Tinker's photos

Ready to bake snails. At the small local supermarket in Chastre

Cheese balls for deep frying. At the small local supermarket in Chastre

Leffe is another famous abbey beer, and just as with Chimay, I discovered they also make cheese. At the small local supermarket in Chastre

I was surprised to see Chimay cheese. Chimay is a Trappist monastery famous for its excellent beer. I've come to realise that the same monasteries and abbeys that make beer usually make cheese as well. Makes sense. At the small local supermarket in Chastre

When I did the tour at Maredsous Abbey, it included a visit to the cheese museum. They told us they make two kinds of cheeses, the ones that are made according to the old traditional recipes of the abbey, and other "industrial" cheeses. These are the industrial ones. At the small local supermarket in Chastre

Not just one kind of Laughing Cow cheese! Also, note the ones below it, of the same variety as "La vache qui rit", but with the Maredsous brand name. These are made at Maredsous, but are considered "industrial cheeses" as opposed to the traditional artisanal cheese they have long made. At the small local supermarket in Chastre

chips with the flavour "bolognese" and also "pickles". I thought the pickles flavour was weird until I remembered we have "salt and vinegar". At the small local supermarket in Chastre

Baby vegetables. The baby corn and baby carrots are not so weird for me. Baby asparagus, both green and white, were more unusual. But baby cauliflower! Yes! At the small local supermarket in Chastre

I had never had fresh asparagus in Australia until I moved back from Germany in the mid 1990s. In Australia we mostly eat green asparagus, but in northern Europe it is mainly fat, white asparagus, and I still prefer it white. They are like two totally different vegetables for me. At the small local supermarket in Chastre

The fact that I do not speak French does not seem to faze the kids at all. I'm just some weird grown up who does not speak properly. He spent ages this afternoon showing me his Marsupilami cartoon books telling me about what is going on there (although he can't read yet either). We have strange conversations. But occasionally I manage a whole sentence in French and he is really pleased when that happens. At Marie & Denis' in Chastres

Remy is a BIG cat. He likes to lie on the heater, as cats do. He doesn't quite fit. At Marie & Denis' in Chastres

The wallpaper in Jean's bedroom, which is my room while I am staying. I love the wallpaper. I would have loved this as a child too. At Marie & Denis' in Chastres

At Marie & Denis' in Chastres

Live action man exiting man cave. At Marie & Denis' in Chastres

Not really. He was trying to find the sewerage pipe in another attempt to unblock the toilet. At Marie & Denis' in Chastres

We saw several paragliders and hot air balloons all the way back from Roy, and as we came into Chastre there was one dangling above the town too

There are so many wind turbines in Belgium! Or at least there are wherever we drive

There are so many wind turbines in Belgium! Or at least there are wherever we drive