Yummy Food in Bastogne, Belgium

from top: L'Autre Chapelle--the friterie where we had lunch; inside of friterie; interesting chair bottom--wood layered in a unique way; OH MY GOODNESS--which one to choose? (ended up choosing several!); Marzipan at the same Boulangerie Patisserie.

On the Road and at the Museum

from top: scene near the Abbey; TALL trees lining road in Belgium; REd Cross volunteer uniform--reminded me of my Candystriper uniform, though mine was scandalously shorter; interesting shape reminded me of the rose window we had just visited--this one holding bullets; early model Volkswagen.

Special Pictures from the Abbey

from top: The Rose Window in the ruins; intertwined B's with date of 1616; what looks like a peace sign with date of 1676!; hallway of cellars leading to museum; music book in museum.

More of the Ruins

(two of these show the tower from the new abbey)

Ruins of the Old Abbey

from top: the Nostradamus Oak; the pond from which the trout jumped with the ring in its mouth; picture of stained glass of Mathilde of Tuscany with trout at her feet; what looks like a young girl holding a child trying to wiggle out of her arms; chapter room of Abbey.

Band of Brothers--Abbey and World War II Nov. 18

We left Reims early this morning and headed northeast for Belgium. I noticed a very different kind of housing here in Belgium. The houses seem taller and have these protective coverings--kind of like shingles, I suppose--on the sides as well. And as in French small villages, there don't seem to be any people about. Do People live in these towns? There are cars everywhere. And sheep. But no people. Even the local school (ecole) had no children and no coats hanging on the coathooks above their cubbies. And while I am looking for people, I am shocked by the appearance of a COLORED statue! A soldier in a sky blue uniform holding a rifle atop his podium. At first I thought it was a real person--possible the only person here in Carignan.

On the way to the hotel in Charleroi, we stopped near Florenville to visit Orval Abbey. The Abbey Notre-Dame d'Orval is located in the Wallonian town of Villers-devant-Orval in the province of Luxembourg. It is also in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest. There is evidence there was a chapel here since the 10th century.

A well-known legend says that the monastery was born out of gratitude in 1070. Mathilde of Tuscany, a widow, had lost her golden wedding ring, which had accidentally fallen into the fountain here. She prayed to the Lord and suddenly a trout rose out of the water with the precious ring in its mouth. “Truly,” Mathilde exclaimed, “this place is a Val d’Or, a Valley of Gold!” She donated the land to God for a monastery. It was originally Benedictine then Cistercian. The monks make beer, cheese, and bread for sale in the shop. Unfortunately, the shop was closed until 1:30pm.

Of the original 12th and 13th century buildings, only the ruins of the Romanesque Gothic church of Notre Dame are left with the frame of the original rose window and Romanesque capitals in the nave and transept.

We wandered around the ruins and abbey and took pictures of the window in the ruins, the pond with the fish and ring, the Holy Cross in the stone, the statue of the young girl holding a child, the Nostradamus Oak, the medicinal herb garden, the tomb of Wenceslas, and the DM stone. Many of new parts are closed to the public. We also visited the 18th century cellars with the museum and the model of how the abbey looked in 1760.

Nostradamus was said to have written a number of his prophecies here. Possibly, there were once no less than two treasures hidden in this place: the Treasure of the Knights Templar and the War Chest of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

In 1070, 29 years before the First Crusade, some monks from Calabria, southern Italy, arrived in the Ardennes Forest that belonged to Geoffrey of Bouillon. The monks were led by and individual named Ursus, who was consistently associated with the Merovingian bloodline, or in other words: with the descendants of Jesus Christ. The monks were welcomed by Count Arnould of Chiny and by Geoffrey’s aunt and foster-mother Mathilde of Tuscany, Duchess of Lorraine. From Mathilde they received the land that is now known as Orval, not far from Stenay, where once King Dagobert II was assassinated. His relics are said to be kept here. Before these monks settled in Orval, there was no human habitation here, although there were some Merovingian tombs discovered near a well.

By 1108 the monks had mysteriously disappeared from Orval. There is no record of their destination, but it may well have been Jerusalem.

