We stayed in Charleroi 4 nights as Cedric and Alex prepared their school for their leave of absence. We enjoyed meeting some of their pilot friends - many of whom Cedric had instructed. We also learned some interesting things about the routing we would take to Crete. Cedric and Alex have flown around Europe and parts of Africa extensively and so the sharing of their knowledge base is very welcomed by us.
We visited the town of Namur for a late dinner at a Chateau restaurant which one of the pilots at the school recommended to us. It is perched on a hill overlooking the town. When we got to the restaurant we became aware that it looked too fancy for 6 scruffy looking aviators who were not prepared to pack fancy dinner attire for this leg of our trip. (... our nonessential items for the trip to Crete went on ahead on the Cessna Grand Caravan.) The dining room was exquisite with white linen table cloths, hanging crystal chandeliers, beautifully arranged potted plants and tall French doors adorned with sheer drapes accessorized with velvet cinches. We fully expected to be turned away by the portly, straight-backed maitre d'. Dinner guests in elegant attire talked in low tones as they sipped fine wines and properly adjusted the linen napkins on their non-fidgeting laps. Like a well choreographed bit of staging they all seemed to stop and look up at us at the same time with curious and guarded stares. Interestingly, the head waiter didn't care that we were dressed for a tour of a livestock facility. We were led to a table in the middle of the room careful to tread lightly with our boots so as not to shatter the ambience of candle lit tables and whispered intrigues by diners nearby. Once seated, I thought it wonderful that in this day and age the standards of 'fine dining' had relaxed and we went on to be treated by the efficient and impeccably dressed staff with such respect and artful grace.
It was then we learned that the staff were all culinary students from the culinary academy next door and were practicing their craft while possibly being graded by instructors dressed up as high end clientele. Our table's server was a young man of about 19 or 20 - so tall and skinny, wearing a black suit with bow tie and glistening black shoes. He moved and darted so quickly I was afraid he would slip on the polished floor. With straight back, he bent slightly at the waist every time he presented a platter of food to each of us. Think Downton Abbey dining.
However, the part where the waiter artfully removes stem ware from place settings that won't be used revealed the yet to be studied chapter on Consistent Handling of Clean Stem Ware. Our young man, moving like a ballet dancer around the table gathered up the unneeded wine glasses at the stem in bunches of two or three. Such poise and agility of wrist. Then without dropping a beat he picked up one wine glass with fingers and thumb holding the bowl of the glass - fingers INSIDE the glass. These glasses were then placed neatly back on the shelf of a gorgeous credenza where unused glasses were perched for future place settings. As he spun around on the ball of one shiny shoe to dart quickly to another task, he used the back of his hand to wipe his nose. It was a Fellini moment and it was all I could do to contain my amusement. Sorry to go on about this. I suppose you'd have to be there to appreciate it.
The next day we went into Brussels. Nick and I were quite impressed with the layout and the architecture of much of the city. We entered the Grand Place and I thought I had entered a 17th/18th century story book. It is a huge plaza with the most impressive buildings lining it on all sides.
A cloudy, rainy day but still an impressive visit to the Grand Place. Pedro of Team SoCal Travel Air is enjoying the architecture too.
In the Grand Place. Nick being a gentleman and holding my heavy backpack. Behind him is the beautiful Mansion de Roi museum which houses art work and history of the city of Brussels. The size of this square is maybe a fifth the size of Central Park in NY. Don't put me on the stand to swear to this. In any case, it's very large.
This facade impressed us in that the relief statues "standing guard" over the square have been doing so for centuries while the more modern clock to the side vainly reminds us of the passing time in hours and minutes.
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