Belgium's book town
We tell the story behind Redu, continental Europe's first book village, nestled in the heart of the Belgian Ardennes forest.
Redu's an open book
Bibliophiles will think that they have died and gone to heaven upon setting foot in Redu, a charming Belgian town in the heart of the Ardennes forest founded as continental Europe's first ‘book village' in 1984.
That's exactly what happened to Henriette Luyckx when she first visited 16 years ago.
She fell in love with the town, found a building in which to set up shop and relocated from Brussels to open the country's first nautical-themed bookstore. She also heads the non-profit association of the town's 40 businesses, of which 23 are bookshops.
Luycxk estimates that her shop, Librairie de Marine, stocks some 20,000 volumes.
Why a nautical theme? “It's my personal passion,” she says, though she admits that she hasn't read all the tomes herself.
Though the town's bookstores, Marine included, all specialise in second-hand books, Luyckx also sells some new books as well – not to mention postcards, posters, barometers and other nautical knickknacks - because there's still no other shop like this one anywhere else in the land.
One can say the same for Redu, which attracts some 200,000 visitors a year from all over Europe and as far afield as the United States and Japan.
This charming town of 400 inhabitants about an hour's drive south of Brussels in the Haut-Lesse region is the mecca of second-hand bookstores.
One upon a time
Though the town traces its origins back some 1,100 years, in April 1984 it was reborn as a ‘twin' to the world's first book village, Hay-on-Wye in Wales.
The event would not have happened without Noël Anselot, a former journalist who went on to work in the oil industry. He later bought a large house in Redu for his large family, and from the start was active in community affairs.
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An avid reader and collector of books, he also found time in Redu to pen a number of tomes include an Ardennes cookbook and the best-selling Ces Belges Qui Ont Fait La France.
In 1978, Anselot visited Hay-on-Wye in Wales, the world's first official book village, where he met town founder and bookseller Richard Booth, who coincidentally had just acquired a vast library just 25 miles from Redu. The two men became fast friends.
Not surprisingly, the collection was of immense interest to Anselot, who details the account in a new book about Redu published in April 2004 for the town's 20th anniversary as a book village.
Anselot bought much of the collection, which Booth transported by truck back to Redu later that year. During the visit, he and Anselot talked about starting a Belgian book village, though Booth's original thought was to set it up in Condroz, where he had purchased the library.
With those plans temporarily on hold, Anselot set up Redu's first bookshop in 1980 in a converted snail farm. At that time it wasn't open to the public but sold only to collectors and other specialists living in Belgium and abroad.
A town is reborn
In 1984, Anselot invited renowned Brussels based television and radio producer Gérard Valet to spend a weekend in Redu.
Valet devoted one of his programmes to Ces Belges Ont Fait la France, and in gratitude Anselot showed him his shop.
Everyone here is book mad
He also told Valet about the idea of setting up a Belgian version of Hay-on-Wye, and the idea for turning Redu into a book village was formed.
It was decided to host a twinning ceremony for the two villages on Easter weekend 1984, leaving just six weeks to alert the media, contact hundreds of potential amateurs booksellers, organize a massive publicity campaign and secure space to set up the shops – in unused stables, barns and schoolrooms.
(Page 3 of 5)The effort was a success, and that weekend, some 15,000 visitors came to Redu to buy books. Several of the booksellers and craftspersons who came just for the weekend ended up staying for good.
The organisers combined the twinning celebration with Europe's first 'space film' festival, in honor of the European Space Agency satellite station also based in Redu.
Redu, which had gone into decline after the industrial revolution and the second World War, was reborn. Meanwhile about a dozen other book villages have sprung up in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and even Malaysia.
Redu today
Today, Redu is the place to come in Belgium for rare and used books, though visitors should remember to bring cash as there is no bank and many of the merchants take cash only.
Many of the booksellers are collectors themselves who have set up shop out of their love for books.
Most of them sell volumes in different languages – French, German, Dutch – though finding something is generally a hit or miss affair.
Start by visiting the tourist office for a handy map listing all the bookshops and other establishments in town; the numbers on the buildings conveniently correspond to the numbers on the map.
It would be impossible to say what you can find where, as the best part of the experience is wandering into shops and browsing around. Some stores are, of course, better organised than others, though the randomness is often part of the fun.
What a treat to chance upon a World War II aircraft identification guide or a book inscribed to a loved one long ago!
Your best bet for English-language books is De Églkantier & Krazy Castle, whose whole top floor is devoted to them.
Besides Marine, there are also various speciality shops, such as the Librarie Scriptoria which sells books on science, nature and medicine, La Malle aux BD specializing in comic books and the Librarie Ardennaise which has lots of old books on Belgian regions and other subjects in amazingly good condition – a sign reminds clients to handle books with care -- and a tiny printing museum open by appointment only.
