La ville des lumières - PARIS!

Paris! Oh what a weekend packed with art and culture and pastries. Pastries and the macarons. 

Arriving late on Friday night off the Eurostar we tried to catch the Metro to our hotel (it looked pretty close to the station) but only managed to get about half way before the line stopped and we were ushered out on to the street (we later realised this was due to maintenance on half the line and there was a replacement bus on duty instead) where we spent 20 minutes trying to hail a cab.

We arrived at our hotel and were shown to our loft room, complete with spiral staircase - too cute!

Me being me, I'd done a bit of research on where we should go and what we should look at - so on Saturday morning we set off for our first jam packed day of fun!

First stops the Arc de Triomphe and Ladurée.

For anyone who's not been to France or experience the sheer bliss that is Ladurée, I suggest you get your A in to G and get there immediately. There are also a couple of shops in London which satisfy my cravings for macarons and eclairs on the odd *cough* occasion they occur. 

Then we wandered down the Champs-Élysées towards the Louvre. I followed all directions from Tour Guide Sam...

Souvenir anyone?

We also saw the cops... on rollerblades no less. 

The Notre Dame also featured, as well as a lot of padlocks!

That night we met up with a friend, Anna, who took us to a cool restaurant for foie gras and duck hearts. Yes we ate both. 

Then we went to a bar called Eden Park! Apparently it was started by an ex French rugby player who played against the All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland! Very cool.

The following day we braved the weather and made it to the Sacre Cour. It rained. A lot. 

We saw some great art at the Musee D'Orsay, though had to stand in the rain in a long queue to get there!

Dinner was spent at a cute little (with a Michelin star chef) restaurant called Cafe Constant. You can't book a table so we hung outside on the pavement and had a drink while we waited for a table. 

The food was delicious - Brioche, foie gras, duck, profiteroles etc etc. I can highly recommend it for anyone heading to Paris! And the best thing about it - it's really close to the Eiffel Tower. We headed over to watch it glitter after we'd finished dinner. Absolutely spectacular. 

Heading back to the Eiffel Tower the following day was pretty spectacular too - but no glittering. We walked up as far as we could and admired the amazing views. 

Spending a weekend in Paris was amazing! I'll happily head back any time - coincidentally I'm spending another weekend there soon to see my darling brother and his family. I can't wait!!

Brussels

There's nothing quite like catching a train under the sea (aka the English Channel) and through three countries for a weekend away. Thanks Eurostar! It's also 10 times easier leaving from central London than having to mission it out to one of the many London airports (most of which aren't in London). Plus I got a little train stamp in my passport too! Win!

So the Train to Brussels took just over two hours from London and when we arrived we jumped in a cab straight to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Le Plaza which was amazing. 

The staff were all super friendly and asked what we wanted to see and do. We didn't really have too much of an idea so the guy just pointed us in the direction of Delirium, well known for it's list of many, many beers. 

We didn't go out that night (mainly because I was stuffed from working all day) but we did have fun watching the nightlife out the window. I'm not sure what the occasion was, but there was a parade of all sorts of people on wheels. There were bikes, roller skates, skateboards and probably a few others I missed too. 

The next morning we woke up and headed down to reception because I'd cleverly forgotten to pack a travel adapter. We asked the lady at reception where we should go for waffles and she pointed us to some super touristy place in the middle of town. The waffles were delicious, but somewhat created for the tourist palate I think. 

Wandering around town after breakfast was mind-blowing. There is an area called the Grand Place. It's a square in the middle of town surrounded by amazingly intricate guildhalls and the town hall.

We also visited some chocolate shops. *Drool*

Then we got started on the beer. We headed to Delirium, with 2000 beers on the menu! It's actually split in to a number of different bars, each serving (mostly) different beers.  

I didn't drink that much because I'm not really a beer drinker at all. Over the course of the weekend I did try an apple beer, a raspberry beer and a mango beer. Mango was my favourite.

Having had not that much food, but a number of beers, Sam was feeling quite light-headed when we continued wandering the town. He was enthusiastically chatting about Trappist Beer (brewed by Monks in a monastery) when we came across a shop in town. Thinking is was a trappist beer shop, he excitedly posed for a photo in front of it, before realising it was a tapestry shop... apparently Belgium is big on tapestry.  

That night we went to dinner at a place called Nuetnigenough on a recommendation from the bartender at Delirium. He said 'I'll give you the best piece of advice you'll get all day... if you want good food, don't eat anywhere on this street' - it was full of touristy restaurants with their menus in four different languages. The restaurant was delicious. Traditional Belgium food, with frites and homemade mayonnaise on the side. We knew it would be good when we had to que for a table outside. 

The next day we ate more waffles. Drank more beer. And spotted some more Tin Tin. 

One of the 'big' attractions in Brussels is Mannekin Pis. Which is a statue of a little boy taking a piss. I'm not sure what the significance is, but it's pretty popular with the tourists! I even found a female version in the alleyway by Delirium. 

There are lots of things sponsored by Coca-Cola (it's almost like they feel threatened by the large consumption of beer) and some cool street art. 

On a side note - for anyone heading to Brussels, I highly recommend it buuut there is a strange lack of ATM's in the touristy parts of town. We walked for about an hour looking for one! So come prepared with Euros!