The kind innkeeper of Aywaille

We get back to the car after being rejected at the hotel. In the dark we do the best we can to continue to navigate through town. The good news is there are only a few main streets and we are looking for a house up the hill a bit on the other side of town.

We find what seems like the address its a very large white house that looks almost semi-industrial but nice enough. We knock and the proprietor greets us and he can actually speak reasonable English.

He is instantly excited to hear that Dad is a veteran since he was a little kid during the conflict and remembers the occupation. He invites us in and sits us down to have a few beers with him. Nice, I am very happy at this point being a fan of Belgian beer.

We all get a Chimay Rouge and chat for 30 minutes or so. We learn that the owner often rents his house for meetings and catering events,etc and he has a large kitchen in the back but there is nothing tonight. We work out a deal for a room that seems like a real discount compared to what we would have paid at the hotel that rejected us. Only the deal gets sweeter as we find out we will each have a private room and the price is the total price which we thought was reasonable for one room was for all three rooms.

I have been driving all day long and need a good meal and perhaps a few more Trappiste beers that I am dying to try out. Dad is very tired and doesn’t want to go and he also is not hungry so after a beer and some snacks we get him setup in his room and head out to walk into town to a nice little restaurant area near the River. There were about 6-8 restaurants all in row with canopies etc for al fresco dining. We pick one and settle in. Its been a great trip and we have nice meal and some more Trappiste beers to talk the evening away. We eventually stagger back to the hotel and into our private bedrooms. Ahh PRIVATE ROOMS no snoring to deal with…..

Next: The Morning After and Bastogne

No room at the Inn

As I mentioned the earlier article we had no reservations for some of the whole second week of our trip. As afternoon turned to evening and we were getting farther into the Belgium mountain area I began to worry. I think the plan was to drive to Bastogne but we were slowed a little at border control and by our 4-cylinders.

I suggest that we start looking for a place but as we head into the hills there are less towns and population. I see a sign for “Spa” and that seems like a good name for a tourist town but the roads and very windy and its hard to navigate or get our bearings since its getting darker. I remember we stopped at a station and asked for some suggestions. I remember a guy in a Mercedes recommends a hotel that has a nice fish restaurant outside of the town of Aywaille. I tell him I have a map but I really cannot see anything in the light and he says to follow him and he will take us close to the turn off for the town. I follow his taillights for awhile through some twisty, winding roads and then the sign for Aywaille leads us off to the right.

We feel like we are lost as its getting late and its somewhat mountainous woodsy territory, but we finally get into the Aywaille area the hotel that was recommended is right at the edge of town and is called something “Roses”. Its a very quaint hotel and has an attached small restaurant and bar area. I pull into the parking lot and head into the lobby to negotiate for some rooms. John has been enjoying some Cabernet during the long road trip and saddles up to the hotel bar area. I can feel the hotel manager’s attitude shift as he scans us over more carefully.

Manager - “I am sorry sir but we are fully booked and do not have any rooms this evening”

Me - “Now we’ve traveled a long way and my father is an elderly man. Is there anything you can do to help us out? “ (I am playing up the old man card but I knew my Dad could kick-my-arse even though he was turning 70).

Manager - “I am sorry but are all out of rooms and you will have to leave the bar area as well since we are closing”. (Ok great they don’t like us at all its obvious from his mannerisms. No room at the Inn)”

Me - “Please, is there anything in town or nearby that you can recommend or something we could try out given the late hour?”

Manager - “There is a house at the edge of town up the road that sometimes lets rooms I can give you the address”.

We are running out of options and its getting late we need to try this out. I thank him and leave but I am expecting a barn with donkeys at the address he gave me.

Might this be the bar that rejected some poor weary travelers? Its O.K. we got something better.

 

 

Next: The kind innkeeper of Aywaille

Wine, Street Sausages, and the Road to Belgium

Off to Belgium:

When we are beginning our long drive from Normandy to Bastogne region of Belgium I tell John we should stock on some French red wines and load up the trunk while they are still so cheap. I mean really its cheaper than soda at the time we were there. We get a few bottles of some Chateau variety and since I am driving all the way I am not able to enjoy any until we reach our destination.

