Paris Day One

After we left Belgium, we took a train to Paris. Man, do I love Paris. There is SO much to see but you could also be content to do nothing but walk around or sit at a cafe all day. My friend had never been there so we saw a lot of sites. On the first day, we managed to see Ste. Chapelle, Notre Dame including going up to the top, walked by the Louvre, walked through the Tullieries and ended at Luxembourg Gardens.

  

Luxembourg garden is probably my favorite place in Paris which is saying a lot. It is so beautiful and serene there. Everyone just relaxes in chairs around the large pond. We got there right as the sun was setting and it just added even more to the beautiful setting. I've been here in early spring, winter and now late spring. It was just as amazing each time I've been and I will go again if I'm ever in Paris again. 

   

Stayed tuned for Day Two! See WAY more pictures on my Flikr page here.

Brussels

From Brugge, we caught the train to Brussels after a very long jog to make it on time. We stayed with Sheena's college friend Ellyn who has been living there for the past couple of years. We headed out with Ellyn and two of her expat friends to grab some of those famous Belgian beers. On our way to the bar, we stopped at Grand Place to see it lit up at night. It was so breathtaking!

 Then took us to a famous bar called Delirium which is also a very popular beer brand. We managed to snag a table and enjoyed some beers (for them) and a very delicious cherry lambic (or two).

  

The next day, Ellyn took us on a great tour of the city. We walked by the Royal Palace which looked so lovely. Ellyn told us that Brussels doesn't usually look this nice so I'm glad it put on such a good show when we were there!

We stumbled upon this sort of block party where lots of people were enjoying the nice weather. I'm still not sure what it was for but I got a free balloon so I was happy :)

  

Then we walked over to this really lovely church (that I forgot the name of) which was across the street from a beautiful garden. We were there at the perfect time of year to see all of the tulips in bloom! If you go there, do not try to get close to the flowers to take a photo. They had a cop standing there yelling at people to get off the grass...

After we saw some culture, we headed over to some chocolate shops. You hear that Belgian chocolate is some of the best in the world but it probably isn't true, right? WRONG. We got a couple pieces at four different shops for some variety. Let me tell you. It was the best chocolate I've ever had. Some places had very traditional flavors and other had very unique ones. They were all amazing. 

  

After the chocolate, the only logical next step was waffles. I'm not a huge fan of them but these are unlike any old American waffle. It isn't as sweet of batter (in my opinion) which allows you to pile on the toppings. I tried to eat the one below alone and lost the battle. According to Ellyn we had to eat our waffles in front of Manequin Pis. It is exactly as it sounds; a statue of a little boy peeing. The people of Brussels love this little guy though. He even has costumes that get put on him during different parts of the year... Hilarious.

  

  

We headed back over by Grand Plas and had some lunch some drinks. It was such a lovely day and a great city!

   

Brugge

Sorry for the big gap in between posts! I've been spending all my editing time working on photos from Megan's wedding. I just finished those so expect them to appear here. I'm going to let her post all the photos she wants first!

After we left Amsterdam, we decided to stop in Brugge/Bruges on our way to Brussels. I really wish we would have more time in this cute and charming city. Every time we turned a corner, there was another beautiful building, gothic church or cute little house. It was very cold and windy so we were pretty much alone in the city! I'm sure Brugge is just teaming with tourists when the weather is nicer. Unfortunately, a lot of shops were closed when we arrived.  Not sure if it was because of the weather or because we arrived around 4 or 5 on Sunday.  If I am ever back in Europe, I will definitely be exploring more of this storybook city.

  

They had every Belgian beer ever made on display. This is only part of it!

Do you see the name of this street?!

  

I'm working on my post about Brussels too so look for that this week!