Cheese downtown Brussels

 Downtown Brussels is going through a major renovation. The main boulevards that link Rogier Square, near Gare du Nord, to the area close to the Midi Station will become pedestrian areas, with coffee shops, terrasses and trees. Part of the works are not completed and the streets have gained a new dynamism.

One of the key streets in this sector of town is Rue du Midi -- it's the first picture I show in the this post -- that runs from the Bourse Palace towards the South. It has some very picturesque shops, such as La Maison du Miel, a small boutique with all kinds of honey and a true city landmark, collectors' stamps shops, a major sportswear house, sweets and more, as the one shown below, and my preferred cheese shop, Catherine. The cheeses are not cheap, as you can see from the window, but they are of great variety and high quality. I love cheese and this is like a sacred place for me.

Sweets! And more sweets!

Château de Jehay, Wallonia, Belgium

The Southern Provinces of Belgium have a string of beautiful castles. One cannot visit all of them, so it is advisable to select a few of them, up to ten, if one can, and then spend time touring these great places. 

One of my preferred castles is the one of Jehay, a XVI century jewel of a place. It is a very unique combination of buildings and gardens, based on the Renaissance inspiration of the time. 

And this is the right time of the year to enjoy the flowers, the plants and the site.

Jehay is about 90 km from Brussels. And there is plenty of parking space at the site. 

Odette is in town, Châtelain area of Brussels

The Châtelain area of Brussels, near Avenue Louise, is a trendy part of the city. It has a good number of bars and restaurants. They are above all patronised by younger professionals, some of them with deep pockets, others with just enough money for a nice drink and some food with the rest of the gang.

A recent addition to the offer is "Odette en ville", with a great food list, at reasonable prices for the type of establishment, a nice bar and lounge - good for an afternoon tea, as I did yesterday - and about seven nice rooms. The rooms make it a boutique hotel. The room prices range from 220 to 380 Euros a night, breakfast not included. That's on the high side of things. But they are great, as the pictures show. 

The wine list offers a large choice of rather expensive wines. But one can order a nice bottle of Douro 4 U 2015 wine. They charge 28 Euros for such Portuguese wine. For white wine, one has to be prepared to pay a higher price. It is a pity they do not offer the option of house wines. 

The staff is young and pleasant. I can't complain about the service either.

I certainly will visit again. I am very tempted by the menu list, with lunch during the week starting at 28 Euros for a two-course meal. 

Maastricht: a nice day trip

Maastricht is about 110 km from Brussels. It's roughly one hour by car. And it is a good change for the day. 

I love to go there, walk around and enjoy the Dutch style of life, have lunch, walk again, and then drive back to Brussels. A bit of local shopping is also a delight. 

It is easy to park, easy to find one's way around and not too difficult to decide for a lunch place at a reasonable price. Particularly because it is a university city and there are eating places for every pocket.

La Ferme au Faubourg: wait, wait, wait, but the quality is good

La Ferme au Faubourg Restaurant is located in Quenast, a village of Rebecq commune, some 33 km from Brussels centre. Rebecq has become a wealthier place during the last ten to fifteen years. There are some rich farmers around as well as younger families of professionals who work in the Brussels area. It is also a place where one can find some well-off pensioners.

These pensioners have some money to enjoy good food and one of their eating places in that corner of Wallonia is La Ferme au Faubourg. It is actually a good place for people with lots of time to burn as the service can be desperately slow. Today, it took about three-and-a-half hours to go through a two course lunch, plus an initial ready-made starter. That's an eternity, particular when the room is full, as it was the case today. In the end, I decide to go for coffee and dessert elsewhere, just to feel released and move free off my chair. 

This is no place to go with young kids, because of the long wait and the type of menus that are too classic for children's tastes and preferences. 

The food is good -- but certainly not as fabulous as the owners would like it to be --, the quality of the produce seems high, but the menus are also on the high end of cost scale. This is no cheap place. The house wine is a good option, at a reasonable price, particularly if one takes into account that the wine list is on the expensive side. The house white wine option is certainly a good choice. 

The noise level is acceptable taking into account the crowd and the confined atmosphere of these old rooms in a farm from another era. 

The restaurant has its own parking. That's appreciated.