Walls in France: Belgique!

On October 23rd, the girls started their fall break. We planned for my parents to come for a visit, but we also managed to fit in a long-awaited trip to Belgium to visit the Dabroskis! Barbara and David (and their kids, Anya and Stefan) lived next door to us when we lived in Mt. Baker in Seattle. 2008 33rd Avenue South was the first house Bucky and I ever bought together and it was a really special place, made even more so by our wonderful neighbors! Anya and Stefan are now all grown up and on their own, and their parents have been living in Belgium for the past three years (with their sweet and mischievous dog, Ellie). We have communicated many times since arriving in France, trying to coordinate a rendez-vous and finally made it there for five day wonderful days!

Our hosts took us into Brussels to see the sites, and also to a Flemish town called Leuven. There, we visited a beguinage which was once a refuge or communal town just for women. We went to a market where they shop weekly and we enjoyed coffee and treats at a couple of quaint restaurants. Primarily, we enjoyed hanging out with Barbara and David in their beautiful home, drinking wine and telling stories. They both enjoy cooking so we were fed very well and had lots of fun sitting in the kitchen listening to their banter as they prepared the meals!

The Wall family did venture out for an entire day on an outing to Amsterdam. We took the train which was a quick two hour jaunt and then found our way to the Anne Frank house. Both girls had read her diary and we were all eager to visit her hiding place. It was a touching experience and an important one for us all. We then had a fun lunch at Hard Rock Cafe (for a little taste of America!) and spent the afternoon at the Van Gogh Museum. We were tired when we got back to the Dabroskis that night, but glad we had made the trip.

On Wednesday, we headed home to Eygalieres. We were sad to leave our friends, but so thrilled that we had gotten together. We hope to spend more time with each other since we are once again (pretty-much!) neighbors!