Summer Weddings in Brussels

L'hôtel de ville is a busy place during the summer with weddings occuring constantly, Every thirty minutes another wedding party pulled up last Saturday at the Grand Plaza.

Brussels Grand Plaza

If you think Canada has problems with two official languages. Belgium has three Flamenco (Flemish) , Français (French) and Deutsch (German). The official language varies according to the part of the country you live in. The Flemish have about 40% of the land and 55% of the population and are located in the north of the country. Flemish is a form of Dutch. The Walloons live in the south and speak French and make up 33% and control about 55% of the land. In the east of the country there is a small section of the country that adjoins Germany where the official language is German. Add to this mix a large number of North African immigrants in the largest cities who speak Arabic.

The Walloons are a minority of the population, but they have controlled the government and much of the wealth. Their philosophy is that anyone who does not have the intellectual capability to speak French should not be allowed to govern. This seems like a reasonable proposition. Just look at th 2004 presidential election. John Kerry speaks fluent French while George Bush can't speak English much less another language. We have seen the results of this unfortunate decision for the last four years!

Le Petit Garçon Avec une Baguette

As I walked through Vieux Lyon on my last day in Lyon, I saw ce petit garçon avec une baguette (little boy with a baguette). His
mother was sitting in the cafe just behind the planters. She kept an eye on him while chatting with a friend. Periodically she tried to bring him over closer next to her. These attempts at maternal bonding resulted in immediate loud violent tantrums. To avoid a scene, she settled for letting him sit on the edge of the street next to the cafe. While his mother was watching him, I don't think she was aware of the toppings he chose for his baguette.

Lyon Bleu International

While I have taken hundreds of pictures of France, my primary purpose for going to Lyon was to study French à l'école dans la ville de Lyon . This is a picture that I took of my classmates and professor on the last day of class. Our professor, Angela Morales, is the woman fifth from the left. Our class was multi-national. Each student in this picture came from a different country.

This is another picture of Angela that I took when I met her in Vieux Lyon on a Saturday afternoon.

Savvy Shopper in Lyon

This young man is looking for something sportier than a Smart Car to commute à son école maternelle (nursery school) !

SUV Life Raft

This is a new Smart Car that is manufactured in the Lorraine, France. Mecedes-Benz has made a million of them over the last ten years. Last January they went on sale in the US, and I've seen them popping up in Chicago. They are very popular in France where gas costs about $10 per gallon.
A Smart Car could be the perfect second car for owners of big SUV gaz-guzzlers. SUV owners could fit a Smart Car in the cargo area of their car. When their SUV runs out of gas, the Smart Car could be used like a life raft. This could run for a week on the amount of gas that the gas-guzzler would use to go to the grocery store !

Jumping Jack

This little girl stole the show. Behind her is a group of technicolor street musicians The people in the cafe ignored them to watch this energetic little girl on a pogo stick.