In the spring of 1791, the French King Louis XVI had become a prisoner in his own country. His wife, Marie Antoinette, was begging her brother the Austrian Emperor to help them. Michel de Nostradame, better known as the prophet Nostradamus is assumed to have foreseen the flight of the French King and his Queen in one of his dark verses. In Quatrain 20 of the Ninth Century (Q20, C9):
The night falls, trough the forest of Reims they come
In two parts to Orval, Herne, the white stone.
Now that the monk is in Varennes, in black and grey,
will the choice of Capet be the cause of storm, fire, blood, axe…
While King and Queen never made it as far as Orval, the royal hairdresser did. Together with Leonard, the Bourbon Royal Treasure was hidden never to resurface again.
He is said to have been shown an ancient and arcane book, on which he based all his subsequent work. This book was given to him at the Abbey of Orval to which it was donated by Mathilde, foster-mother of Geoffrey of Bouillon.
There are three Quatrains that could easily be interpreted to be talking about a Treasure in Orval. Q27, C1 is about a treasure that for many centuries has been gathered and was hidden beneath an oak tree that got struck by lightning. When the treasure is found, a man must die, his eye pierced by a spring. A legend says that Nostradamus often was sitting under an old oak tree, near the botanical garden of the monastery. The tree got struck by lightning but you can take a seat now on the wooden bench under another oak tree and look at the herbs in the garden.

Q66, C8 mentions an “inscription D.M. that is to be found in an ancient cave, revealed by a lamp”.

Q27, C2 tells us about a divine word, struck from the sky, and when you can’t proceed any further, you will see the secret that is locked away with the revelation, as if one will march over it and ahead. Well, under the oak tree, near the herb garden, you are only a few steps away from the inscription D.M., and there, where the Secret is locked away with the revelation, you can walk over and ahead it. I’m talking about the grave of the Abbot Bernard De Montgaillard. Some stones are all that is left, but they do mark the place where the Abbot was buried.

Much of the abbey was destroyed by the French Revolution army in 1793 in retaliation for the monks providing hospitality to the Austrian troops. The community dispersed and the remains of the abbey were abandoned until 1887, when the land was acquired by the Harenne family.

In 1926, the family donated the land to the Cistercian order (I believe it is now Trappists) and a new monastery was built between 1926 and 1948, built to the 18th century plans with a huge statue of Mary.

Belgium is famous for its many beers, around 1000 different kinds. The tradition of beer-making was started by monks. The Abbey d’Orval is famous for both its Trappist beers and its cheeses. We did catch glimpses of the new abbey, which is truly breath-taking.

To get from Orval to Charleroi, you have to go thru Ardennes, but the Battle of the Bulge was more to the East. So we decided to head for Bastogne when we left the Abbey. There is a historical museum here, which we visited, then drove up the road through Foy, Noville, and up to the village of Houffalize. The road we drove on was crucial in the battles here. This is the area mentioned in the Band of Brothers movie. Just off the road in lines of trees, there are still foxholes left over from the war.

In section of forest surrounded by open fields you can walk among the same actual foxholes where American solders huddled in the snow and bitter winter cold of the December of 1944, a thin line holding against the German 507th Panzer Corps around the small village of Foy (pronounced “fwa”). The Siege of Bastogne is probably one of the best known incidents of WWII and a symbol of the “Battle of the Bulge” for Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe’s one word answer to the German demand for surrender, “Nuts”, perhaps recognized for its simple uniquely American plain spoken defiance. This was the largest American land battle of World War II and one of the bloodiest, but the U.S. Army performance was outstanding under extremely difficult circumstances. During the four weeks of the battle, more than 1 million soldiers were engaged. Although exact numbers are not known, there were approximately 500,000 Americans, 600,000 Germans and 55,000 British soldiers in action. Each side lost more than 800 tanks, and the Germans lost 1,000 aircraft. About 19,000 U.S. soldiers were killed and 47,500 wounded. The British bore 1,400 casualties with 200 killed. German units had over 100,000 killed, wounded or captured.

The battle for Bastogne involved far more than the 101st. in the siege which lasted of nearly a month, included the 28th Infantry an Engineer corps and artillary units, including the all African-American 969th Field Artillery unit. The town defender were eventually liberated by clearing weather for air support and the arrival of General Patton’s Third Army. Bastogne was almost completely destroyed in the siege of 1944. A few old historic buildings survive, but separated by empty spaces or post war construction.

We parked in Bastogne and had the best lunch at L’Autre Chapelle. I had the biggest most delicious bowl of lasagna with fresh bread. Oh my, it was good. We almost had the Gaufre de Bruxelles (waffles) with crème fraiche and fraises for dessert, but instead decided to go over to the Boulangerie Patisserie (Aux Delices de Marie) across the street and pick up some goodies for later and we each had a tart there—mine cherry and Ray’s apples with raisins. (Found it funny that here they call their Belgium Waffles, Brussells Waffles.

Arrived in Charleroi and found that our hotel has a Brasserie, so we are in for the night.

Pictures from top: statue on outside wall of Abbey; two pictures of courtyard; TALL Madonna in front of Church at Abbey; cloister of Abbey.