Travel another way

Belgium is famous for its festivals. But not all cities have one. In addition, the festivals are different depending on the region you are in and even the village you are in. On our tour to Belgium with French Escapade, we attended the festival in Hermalle, in Wallonia region. Jac, our tour leader, knew about the festival because she used to live in a village nearby. She had contacted the organizers of the festival to let them know that a small group of Americans were coming to the festival. They were thrilled; that was a first for them.

For us, Americans, it was a real culture shock. Hundreds of couple dressed up like for proms, parading in the street, following a band.

There were two teams: the Blue and the Red,not because of the color of their costumes but because  it used to be a political color. It is not the case anymore. They walked and danced in the street, then would stop every 30 minutes for a drink graciously offered by home owners on their way. The 2 teams didn’t meet each other until the end of the evening. At that time, there was a fight but it is not what you might think. The way they fight is through playing and dancing. The two bands faced each other and tried to play louder than the other one and the team of couples were dancing to the music. They both played different musics at the same time and it was really surprising. The winning team was the one dancing the longest.

That was something. Of course, we got our Belgian beers while watching the festival. By the way, they are delicious and way stronger that the ones in have in the US.

We can say we were immersed in the local Belgian culture. Jac introduced us to the organizers who spoke a bit of English. They were very friendly to us.

Honestly that was one of the highlight of the tour. And by the way, I would not call it a tour but rather a Belgian experience. This is what Jac and Valerie are able to provide, like no other tour leaders would.

That was my best tour ever.

A Belgian Escapader