See the signs on the gate? Click on the photo to enlarge.Yesterday was May 1st a big holiday here, workers day. Originally the Feast day of St Joseph the worker. I understand the weather is not usually this nice this early in the year, it has been great for the whole month and people are really taking advantage of this. We went out and of course I misunderstood, I thought we were going to a new coffee house. But we were going for coffee and to see some new houses. This place for coffee is on this really nice pond with a large area around for hiking, picnicking etc. I guess this was part of the property for the castle there. It seems all over Belgium these land holders have given up a lot of their property for public use.
Well what Anne was showing me was the new houses. These are very large places on nice lots. I asked if these were the "nouveau riche", I love having these french phrases that we use. She told me this was old money that had downsized from the castles that had become to expensive to maintain. So when were these new places built, oh about fifty years ago.Near the pond and the restaurant, the castle had a barn and living quarters for the workers. In the picture you can see the signs on the gate. They are in French and Dutch. "Chien Mechant" I thought, they sell dogs here, now "Chien", is dog but "Mechant" is wicked. So don't go cruising in the gate to buy one. It was a really nice day. Now "Bonjour" literally is good day, translates as hello. "Bonne journee" is good day or have a good day. Sebastien always says "pourquoi pas" why not, I use that alot. sounds a lot better that just "oui". Let me try a sentence here. "Pourquoi pas as un cafe avec moi." I think that would mean why not have a coffee with me. "As" is the conjugated verb "you have". "And the judges say", "NON" , Sebastien the "pourquoi pas" expert say's, I should say "Pourquoi pas prendre un cafe avec moi" literally you should take coffee, not have.
Well what Anne was showing me was the new houses. These are very large places on nice lots. I asked if these were the "nouveau riche", I love having these french phrases that we use. She told me this was old money that had downsized from the castles that had become to expensive to maintain. So when were these new places built, oh about fifty years ago.Near the pond and the restaurant, the castle had a barn and living quarters for the workers. In the picture you can see the signs on the gate. They are in French and Dutch. "Chien Mechant" I thought, they sell dogs here, now "Chien", is dog but "Mechant" is wicked. So don't go cruising in the gate to buy one. It was a really nice day. Now "Bonjour" literally is good day, translates as hello. "Bonne journee" is good day or have a good day. Sebastien always says "pourquoi pas" why not, I use that alot. sounds a lot better that just "oui". Let me try a sentence here. "Pourquoi pas as un cafe avec moi." I think that would mean why not have a coffee with me. "As" is the conjugated verb "you have". "And the judges say", "NON" , Sebastien the "pourquoi pas" expert say's, I should say "Pourquoi pas prendre un cafe avec moi" literally you should take coffee, not have.
Not really Starbucks, ok it's better
This is the restaurant building
This is one of the downsized castles, really cuts down on the staffing needs
No comments:
Post a Comment