From the questions people ask me, I know that in the spring the American fancy turns to thoughts of gastronomic pilgrimages. It must be the exhilarating spring air that makes them want to go to Europe, meaning France, to eat, touring the country, Michelin in hand, and spending a fortune. Maybe they will even indulge in a bit of sightseeing along the way. I don’t wish to be a killjoy, but now that France is no longer the unclouded land of Cockaigne it used to be, I recommend once more that gastronomic pilgrims go to Belgium, where they will eat well and not so expensively as in France, and where they can get about easily and see some pretty sights as well.
That the Belgians take their food seriously is obvious from the beginning of a trip if you travel on their airline, Sabena. My husband and I have found Sabena very agreeable and comfortable, with helpful personnel both in the air and on the ground—very important to someone on two crutches or in a wheelchair, as I was for many years. (The help airlines run by Americans do not give to those who need it is something that has to be experienced to be believed.) Sabena food is real, carefully cooked food, in both tourist and first class; and nicely served, unlike the plastic junk served on so many lines. We really enjoy their food—as in a restaurant, not as on an airplane.
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