Belgium - Brussels in the middle of partition discussions. Snails.

Escargots cart, Brussels, Belgium

Have some escargots - snails - from a street vendor in the main square in Brussels. Brussels is an anomaly - located in a Flemish area, but with French speakers. The escargots come in big paper cups with lots of broth and a little plastic fork.

Belgium in the news. Hartford Courant 9/12/07 at A8. About like seeking like. In Belgium, as with other countries gravitating into different corners (the Czech Republic 15 years ago separated from Slovakia; Yugoslavia separated into components Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia), here comes Belgium.

Its language-culture divides into Flanders with the Flemish speakers in the Northern section, bordering with the Netherlands and some of France; and Wallonia with the French-speakers in the Southern section, bordering with a great deal of France, some of Luxembourg, some of Germany and a little of The Netherlands. Brussels, the capital, is in Flanders but is French-speaking.

Belgium is considering options. At least, it is on some tables. Maybe more areas of self-rule will result. The North is more prosperous than the South - some interest in moving health issues, transportation and the justice system out of Brussels and more into each section. Brussels is a thorny issue. Everybody wants snails.

Brussels - Michael Jackson and a great concert venue

Michael Jackson stage set, Brusssels, Belgium. Main square. Concert pending.

A concert with Michael Jackson was pending - lots of construction and scaffolding going up in the square. The relationship has not been all friendly. Michael Jackson was held to have plagiarized a song, written by Belgian twins, in a court case and ruling by a Belgian Court, 9/11/07. See//ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/070911/entertainment/entertainment_belgium.

Brussels Chocolate Factory

Chocolatier, Chocolate Factory, Brussels, Belgium

That is the chocolate factory-museum in Brussels, just off the main square. Splendid samples, see the process start to finish. Musee du Cacao et du Chocolat. See and smell how it is made, get the walk-around tour, and taste. Belgium has been known for its chocolate since 1912 - see //www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=brussels@35&cur_section=fea&feature=30005

Bonbons at risk - the waxy ersagz chocolate without the high proportion of real cocoa butter and not substitutes, vs. the real thing. See New York Times 6/25/07, commentary by Mort Rosenblum. "While discerning chocoholics will for over whatever it takes, those who can't pay will never know chocolate."

Personal note. Agree. Once represented a Spanish client who rewarded the entire office with the most fabulous European chocolate I have ever tasted. Here is the history of chocolate. //www.chocolatelovers.com/history. For all of us, it was swoons.

Some time, before you die, go and pay the most you cannot afford for the best real European chocolate you can find, and you may be inclined to boycott the US supermarket style manufacturers' lesser ingredients. Some things are worth it. It is a matter of principle: profit vs. the common good, the common good being that taste.



While in Europe, take advantage of every opportunity to go through a real chocolate factory and eat this "elixir of the gods" before it is beyond us.