Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/12/19

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Belgium (WAS: October in Paris? thru Belgium?)
From: nathan.wajsman at planet.nl (Nathan Wajsman)
Date: Mon Dec 19 21:11:31 2005
References: <3e4df9e3e4cd17.3e4cd173e4df9e@planet.nl> <505CCD59-B695-4A90-A527-8953ECBD010B@ralgo.nl>

Belgian motorways are now among the best anywhere. I especially like the 
fact that almost the entire motorway network is illuminated at night. 
Foreigners still get confused when confronted with the changing 
Dutch/French signs along the E40 but that is about the only problem (for 
the uninitiated: the E40 is the major East-West route and it straddles 
the language line in Belgium; so, if someone arrives on the boat from 
England in Oostende and starts driving east towards the German border, 
he will be confronted with signs for Liege or Luik, depending on whether 
he is in Wallonia or Flanders. Other city pairs to be aware of include 
Namur/Namen, Anvers/Antwerpen, Lille/Rijsel etc).

As a political entity Belgium certainly does not get much respect--even 
from the Belgians themselves! At the recent celebrations of the 175th 
anniversary of Belgium's independence a politician said that it was too 
bad that the Benelux countries had separated from each other. Can you 
imagine a US politician bemoaning the separation of USA and Canada from 
Britain--on July 4th?

But as a place to live, I think Belgium is among the very best. In fact, 
in my 45 years I have so far lived in Poland, Denmark, the US, Belgium, 
Switzerland and the Netherlands (in that order). Of these six countries 
I find that on balance, Belgium has the best quality of life--and not 
just because of the food and beer, although they do play a part in my 
assessment :-)

Nathan

bruce wrote:

> The response was expected, but less fierce than was merited (the  French 
> and Dutch treat the Belgians as underdogs ......... a nation  but a 100+ 
> years old).
> 
> On checking with my atlas, it appears that the shortest route is via  
> Frankfurt and Reims ............. and not, as I vaguely remembered,  
> over Cologne and Brussels.
> 
> As stated in other mails, I have very bad memories of  Belgium 
> ............... or rather their road system ............. but  they date 
> back a few decades. The day trip from Amsterdam to Paris (?  450 kms. 
> to-day) was a nightmare. An highway/road system to depart  The 
> Netherlands and then .................. I read about it when I  was 
> fifteen and a keen cyclist ................. pav?! Those 15x15  cms. (or 
> thereabouts) stone blocks laid in the road to form a  surface, which was 
> totally uneven, due to the differing weights of  the vehicles that 
> passed over it. No highways, thunderous  traffic ................ and 
> worse still (due to my timetable) no  time to stop and enjoy the cuisine 
> and beer/wine. Ugh.
> 
> Apart from the highway between Antwerp and Li?ge, with its corrugated  
> surface (now fixed Philippe?), it is a pleasure to cruise the Belgian  
> highways ........ south,west and now almost north.
> 
> Nathan corrects me also, delineating the culinary expertise of the  
> restauranteurs and touching-upon the beers, the like of which, in  their 
> variety and flavour, are to be found nowhere  else .............. in 
> Europe. The food and drink, like life itself  there, is a mixture of the 
> cultures to the north and west.
> 
> B.
> The Hague, The Netherlands.
> 
> 
> On 19-dec-2005, at 11:48, nathan.wajsman@planet.nl wrote:
> 
>> I suspect he means that the good food in Belgium and the even better
>> beer will slow you down ;-)
>>
>> Nathan Wajsman
>> Almere, Netherlands
>> http://www.nathanfoto.com
>> http://www.fotosevilla.com
>> http://www.fotocycle.nl
>> Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog
>> Print sales: http://www.photodeluge.com
>> Image licensing: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman
>>
>> ----- Oorspronkelijk bericht -----
>> Van: Philippe Orlent <philippe.orlent@pandora.be>
>> Datum: maandag, december 19, 2005 11:21 am
>> Onderwerp: Re: [Leica] October in Paris?
>>
>>> And what's wrong with that, Bruce?
>>> ;-)
>>> Philippe
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Op 19-dec-05, om 11:01 heeft bruce het volgende geschreven:
>>>
>>>> Yeh, but you have to get through Belgium .....................
>>>>
>>>> B.
>>>>
>>>> On 19-dec-2005, at 5:39, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> It's only 613 km according to ANWB--you don't need two drivers
>>>
>>> for
>>>
>>>>> that. Especially in a new Porsche--they would just be squabbling
>>>
>>>
>>>>> over who gets to drive.
>>>>>
>>>>> Nathan
>>>>>
>>>>> bruce wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Journey time in a new Porsche from Solms to
>>>>>> Paris ................. ?  5 hours ............... at
>>>
>>> night/early
>>>
>>>>>> morning ............... with  two drivers.
>>>>>> B.
>>>>>> On 18-dec-2005, at 20:35, Robert D. Baron wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> David Young writes:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Tentative LHSA dates in Solms/Wetzlar are Sept 28th through
>>>>>>>> Oct  4th.  Party breaks up on the 5th, but a Leica School is
>>>>>>>> planned,  for interested parties, on the Thursday Oct 5th)  &
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>>> Friday (Oct  6th) following the meet. Could probably make
>>>
>>> Paris
>>>
>>>>>>>> by the  Sunday... unsure about Saturday.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Easy deal: fly over first to Stuttgart, pick up new Porsche;
>>>>>>> then  to Cologne (Photokina) then Solms/Wetzlar, and then to
>>>>>>> Paris right  after the Leica School (assuming the final night
>>>>>>> banquet doesn't  last too long).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> :-)  :-)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --Bob
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Leica Users Group.
>>>>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more
>>>>>>> information
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Leica Users Group.
>>>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more
>>>
>>> information>>
>>>
>>>>> -- 
>>>>> Nathan Wajsman
>>>>> Almere, The Netherlands
>>>>>
>>>>> General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com
>>>>> Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com
>>>>> Bicycle project: http://www.fotocycle.nl
>>>>> Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-
>>>
>>> results.asp?qt=wajsman>>
>>> http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507>>
>>> Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com
>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Leica Users Group.
>>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more
>>>
>>> information>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Leica Users Group.
>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Leica Users Group.
>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 
> 

-- 
Nathan Wajsman
Almere, The Netherlands

General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com
Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com
Bicycle project: http://www.fotocycle.nl
Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman
http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507
Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com

Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog



Replies: Reply from hlritter at mindspring.com (Howard L Ritter, Jr) ([Leica] Re: Belgium (WAS: October in Paris? thru Belgium?))
In reply to: Message from nathan.wajsman at planet.nl (nathan.wajsman@planet.nl) ([Leica] October in Paris?)
Message from bruce at ralgo.nl (bruce) ([Leica] October in Paris? thru Belgium?)