Tag: tapestries

Brussels and Tournai

Our last two days in Belgium were spent in Brussels and Tournai. We took the train from Bruges to Brussels and got a hotel near the train station. Since we had an early flight out we wanted to be closer to the airport. Once we arrived, we walked around the Grand Place, ate, and of course we had a beer.

There’s a place down one of the side alleys from Grand Place, called Plaka, that makes the BEST gyros.

The next morning, our final day in Belgium, we got up and took a train into Tournai, about an hour away. Tournai is in the region called Wallonia near the French border. Tournai was one of the main creators of tapestries during the Middle Ages and when I read that they had a tapestry museum I really wanted to visit. (Side note: I have been intrigued by the method of creating medieval tapestries since seeing The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries at the Cluny Museum in Paris several years ago (amazing! Go see them if you have the chance) and reading The Lady and the Unicorn and The Seventh Unicorn)

We passed lots and lots of windmills. Amazingly, I didn’t see a single dead bird piled up beneath them. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Tournai’s belfry dates from the 12th century and is the oldest belfry in Belgium.

Tournai is the only Belgian city to have been controlled by the British throne (Henry VIII in 1513). It has changed hands several times; it was important in Roman times, then seized by the Franks in the 5th century (the birthplace of Frankish King Clovis) and was a Bishop’s see in the early 6th century, it was controlled by the counts of Flanders until it was recovered by France in 1188, then Henry VIII in 1513 and returned again to France in 1518, the Netherlands in 1521, then a Spanish Habsburg province, then the Austrian Habsburgs in the 18th century, and then back and forth between France and Austria.

We thought Tournai to be utterly charming. We might have been the only tourists in the town, which was so refreshing after the hordes of tourists in Bruges, Ghent, and Brussels. Everyone spoke French. No one spoke English, or very limited English. There weren’t English translations on the menus or street signs or museum displays. This might bother some, but we loved it. (Apparently I still retain enough of my high school French to be able to communicate (together with hand gestures, ha!) and decipher menus.)

We finally located the Tapestry Museum

I was disappointed in the Tapestry Museum. They had a few medieval tapestries and an old loom, which was interesting. None of the tapestries were as intricate and beautiful as The Lady and Unicorn tapestries in the Cluny Museum in Paris, or even the Vatican Museum in Italy. I didn’t mind that the placards were just in French and Dutch. I was just disappointed at how limited the displays were. My favorite thing in the museum was a series of maps…

USA = BOUFFENT DES BURGERS 😂
FLORIDA = TOURISTES, GOLF, RETIREES, ALLIGATORS 😂
Hotel De Ville

In spite of the disappointment of the Tapestry Museum, we adored Tournai. Wandering around and exploring, enjoying the challenges of navigating with…language challenges. It was a fun and relaxing day. We were sorry not to have been able to see the inside of their Cathedral of Notre Dame (11-12th century basilica and UNESCO world heritage site) that was undergoing renovations, nor the Pont Des Trous, a medieval bridge on the outskirts of the town which was originally part of the city wall. It was blown up during World War II and reconstructed.

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Brussels and Tournai

Our last two days in Belgium were spent in Brussels and Tournai. We took the train from Bruges to Brussels and got a hotel near the train station. Since we had an early flight out we wanted to be closer to the airport. Once we arrived, we walked around the Grand Place, ate, and of course we had a beer.

There’s a place down one of the side alleys from Grand Place, called Plaka, that makes the BEST gyros.

The next morning, our final day in Belgium, we got up and took a train into Tournai, about an hour away. Tournai is in the region called Wallonia near the French border. Tournai was one of the main creators of tapestries during the Middle Ages and when I read that they had a tapestry museum I really wanted to visit. (Side note: I have been intrigued by the method of creating medieval tapestries since seeing The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries at the Cluny Museum in Paris several years ago (amazing! Go see them if you have the chance) and reading The Lady and the Unicorn and The Seventh Unicorn)

We passed lots and lots of windmills. Amazingly, I didn’t see a single dead bird piled up beneath them. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Tournai’s belfry dates from the 12th century and is the oldest belfry in Belgium.

