Meeting Paule @ the Eisenbahnerheim

Another morning together engaged in heavy dragwork. The drive and the outer terrace are cleared of heaps of laurel and firs now. As you climb uphill you will see that not yet all bunches have reached their highest destination. A lot of work still to be done. ”Material” bodywork, I remembered, derives its meaning from the old Latin word “materia” or (fire)wood. I was gathering a bunch with both arms. Poor Guy, you earned your penny!


Not quite a surprise then that after lunch we visited our fourlegged friends at the Eisenbahnerheim. Paule and Lucky are so called Coldblooded Rhenish-German draught horses. Like their Ardenner and  Brabander ancestors. They were bred to do the heavy wood dragging. But we are told that the young Paule was very disobedient and thus unfit for the job. Now he and his companions spend their “idle” days in the wilderness around the Eisenbahner ruins.


Meeting Paule reminds me of those adventurous trips on the box of a rattling farmers car, drawn by that huge Ardenner called “BiBiche”. As a young boy, camping out with a Belgian family on the borders of the Semois, I enjoyed this “wild” outdoor, open air life. Especially when I was allowed to guide Bibiche on the way to the blacksmith in the neighbouring village.

I am sure that there is a direct connection between our feeling of happiness in visiting Paule and my unforgettable experience of freedom and blessing during those fabulous summers along the Ardenner Semois river. The forests, low mountains, the river views, the misty damp in the morning, the smell of nature, so many similarities. But our calm and bearded giant friend Paule makes me sing that childhood driver song: “High on the yellow wagon…”