We also get some great sausages grilled from some street vendor in fresh baguettes for our lunch on-the-go. For me, that was one of the best sausage sandwiches I have ever had. Perhaps we bought them when leaving Amiens but wherever it was it was really good.

We began our drive from Amiens to Belgium and at some cross over point we have to stop for passport control since this is prior to the EU. Not sure if we hit a strip of an autobahn type highway but suddenly the driving is really fast and I have a cheap four cylinder rental. I made the mistake of being in the left lane for awhile but quickly realized I had to get over and stay over.

I read the posted major highway speeds in the Netherlands are around 81 mph after I do the metro conversion of course. Here I am talking about the 120km variety.

We stop to hit a quick late afternoon bite and a bathroom break then we keep moving.

I actually like this more “honored” system of stay over to the right if you are going slower and wish we had it more ingrained in the United States. People drive at all kinds of speeds in all kinds of lanes leading to lots of passing on the right and potentially alot more traffic incidents. Not sure if the statistics back this up but if people going slower would move to the right and people did not pass on the right at a whim it would seem to lead to less trouble overall.

Next: No room at the Inn

Lavomatic? Si vos plait.

Sept 1, 1994

We have a rough plan to leave Normandy and stop in Amiens for a pitstop. Our original itinerary was to find a place to stay around Amiens but we decide that we want to make it all the way to Belgium so we have more time in the morning to go around Bastogne and other places in that area.

Its been a week or so now and as three grown men living in close quarters who have been doing alot of outdoor walking and hiking its past time to get some laundry done. As we near Amiens we decide a large town like this should have quite a few laundromats. John and I have each had a few years of high school French but we are pretty bad and I can’t do much more than ask for “3 more beers please?” and “where is the bathroom?”. I have never done laundry in France or had a class where you pretend to do laundry and that’s unfortunate at this point. In class we practiced ordering soup, catching a train, going to the movies, more wine and baguettes. So it was time to try out my Dad’s newly acquired Radio Shack language translator!

My Dad had figured he would need a language translator at some point on this trip and had purchased a LCD handheld language translator from Radio Shack. Very alpha technology, as it did a few major languages, you typed in a word and it gave you the answer in the other language. So far it had not been put to use but here was its chance with the word “laundromat”. My Dad and brother were excited to try it out.

Type in:

L-A-U-N-D-R-O-M-A-T

Answer:

L-A-V-R-O-M-A-T-I-Q-U-E

Looks good. We get to town and start asking. “Ou est LAVAMATIC” .. “Je Voudrais LAVROMATIC”, “S’il vous plait LAVOROMATIC”. Its as bad as CAEN when we were asking for directions to the Womens Abbey and people thought we wanted women. People are not getting what we are saying and its getting frustrating. Again, at this time in history, there is no YELP or google map for us just the language barrier with our fellow humans to overcome. After a significant number of attempts an English speaking guy overhears us and asks.

English speaker: “What are you trying to say?” “What do you want?”

Us: “We need to do laundry ... what were we saying?”

English speaker: “I have no idea?! BUT there’s a laundromat about a block away down there”

While John sits with the laundry, Dad and I go to check out the Amiens Cathedral about a block away. Amazing Cathedral its really a tall ceiling inside. Thought I saw some Joan d’Arc memorial but wasn’t sure.

Dad enjoyed the Cathedral and we head back to the laundry. I watch the laundry for awhile and John hits the cafe around the corner for a beer. After that, I grab an espresso before we leave since I was about to drive a pretty long way to Belgium.

Finally we are done and on the road. Off to Belgium to find something, we are not sure what really, but we are targeting some lodging to get us within striking distance of the Bastogne area since Dad was all around this area during the Ardennes campaign and the Battle of the Bulge.

Next: Wine, Street Sausages, and the Road to Belgium