Tournai is the only Belgian city to have been controlled by the British throne (Henry VIII in 1513). It has changed hands several times; it was important in Roman times, then seized by the Franks in the 5th century (the birthplace of Frankish King Clovis) and was a Bishop’s see in the early 6th century, it was controlled by the counts of Flanders until it was recovered by France in 1188, then Henry VIII in 1513 and returned again to France in 1518, the Netherlands in 1521, then a Spanish Habsburg province, then the Austrian Habsburgs in the 18th century, and then back and forth between France and Austria.

We thought Tournai to be utterly charming. We might have been the only tourists in the town, which was so refreshing after the hordes of tourists in Bruges, Ghent, and Brussels. Everyone spoke French. No one spoke English, or very limited English. There weren’t English translations on the menus or street signs or museum displays. This might bother some, but we loved it. (Apparently I still retain enough of my high school French to be able to communicate (together with hand gestures, ha!) and decipher menus.)

We finally located the Tapestry Museum

I was disappointed in the Tapestry Museum. They had a few medieval tapestries and an old loom, which was interesting. None of the tapestries were as intricate and beautiful as The Lady and Unicorn tapestries in the Cluny Museum in Paris, or even the Vatican Museum in Italy. I didn’t mind that the placards were just in French and Dutch. I was just disappointed at how limited the displays were. My favorite thing in the museum was a series of maps…

USA = BOUFFENT DES BURGERS 😂
FLORIDA = TOURISTES, GOLF, RETIREES, ALLIGATORS 😂
Hotel De Ville

In spite of the disappointment of the Tapestry Museum, we adored Tournai. Wandering around and exploring, enjoying the challenges of navigating with…language challenges. It was a fun and relaxing day. We were sorry not to have been able to see the inside of their Cathedral of Notre Dame (11-12th century basilica and UNESCO world heritage site) that was undergoing renovations, nor the Pont Des Trous, a medieval bridge on the outskirts of the town which was originally part of the city wall. It was blown up during World War II and reconstructed.

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For Paris is a Moveable Feast

We had a wonderful reunion with Simon and Louise our second evening in the city. I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since we’ve last seen them! We also got to see their sister, Alice, and meet her charming boyfriend Charlie. 

The next morning Paige and I wandered explored Pigalle a bit before making our way to the Latin Quarter and the Musée National du Moyen Âge (aka Musée de Cluny) which has been on my bucket list for years. It’s a very small, little known museum dedicated to the medieval time period. It’s in an old abbey from the fifteenth century and has all sorts of fascinating, cool stuff…






And it was all very interesting and wonderful. But honestly, I was there to see one thing. 

Several years ago I read a book called The Seventh Unicorn by Kelly Jones. It was about a woman who worked at the Cluny Museum in Paris and about a series of tapestries. Then a couple of years later I read a book called The Lady and The Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier, which was also about the tapestries. I was intrigued. And ever since I have wanted to visit the Cluny and these mythical series of tapestries for myself. 

They were magnificent. Truly, my photos cannot do them justice. Take my word for it; they’re tres magnifique in person!


After visiting the Cluny, we stopped for coffee and then met up again with Simon, Louise, and Simon’s friend Alex. We walked around a bit, and then hopped on the bus to go to the catacombs. Apparently, though, every other tourist in Paris had the same idea because the line for the catacombs was around the block! So, we decided instead to walk to Montparnasse and take in the view. 






After taking in the view from the top of Montparnasse and relaxing with a glass of wine (in Simon’s case, a massive beer) on the rooftop cafe, we went to Louise and Alice’s flat, where Simon and Alex prepared us a wonderful, gastronomic feast à la française. (And really, as if the French accent isn’t enough….is there anything more fabulous than a man who cooks?)


I managed a photo of the carpaccio, but after that I was too busy eating and drinking wine. Sorry. Besides the carpaccio we had salad with homemade vinaigrette (of course) and ham and cheese crêpes, and Louise made a peach dessert which I don’t know the name for – but it was fresh peaches diced up with sugar and marinated in wine and it was delicious. Everything was delicious. The wine was delicious, the crêpes, the salad, the peaches…

Aahhhh. 


And if I haven’t mentioned it before, let me just say how awesome Simon and Louise are. They were great kids when they were 12 and 14 and they are great now. We had such a lovely evening with them and their friends – they’re all so warm, open hearted, witty and kind. They have been great hosts and have made our visit so enjoyable. 

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