Brugge and Brussel

The smallest street, only a metre wide

The market square at night after the rain

Fountain in Astridpark

Carriage rides from the market square

Along a section canal with the old wooden buildings from 1600s

Our train journey from Tours to Brugge was a test of strength. We needed it. First we took the fairly fast trip to Gare Montparnasse in Paris. The walk from the TGV platform to the Metro seemed endless with lots of stairs and left us rather exhausted. We eventually arrived at Gare du Nord and waited only a short time before we boarded our Thalys train to Brussels. For the first time we were checked onto the train by an attendant. No ticket, you weren't allowed on. A snack and drinks were very welcome as we relaxed into our comfortable first class seats. We followed the clouds and rain all the way to Brussels where we changed trains for Brugge. This took us through Gent so we were seeing quite a lot of Belgium on the way. A taxi from the station to our hotel was the only way as we had worked out it was about a 25 minute walk and we had no energy left.
Our hotel was lovely. Old world charm with all the modern comforts, the hotel
had a pool and sauna (we didn't get to use them) and a very nice Jazz Bar where we sat every evening for a drink and a hot chocolate before bed. It was here on arrival that disaster struck. I pulled at the extension on my bag and the handle snapped off. This was the beginning of my huge dislike for the bag and my dream that David would walk through the door with a replacement. (It never happened.)

On arrival, we set off on our usual walk to get our bearings and to find somewhere to eat. The market square was only a few minutes walk from our hotel and as Brugge is so compact within the canal boundary, we were able to do a lot of exploring over the five day stay. After breakfast, we set of on long walks and then settled on a restaurant for a good lunch around 2 in the afternoon. This meant we could get through to breakfast and it helped to counter the large amounts of chocolate we were devouring along with the usual vin rouge and dessert at every meal. It was Belgium and one must sample as much chocolate as possible.

One morning I took a mini bus tour of the city while David wandered with his best friend, Nikon. Later we walked the route taken by the bus and had a longer look at the most picturesque sites in the city. We also took a horse and carriage ride along the flagstone streets. This was an interesting experience as the cars, horses, bicycles and pedestrians all share the same areas, wide and narrow, and have such patience for each other. We visited the churches and of course the canal and even managed a couple of museums. The whole stay was so relaxing, we were sad to leave Brugge which is such a pretty place.

Grand Place in Brussels with the Hotel de Ville on right

David in Brussel Park in a rain break

Chocolate heaven and too many to choose from

Busy pedestrian main street in Brussels

A 14th century wooden carving in the museum

We left in a taxi in the rain for the station and our trip to Brussels. Once again we travelled through Gent and the Belgian countryside. Our hotel was close to Brussel Nord station but even the short walk dragging a bag with no extension was hard work. We wasted no time in our room and walked to the Grand Place, a square surrounded by beautiful old buildings. We were dogged by rain for most of our stay, and only managed to walk to the Palace by sheltering along the way under awnings, or stopping in arcades until the shower passed. Not a lot of exploring took place and as the days were also quite cool and windy, we ended up staying inside to watch the tennis at Wimbledon. We did manage a nice lunch at a restaurant on our last day and had vin rouge and a delicious dessert. Back in the room we prepared for the early Sunday start and our train changes from Brussels to Tournai to Lille to Calais. We had booked our ferry crossing to Dover for three in the afternoon and had to hope no train delays occurred. Monday was hopefully going to be a quieter day in Dover before boarding the Eurodam for the Baltic adventure.

Tower in the Grand Place

One of the many gold statues in the city

Another narrow laneway between shops