It’s places like this that we love to find when we travel…
We had just finished dinner (savory waffles, yum!) and started to head for a walk when we saw Marjolaine – an “antique” store. We always look for vintage jewelry, glassware, etc on our trips so in we went. We picked out two little cordial glasses and an “R” pin for our wall when we started to talk to the individual sitting at the register. Turns out, it was the shop’s owner. We got to chatting when he asked if we would be interested in seeing some of his and his wife’s travel finds. We of course said yes so he locked the front door, put up the closed sign and escorted us to the back of the shop.
In the back there was a room full of vestments in large shadow boxes. Beyond that a room of nativity sets, the a room of random bits, a hallway with religious art and more…and more. Up a small winding staircase (lots of spiral stairs on this trip), down a hallway into another room (their dinning room?). He turned on the lights and we saw the room was lined with display cases full of some the most beautiful Belgium crystal that you could imagine. Pieces from Val Saint Lambert and Doyen (which is what our cordial glasses turned out to be). They have every size, shape and color that you could imagine. At one point, our guide turned off the lights to show us the radioactive crystal that glowed under UV light…amazing!
Turns out, Belgium crystal was unique in that it was produced in many more colors than French crystal of the time, mainly as a way to drive sales.
An hour or so after we walked in for a few travel trinkets we walked out having learned a little about the area and were able to see some amazing bits of history collected by a worldly couple.
Always say hello and chat with people, you never know what will come of it.