tour around the city. The Grand Place was buzzing as there was a never ending parade of weddings going into the Town Hall. We will definitely have to visit again as Geertje told me that it was voted the cultural capital of Brussels.    Read more

  • TravelerTo Amsterdam and beyond
    2
    Day 17

    Marching on!

    May 22, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Belgian Pageantry is, it seems, a big thing. I was lucky to bump into a festival in full swing in Thuin. It appears to be an evolution of a religious parade where a statue or relic of the local saint is taken around the village once a year as a kind of blessing/protection. Somehow this has got wrapped up with military costumes from the period around Napoleon for armies coming from all over the place (belgium is a bit of a long-term battle ground). The locals were super keen to impress about how great this is. There were many different marching bands each of which have various uniforms and divisions for drums, guns, women, kids etc.
    Binche is famous for its festival with straw stuffed gilles (men) which lob oranges as a blessing. It was not their fete but a few of them were out and about (and I was given but not lobbed an orange ).
    I also visited the 2002 UNESCO barge lift (unfortunately closed on Mondays but impressively huge none the less) and the found the older Napoleonic version near by. Finally stopped in the city of Mons.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 10

    Beatle Day

    September 23, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    After lunch in Mons, Brigitte, Melanie and I set off for the Beatles Day at the Mons exhibition hall. The Beatles day is an annual event that brings together a large lineup of bands and performers who play homage to the Fab Four. The event is attended by about 2,000 people of all ages (although the demographic leaned towards the 50+) and runs for 12 hours. In addition to the performers, there is Beatles merchandise from paintings and books and photographs to vintage clothing, jewellery, records and t-shirts.

    We met up with a couple of Brigitte’s friends, Yves and Gerard, who are both very nice people, and who made me feel welcome and were patient with my broken French! Geertje and Gui joined us at about 9pm, as they had another engagement during the day.

    The line up included bands from Belgium, UK, Spain and France: The Unpluggers, 2 OF US, CAJ-MIR, Invité D’Honneur: Michael Assayas, Handpan, Les Lionceaux, 2 DAY, The Low Beat, Beatles Day All Stars Band,The Cavernites and The Blisters.

    We missed the first 3 acts. The first act we saw was a group of female students accompanied by their teacher; they were very good but appeared quite nervous. Next was an interesting group called Handpan; they played a Handpan and also a Didgeridoo - they were quite eclectic and I enjoyed a couple of their songs. Next a French group Les Lionceaux who were ok but sang their songs in French, which no one seem to appreciate. The lead singer left the stage after about 8 songs and then the band played a set in English, and this got everyone up and dancing.

    Next was another Belgium band 2DAY. They were pretty good and the crowd became more animated. The next band was a French group, The Low Beat and in my opinion they were the best of the line up. They were energetic, engaging and tight and the lead singer had a wonderful voice and presence. The dance floor was packed.

    There was a special group comprising of a number of Belgian stars in their own right who came together as Beatles Day All Star Band, and they were excellent, as one would expect. The band comprised of Julie Compagnon, Perry Rose - who is half Irish and half Flemish - and had a divine voice, next was Kevin Cools (De Machiavel), Saule - who is a very well known singer on the international stage, Xavier Bouillon, Loris Tils, Jules Scinta and leading this group was Antoine Goudeseune, who is an amazing guitarist.

    The next band was a British cover band, The Cavernites from Liverpool. They were pretty good and very entertaining. The last band to perform were a Spanish group, The Blisters who were very good. They were full of energy and were lots of fun, and they played extremely well.

    It was a great day and Brigitte had a wonderful birthday, although she may have over indulged drinking rosé, but she had a great time. We only got home about 12.30am and tomorrow morning we head off to Paris.    Read more

  • Dansen op de maan? BELGIE!!
    Day 2

    Merel!

    July 16, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    Na een kleine aanpassing in het schema zijn we nu in Bergen om Merel op te halen. Uiteraard zijn we eerst verkeerd gereden.

    Gelukkig was daar wel een Ezel dus het omrijden heeft toch een goede reden gehad.

    Merel zit nu lekker in de Aygo en we zijn nu op weg naar een supermarkt. Daarna een slaapplekje zoeken voor vanavond.    Read more

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  • PMU avélo
    Day 98

    Étape 73 : Bruxelles - Mons

    August 20, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Distance : 58 km
    Dénivelé : 385 m D+
    Temps de déplacement : 2h38
    Tracé GPS : https://strava.app.link/kXIIbRNyWsb

    Par Valentin

    Après une journée bien mouvementée, c'est l'heure du départ. Seul problème : un moussaillon a du mal à se réveiller d'une nuit mouvementée, mais finalement, à 13h, tous sont sur les vélos et ont déjà mangé.

    Valentin aura eu le temps de redemander à d'autres cabinets et hôpitaux de lui enlever ses points de suture au pied, mais ça reste sans succès encore aujourd'hui.

    Après une petite étape, on arrive à Mons chez Clément, un ami d'enfance d'Armand, qui vit avec sa copine Sarah. Au grand bonheur de Valentin, Sarah est en études de sage femme et a tout le matériel nécessaires pour enfin enlever ses points.

    Après un bon repas et une session guitare animée par Simon, on sort un petit coup pour profiter des amis et des bières belges. On passera une bonne nuit de récup, bien réparatrice pour nos fêtards de la veille !    Read more

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  • Benefrux
    Day 9

    Mons

    September 22, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Wildes Gegurke bis man hier einen schönen Parkplatz gefunden hat. Ein kurzer Zwischenstopp auf dem Weg Richtung Bouillon. Darum auch hier keine Suppe beim Vietnamesen bestellt. Dafür Baguettes. 🤪 So heißen hier die Essstäbchen.Read more

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  • Beat BrunnerLuxemburg - Belgien - Holland
    Day 6

    Mons

    September 7, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Mons hat uns etwas überrascht. Eigentlich haben wir die Stadt als Übernachtungsort gewählt, weil wir die nahegelegenen Schiffshebewerk Strépy-Thieu anschauen wollten. Es hat sich aber herausgestellt, dass Mons eine sehr schöne und grosse Altstadt besitzt. Es macht Spass durch Mons zu flanieren.

    Als wir dort waren, war ach noch Markttag. Markt ist immer gut :-)

    Auch unser Hotel in Mons war ein wirkliches Highlight. Das Hotel Dream ist in eine ehemalige Kirche gebaut und viele der Kirchenelemente sind erhalten geblieben und gekonnt in die neue Architektur eingebunden worden.    Read more

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