Le Creuset

One of the most enjoyable things about living in different parts of the world is to pick up some of the items unique to the region.  This weekend couple of friends and I took a road trip to the town of Fresnoy-le-Grand in Northern France where Le Creuset manufactures cast iron, enamel coated cookware - for their annual sale.  The prices are 70-80 percent off European prices, which my friends tell me are much less than what you would pay for the same items in the States, due to high import taxes.

The above picture is what I purchased.  I had a great time with the ladies and cannot believe how much fun it was.  When the alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. my first thought was why in the heck did I say I would go?!!  But I began to feel excitement after morning tea at my friend's house and we hit the road at 7:00 a.m.  We certainly weren't first in line, but we did get into the warehouse in the first tranche.  I REFUSE to participate in the lurid Black Friday type shopping and this made me question briefly if I had succumbed to base desires of greed.  But even though the crowd was thick, people were respectful of others. 

Walking the wide aisles of the warehouse there were display items on top of unopened boxes.  What was available was all there was.  If you found the teapot you wanted then you may only find it in one color, so the finds of the day were just that - treasures.  I did fall in love with the Caribbean color, as shown above.

So now is time for cooking and I have some ideas!

Driving in Brussels

I think one of the most telling characteristics of any place is  the answer to the question "what's it like to drive there?"

Brussels is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe.  Belgium as a country has more than 860 people per square mile.  Add to that the street grid that is not only East/West and North/South, but diagonal streets on every corner.  There are NO stop signs in Belgium.  Instead they rely on the rule that any auto entering the street from the right has right-of-way.  This holds true for dirt roads entering from fields, country lanes and regular streets.  I thought I understood this until I discovered that the "priority right" as it is called, also holds true even if the car entering from the right hand side is turning left.

Likewise they use traffic circles instead of red lights at intersections.  These are not so bad, unless they are too small to accommodate the amount of traffic.  You basically yield when entering the round-about...but not always.  I have a round-about near my house where anyone entering from the right thinks they have priority over those already on the round-about.

All this is confusing enough, except the streets themselves are not generally wide boulevards, but narrow streets barely wide enough for two cars to pass.  And they often weave among obstacles, meandering through the city like an afterthought.  If you are driving on a two lane road there may only be a single lane ahead, or if you think you are on a wide single lane street, you will find people driving beside you - there are no lines! How do you know?

So with the prevalence of priority right you would think you can make right hand turns easily?  Nah!  If you are stopped at a red light, you may NOT turn right on red AND there is probably a bus lane to your right where you are not allowed to drive

Left hand turns are another cluster.  Very seldom are there left hand turn lanes, if they exists there are even fewer left hand turn signals.  What happens is that anyone wishing to make a left crowds into the intersection, sometimes going around the back of cars from the other direction turning left.  When the light turns red, then all those who were able to fit into the intersection can make their left hand turn.

Driving 3 miles in the city can take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes on a good day.  It once took me an hour and a half.  You must yield to all pedestrian, bicyclers, even the people driving "hover rounds" on the streets...you never know what will jump out in front of you next.

Veterans Day Memorial Ride

For Veterans Day, I and a dozen of my motorcycle riding friends visited some of the more obscure memorial sites in Belgium. 

Our first stop of the day was in Brugelette, where we witnessed a formal ceremony and laying of the wreath at not one, but three separate memorial sites.  We walked between the plaques and memorials along with the procession while a band played.  At each stop the townsfolk reflected on the significance as the band performed the Belgian, French and American national anthems.

In Mons, there is a memorial to the Big Red 1.

In Wavre City Municipal Cemetery we paid homage to Private H.C. Jamieson.  He perished 22 January 1918 while serving in the Canadian army.  There are only seven World War I graves here.  He is the only American.

Making Me a Priority

We’ve all used the excuses.  I would work out if the gym were closer to my house; if it weren’t so expensive; if I only had a personal trainer…

I finally have a fully stocked gym just down the street.  It is free. So is the trainer.  If I don’t do this now, when would I ever do it?  It is all on me now. 

There will never be enough time.  There has never been enough time in the day to get everything I needed, nor most of what I wanted, to accomplish.  That is not going to change, thus I will have to make it a priority.

A priority for what reason?  It isn’t because I enjoy it, though I hope someday to.  A priority so that I may add more years to my life; so that those years will be more enjoyable and active…and because if you look better, you feel better.