It all began with the Fordingbridge 19; then there was the Salisbury 3, the Eastleigh 12, the Fleet 1 and the Maidstone 3! Complete, Fordingbridge Flower Club made its way through the late summer sun, occasional down pour, and possibly more of the M3 motorway than we anticipated, to Folkestone and the Eurotunnel. We are all aboard a tour with European Connoisseurs Travel to Bilzen in Belgium, and Fleur Creatif’s Great Flower Event.
Seeing distant city views from the predictable traffic jam on Brussels ring road, through sun and squall, our spirits were cared for by Ian, which seems to be partly his profession. Laughing at his anecdotes we arrived a little later than expected at Hasselt and our hotel, Express by Holiday Inn. Hasselt is a comfortable town, and so too is the hotel, and after booking in some of us made our way to a welcome dinner at the Holiday Inn proper, whilst others went out to explore the town. What a lovely and cosy town Hasselt is, with a fine choice of restaurants, bars and plenty of atmosphere.
Fleur Creatif’s Great Flower Event - Fordingbridge Flower Club
Rested and breakfasted, Hugh our driver brought the coach round right on cue for our 30 minute drive to the chateau at Alden Biesen, Bilzen, and by-passing the queue as our tickets were prearranged, it took no time to enter this annual wonderland of floristry and floral art. It was a peerless day with skies of pure blue, as demonstrators worked in a sunken theatre in the courtyard, surrounded by stalls of garden knick-knackery and plants. Off to one side in the historic chapel, tear-drop pedestals of white roses christened the aisles, and beyond that again in a darkened adjoining room, spot-lit arrangements draped from ceiling to floor. There were further demonstrations in a cinema-like converted stable, where high banked seats gazed down on the stage. Cameras played closer details of the work on large screens to the side of the stage. Outside, a buzz more like a street market as stalls lined the way down to the bridge over to the chateau. Down in the water, arrangements were afloat in the moat, so no need to keep the ‘arranger’s foam’ watered there!
