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Nouveau Nobility : Belgium's high-born offer down-home comforts in their family castles Excerpt from a travel feature by Jackie Craven |
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My friends and I were startled to encounter such ingenuous and folksy hospitality at the Ramezee castle, where mahogany stairs climb halfway to heaven and fireplaces appear to be large enough to park a mid-sized automobile. But then we reminded ourselves that we were in Belgium--a perky, unpretentious country that was not officially a country at all until 1830. For a thousand years, this tiny territory, not much bigger than Maryland, lived under the rule of other kingdoms, picking up an odd medley of languages and traditions--and developing idiosyncrasies of its own...
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Copyright © Jackie Craven. All rights reserved. |
When we arrived at Ramezee castle, our hosts,
Robert Borel de Bitche and his British wife Anne, were all a fluster.
The monsieur paced the tiled foyer, holding his black rubber boots under
one arm. He was, he explained, eager to welcome us, but anxious to get
to the stables. The horses had been neglected all day. Pressing her
hands to flushed cheeks, Anne Borel de Bitche apologized. A wedding
party of forty-eight had just departed two hours before. "We rushed
around cleaning for you." 
If
you like castles, see:
Ghosts and derring-do haunt Trentino's castles. 