Playing with Castles

When last we left our little heroine, she was enjoying Paris. But soon it was time to meet the rest of the family and so we went to Brussels.

My grandparents lived in a brownstone on Rue des Bassins in Anderlecht near the Capitol. There was a park across the Chaussée de Mons where I remember playing.

The most fun that we had though was when the whole family got together on the weekends and we drove to The Castle of Beersel a marvelous middle age castle in a lovely park or to the Castle of Gaasbeek another marvel, but with an enormous park to run and play in!

I ran my poor cousin to exhaustion! He wasn't used to running like I was as he spent most of his time in school or at home studying. I didn't know there were all sorts of things you weren't supposed to do so I had fun chasing the ducks and climbing on the castle walls.

Otherwise I remember being pretty well behaved. I remember my very first french lesson with my grandmother (who spoke no English- no one did! My father spoke perfect French when he was courting my mother so they all figured I'd learn by osmosis, I guess!) The lesson involved breakfast and it took me about 15 minutes to figure out my grandmother was asking me if I wanted a boiled egg!

Once I figured that out, food became by chief learning tool and my grandmother's kitchen became my classroom for more than just learning a new language!