"HEUREUX QUI, COMME ULYSSE, A FAIT UN BEAU VOYAGE," breughel's Profile

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Ulysse et les Sirènes - Ulysses and the Mermaids

HAPPY HE, WHO LIKE ULYSSES, HAS TRAVELLED WELL,

Heureux qui, comme Ulysse, a fait un beau voyage,
Ou comme cestuy-là qui conquit la toison,
Et puis est retourné, plein d'usage et raison,
Vivre entre ses parents le reste de son âge !

Happy He, Who Like Ulysses, has travelled well,
Or like that man who conquered the fleece,
And has then returned, full of experience and wisdom,
To live among his kinfolk the remainder of his life!

Joachim du Bellay, 1522-1560.

I HAD A DREAM.

J. Vermeer "Girl with a pearl earring".

I had a dream in which I was the owner of two paintings:
"Mona Lisa" and "Girl with a pearl earring".

What would I do if that was real?

Sell Mona Lisa and become a rich man; keep the Vermeer for my pleasure!

MY PHILOSPHY OF LIFE.

Le roi boit (J. Jordaens)

It seems that a good home page should show some considerations about what the VT member likes and dislikes.

As a genuine Belgian I can not avoid loving frites, pralines, mussels and Belgian beer what is of a great banality.

Therefore I would like to take some distance with that cliché and present here my philosophy of life which is inspired by a medieval poem in Latin from the Bogards.

The Bogards were the male equivalent of the Beguines.

"Qui bene bibit,
bene dormit.
Qui bene dormit,
non malum putat.
Qui non malum putat,
non pecavit.
Qui non pecavit,
ad caelum ibit.
Ergo,
Qui bene bibit ad caelum ibit."

The basics of my philosophy are therefore: what shall we drink to sleep well, have no desires, no sins and consequently go to heaven: beer or wine?

Wine at lunch and dinner.
Around 10 pm a special (Belgian of course) dark beer, sometimes a grappa from Verona (this is my multicultural side).
I'm sure I will go to heaven, maybe sooner than others who don't drink.
Fortunately my religion is not alcohol phobic.

THE INFLUENCE OF MY BACKGROUND.

Me in 1839

When reading my, often too lengthy, tips about museums and monuments one might perhaps think I studied Arts or History.
Not at all, I am/was a "hard" scientist!
The inconvenience of this academic background is that I check every fact I write. My tips therefore are boring but correct.
Maybe my way of writing is wrong and that my reviews belong to "just the same old cast of characters" and do not fit in the new trends opted for on this travel site.
Furthermore I'm one of these rebels who think that it has not much sense to reduce prestigious cultural cities to three lines of pros, cons & nutshell.

HOBBY and SPORT.

A most noisy hobby!

It appears that my home page is missing info about my hobbies and my favoured sport.
Actually my favoured hobby and sport are combined and consist in visiting museums.
My best performance was 7 hours, non stop, at the Louvre museum.

I have also another hobby and a sport which you will discover looking at my two new videos.
Don't forget to put on the sound.

"Bouboule" my co-writer on VT.

"Bouboule" at work on my PC.

When I get tired writing reviews in English for VT, I get sometimes help from my cat Bouboule. As he is a Maine Coon he is a native English-speaker. The problem with Bouboule is that he likes to sleep so that after a few minutes writing on VT he falls asleep. What explains that I didn't write much these last months.

EPILOGUE FUTUR - FUTURE EPILOG.

"Memoirs of Hadrian", Marguerite Yourcenar.

Après six années d'écritures principalement axées sur l'art et l'histoire, je suis tenté de conclure par ceci:
"Ce que j'étais capable de dire a été dit; ce que je pouvais apprendre a été appris. Occupons nous pour un temps d'autres travaux."
(Emprunté à Marguerite Yourcenar - "Mémoires d'Hadrien")

After six years and writing 1200 reviews mainly on art and history, I am tempted to conclude by this:
“What I was able to say has been said; what I could learn has been learned.
Let us deal with other tasks for some time."
(Borrowed from Marguerite Yourcenar - "Mémoires d'Hadrien")

Intro Updated Mar 25, 2012
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Comments (101)

brendareed May 12, 2012 at 11:13 AM Report Abuse

Thanks for reading my Belgium and Brussels pages! I appreciate your comments and ratings. Thanks for explaining about Brueghel - I tend to get confused by all of them...especially when they start copying each others works :-) As for Philip II and Bosch - he is a good example of just how wonderfully my enjoyment of art and history fit together! ~Brenda
CatherineReichardt May 12, 2012 at 7:56 AM Report Abuse

Hi Eddy
Have a look at my post on brendareed 's home page! Thought you might appreciate knowing that someone was talking about you behind your back ... :)
Regards
Cathy
Nemorino May 4, 2012 at 3:37 AM Report Abuse

The CO made you eat a lobster and made you position your platoon on a rocky coast – and then you woke up! Yes, I think there must be a link between the lobster and the rocky coast. In any case, I’m glad you liked my Bien Hoa and Queckbronn pages – thanks for your ratings and nice comments.
zuriga Apr 23, 2012 at 12:48 AM Report Abuse

Merci for the birthday wishes!
Roggero Apr 9, 2012 at 4:06 PM Report Abuse

I saw your comment about the corazzieri, the presidential honor guard. My grandpas brother was captin of the guards for the king of Italy sometime 1910's-1940's. He was from northern Italy and very tall. Dad says he was 7'3". I did not know about people from northern Italy being tall. That explains my grandparents and dads height, and now my children.I am tring to find out his name. Its my only clue to finding reatives in Ialy we lost touch with. We have pictures of him, his guardsmen on their beautiful white horses. He is more than a head taller than the other men. If you have any iformation please let me know. Thanks so much
iandsmith Apr 2, 2012 at 2:06 PM Report Abuse

Love your tongue in cheek sense of humour. Heading off to more of your informative Paris pages. Cheers, Ian
alza Mar 28, 2012 at 5:51 PM Report Abuse

hahaha! Love to see Bouboule asking us to please respect his privacy! You may remember Paolina's pic in the same "trusting" posture... she still does it, all the time. Lost time fixing a glitch with my wireless Net connection and now too tired to have fun on the Net! LOL! Amicalement!
ranger49 Mar 17, 2012 at 2:56 PM Report Abuse

Hello Eddy - Thanks for touring Carmarthenshire. It's great to live in a green country - I could not live again in a city - except perhaps Cardiff. Glad your winter is coming to an end - it'snot been a harsh one here - just long!
LoriPori Mar 17, 2012 at 2:10 PM Report Abuse

Hello Eddy: I see you checked out my Brussels page. As a former Brusselier (what a cool name!), I hope my writings are worthy. I think the croquette was beef - who knows what they put in those things. Take care and hope you are enjoying your weekend - it was 23 or 73 degrees here today. The robins are a little frisky!
AnnS Mar 14, 2012 at 6:13 PM Report Abuse

Bouboule is totally gorgeous. Those eyes suggest he's a lot wiser than we are.