Fahrenheit 451 has an impressive selection of detective novels and a back room full of old vinyl records. Many of the entrepreneur booksellers admit there's healthy competition among them, though there does appear to be some resentment at least below the surface against out-of-town sellers such as Brussels-based Zoldeur sachant Soldeur which uses the musty La Halle aux Livres in Redu as a place to liquidate its stock. This is a good place to find travel guides for Belgium, misprinted books and out-of-date calendars if you're so inclined. One of the more pleasant general bookstores is the Bouquinerie de l'Escargon, run by the loquacious Philippe Evrard for the past dozen years or so. Evrard, a former taxi driver and waiter who says he came to Redu from ‘for love,' also clearly loves what he does. Like many of his fellow booksellers he's an avid reader and collector himself and often sits down in a cluster of easy chairs in his store with friends to talk books. The adjoining restaurant next door, which he and his wife own, now only serves meals for friends who call ahead of time; a real pity, as the menu posted outside looks interesting. Evrard doesn't think it would be as easy nowadays for a newcomer to set up shop in Redu, given that rents have vastly increased, due in large part to the influx of city folk purchasing secondary residences here. Evrard also says there are advantages and disadvantages to living here. On the plus side he enjoys the independence and turning a lifelong passion into a living, but on the minus side he says that there's still very much a small-town mentality. But those who have chosen to live here seem to take the inconveniences of small-town life in their collective stride. Luyckx explains that the fishmonger comes once every two weeks, the post office is open an hour a day, the butcher twice a week, but she says you get used to it.
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Those who have cars can drive to the nearest down 7 kilometres away to do banking and grocery shopping.
Since the book village was founded a number of stores have disappeared as owners have moved or retired such as Anselot, who closed his shop in 1988 though he remained a resident.
As for his journalist friend Valet, his plans to set up a shop never materialised.
Although he purchased a bit of land years ago with the intention of opening a bookstore, he eventually abandoned the idea.
“I'm not a merchant,” Valet admits in an interview in his office at public service broadcaster RTBF, where he now works part-time.
Still, he says he's proud to have played a part in turning Redu into a book village.
Asked how Hay-on-Wye is different from Redu, he merely says, “It's English.”
Besides book shops there Redu also boasts a number of other 'artisanal' shops including a place where visitors can sell or purchase home produced fruit and jam, a boutique selling hand-made soaps and comfy quilts and even an artisinal bakery.
But it is reading matter that this place is really all about.
Anyone who loves books should definitely not leave Belgium without a visit to this unique town. If you're not in the market to buy, why not drop by any of the shops with your old books rather than throw them out.
You may just make someone else's day.
More information
Tourist office of the Haute-Lesse region, Place de l'Espro, Redu.
Tel. 061 65 66 99
www.haute-lessse-tourisme.be. Alsoe wee www.redu.info
Redu, Un Village à Livres Ouvert, by Nöel Anselot, 265 pages, retails at FNAC for EUR 19.
Updated April 2005
Flowerpot photo © Renee Cordes.
[Copyright Expatica 2004]
文化社会 | 2009.11.15
欧洲大陆上的第一个图书村
每逢周日下午，雷都村的书店里就人满为患。帕斯卡尔·格罗尼亚尔站在书架前，为顾客提供咨询。格罗尼亚尔是当地书村协会主席，他经营的书店店面过去曾是一座奶制品作坊-上一世纪80年代初，雷都还是一个面临消亡的农业村。
"村长和两三位其它人一道集思广益，寻找振兴村子发展的出路。那时，雷都村如同欧洲其它的村子一样面临人口减少，饭碗减少的难题。1984年复活节期间，他们组织了一次读书节。"
于是在为期三天的读书节期间，粮仓和牛棚里汇聚了15000名参观者。这次节日活动为日后的图书村奠定了基础，就这样，雷都成为欧洲大陆第一座图书 村。英国威尔士的天下旧书之都海伊小镇是雷都人的榜样，海伊书镇诞生于1962年。在雷都村举办了首届读书节之后，越来越多的书商汇聚这里。现在已有许多 大城市人迁到了只有四百居民的雷都村。
"我以前住在布鲁塞尔，后来搬到了这里，对我来说可谓梦想成真。"
说这话的是玛丽-阿利克丝·范·德布朗德，她就在教堂斜对面开了一家经营法语和佛兰德语的书店，当然书店里也有几本德语图书。玛丽能够靠出售图书养活自己，这当然也与雷都村的名气大有关。
"雷都的优势在于，这里的书店很多，一共有22家，有时客人会跟我谈起竞争对手的事，我总是说，'我们是同事'。事实是，由于我们这里书店多，也吸引了很多客人。我认为，这里比其它地方更有意思。"
对前来此地的游客来说，文学书籍与古老的农用建筑的有机结合是一大原因。近年来，许多闲置的农用建筑被修葺一新，可容纳数千本图书。保罗·布朗德莱尔说：
"过去这里曾是牛棚，我们旁边这一家店过去曾是马厩。"
布朗德莱尔人很和善，已到了退休年龄，他曾亲身经历了书村的创建年代。如今，他的书店拥有许多固定客户，他们都和布朗德莱尔一样偏爱基督教会发展史、非洲文学或是有关阿登山脉一带风土人情的书籍等。不过，布朗德莱尔表示，来这儿的人并不都是专家，也有普通游客。
"因为有些游客并不是为了购买图书才到这里来，不过既然来到雷都，他们会这里那里地逛逛，也会顺便购买一本书。"
帕斯卡尔·格罗尼亚尔开了一家漫画和小人书店，书店里，一位父亲带着两个儿子在货架上摞起了一摞要买的漫画书。他们一家是第一次逛雷都。
父亲表示，由于家里没有电视，读书对他们来说尤为重要。十岁的儿子威廉简直看花了眼，恨不得把好多书都买回家去，搬也搬不动。
在格罗尼亚尔的书店里，客人可以随意翻阅图书，人气也因此很旺。格罗尼亚尔不主张开办网上书店，他就乐于与客人打交道。
他最大的心愿是，在未来的25年内，雷都能吸引更多游客。
作者：Susanne Henn/祝红
责编：谢菲
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