Bruges - May 13

Wednesday, May 13, 2008, Brugge. Today, in the largest of the town squares, (in front of the 250-foot tall bell tower built in the mid-1200's), is the open market where vendors have come in large trucks (that convert into stalls) to sell  vegetables, butchered meats, rotisserie cooked meats, waffles, fresh flowers, etc. The produce is international, from around the world, not locally grown, but the shoppers are local. They are the "bruggelings," some of the 25,000 year-round residents of historic Brugge who, on market day,  stand out in relief against the tourists.  Lots of older couples. Holding hands.  Walking slowly.  Toting their bags of fresh produce and flowers wrapped in paper. And many shoppers on bicycles with baskets brimming with goods. Next, at 11 a.m. we took a boat ride through the canals. Though we were in a motorboat with two dozen people and the driver continuously broadcast comments, in spite of that, It was a calm, lilting and beautiful ride gliding amidst cool tree-lined shady glades, going under low slung 14th-Century stone bridges, seeing on the grassy banks the swans tending their fresh hatched fuzzy off-spring and other swans sitting on twig beds off melon size swan eggs. And the buildings, made of stones and bricks to last centuries. Some with boat docks. All, perfectly in balance with each other, two, three four stories at most.   Lunch was eaten at, Den Gouden Karpel, a family-operated fish store and cafe. One of it's entrances, to a sit-down waiter-serviced room faces our hotel. The other entrance, to a take-away bar with 12 tall stools, faces the rectangular, colonaded Fish Market, built in 1800 and housing about 36 permanent stone stalls.  It is represented as an active fish market, but during our visit only one stall was occupied.    Our meal in the take-away area was fresh, very fresh and tasty. We had:   House-smoked halibut; Eel in a sauce of pureed spinach, basil, chervil thinned with a delicious broth; Lobster bisque; and Mussels. (Roland bought a take-away sandwich of silky, thin-sliced, smoked halibut for the upcoming train ride to Paris). Next up is a visit to the Groeninge Museum. It houses items related to the era of Charles the Bold, his daughter, Mary of Burgundy and her son, Phillip the Handsome. (I wrote about their tombs earlier). The era was from about 1450 to about 1550. The exhibits are laid out in categories beginning with personal effects (clothing, armor, jewelry), then fraternal orders (official seals, ceremonial crystal vases, large books illustrating colorfully the tales, rights, obligations,  duties and punishments of a particular order of Knights which, today, still exist), then tapestries (Cesar, Alexander the Great, etc. were studied as examples of how to amass and wield power, their actions were illustrated in enormous, spectacular, action-packed tapestries)(also on display are miniature tapestries, 14"x18", executed by Rogier van der Weyden), finally there are paintings, colorful, realistic, show stopper, larger-than-life, ordinary size and very small paintings by Jan van Eyck, Memmling and again Rogier van der Weyden. For lovers of 15th-Century Flemish masterpieces this is heaven.   As extraordinary as all the artwork was, one image was very special: an elderly grandfather, with his grand-daughters, about 6 and 8 years old, he kneeled beside them, and kindly, and gently, told them, as if they were sitting before bedtime on his knee hearing a story, he told them the stories that the large colorful tapestry was telling. It was a precious, priceless, sweet and affection filled moment. Afterward, Wes, Roland and I met in a pretty and small plaza to by chocolates at Madame Dumon: dark chocolate covered cherries--with pits; thin sweet orange slices, half-dipped in dark chocolate; and thin apple slices covered in milk chocolate. For dinner, we looked on the internet and came up with, Saint-Amour. We lucked out. It is a small restaurant. Underground. The ceilings are old brick and vaulted. The young chef who won the Best Flemish Chef of the year award, greeted us at the door and for the first hour we were the only customers which meant he was cooking for us only. The menu was fairly traditional with just enough of a modern touch to make it extra eye-catching. The starter: "2xTuna and 3xWhite Asparagus" was tuna prepared two ways(tuna tartar topped with thimble-size scoops of white asparagus ice cream and an edible purple pansy flower) and white asparagus tips prepared three ways. There was also a Mackerel starter and a starter of Three Langoustines on Risotto. (This is the European season for white asparagus. It has been on every menu. And we have eaten it daily. With great pleasure.) The main courses were Gigot d'agneau and Ray-Fish Wing Stuffed With Shrimp. Then came cheese plates with creamy and pungent Epoisses running over the edge of a tiny spoon. Also a cheese tasting of having been bathed in walnuts. There were four other cheeses, all good, but their individual descriptions now blur into one memory of pleasure. Tomorrow we depart. Sam begins his journey home, to Santa Fe, NM, apart from us. We, Wes, Roland and myself are taking trains to Paris.