The Western European Blitz: Day 12. Exiting Paris. Exploring Brussels. Exiting Brussels.

Day 12 - 10.02.19

The elevator is the same size it was during Pizzagate. I’m stacked in with the luggage like a couple of Twix bars. Hotel Cluney, it has been a joy.

Metro is the fastest way to Paris Gare du Nord. It’s a short walk to the Luxemburg metro and three stops to Gare Nord. The sun is shining as we pull out of the station. Aurvoir Paris.

The train gives us just a cup of coffee to catch up on internet things and bang! We’re arriving in Brussels. 17 minute walk to our first stop, La Brocante. It’s gray skies and a loud flea market to our right. The contrast in architecture from Paris to Brussels is immediate. The café we walk into is recommended for it’s beer selection and local Brussel’s feel. It nails the “local” description. It’s like an American local diner, but dimly lit and most of the furniture is hard dark wood built in to the hundreds year old establishment.

We get an Eastern block death stare from the grizzled man behind the bar. I nod to the table on my left. He responds with an approving but annoyed eye brow raise. (He ends up being a nice enough man. His English is poor, so when the waiter translates a Mayonnaise joke from Ingrid he actually cracks a smile.)
We grab a simple sandwich and a Saison Dupont. Oh the sensation of a well made beer. Thank you Belgium.

Manneken Pis. I actually love the significance of this little boy statue. The fables are super entertaining, involving a kid peeing on a witch’s door or some hero boy putting out a fire with the natural extinguisher. There is also deeper meaning to the fountain and the importance of drinking water and it gave life to the lilies and so forth. However, most commonly the naked boy taking a leek comes from the people of Brussel’s humor and strong independent minds. God knows the Belgian’s have needed to be strong and independent over the centuries and this kid has been a symbol of that, standing proud since 1618.

Across the street is Mary’s. It’s the shop of the first woman chocolatier. It opened in 1919 and is well renowned as some of the best chocolate in Belgium, which is saying something. A little bit of this and a little bit if that and we’re on to a gilded square.

Four beautiful buildings surround the cobbled square. Two gothic churches face each other, one now the town hall. The remaining buildings are framed in gold and are drastically more ornate than any other buildings we’ve seen in the city. The square is cleared and there is a police presence. Today is the parade celebrating Brussels’ police force. VIPs will be in attendance. (Later we are hurried along by a very kind policemen in lue of what we believe to be the King of Belgium’s personal car and escort.  It was probably some CEO. Either way we’re essentially Belgian royalty now.)

Before we are crowned we hit up an eco friendly brew pub. It’s gluten free, all green establishment. Ingrid loves it and slams a coffee coconut milk martini in celebration. The beers on tap are slightly less than decent, but they redeem themselves with a couple bottles to go which are fantastic. Ingrid finds an amazing sour beer there too.

Okay. Belgian beer ✔️. Belgian choclate✔️. Onto the waffles and frites.

Fact attack!:
*Belgians invented what we call French Fries. Not the French, Freedom Fries are 100% AMERICAN!! Hell yea! #nevertrump

Waffles are everywhere in this city and honestly we may have picked the wrong spot. Mokafé Taverne is recommended on several internet platforms as a local waffle spot. So how could it be wrong? Well, the fact that it’s in the high end shopping center tends to be a dead give away. Whatever, we are hopped up on gluten free booze.
Classic waffle according to the Maitre d’ is with chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Book it. Tack on a side of the those infamous frites-fries. Neither really meet expectations. Ah well, we are full and wired on sugar now.

The sky is patchy and spitting on us a bit as we move through empty streets. It’s not down trodden here per say, but there is a quiet almost eeriness in the air. It’s probably normal and due to the fact we just came from sensory overload in Paris. The giant Dark Gothic style church that is Saint Catherine’s and the desolate square adjacent to it may play a part too. The Gothic architecture is fun and fascinating to admire in any setting so we take in the significance from the square.

Place Saint Géry is in an intersection of fun streets with cafés and markets around. Again it’s a bit slow and the rain starts to fall. We head into Saint Géry market place. Inside we find old men playing chess, a small café bar, and a couple art exhibits. The building itself is beautiful with its atrium style natural light and the walls portraying the history of Brussels. It’s a nice place to stop and wait out the rain. Beer Me.

My favorite picture of Ingrid. Bad ass.

Moeder Lambic is the last stop on this tour. One last round of Brussels’ finest brews. A cherry and strawberry Lambic, yum. And a tea pale ale. Quite interesting and delicious. You didn’t disappoint Brussels. We had fun tasting your beer, and chocolate, and finding cool art work on your buildings! See you next time.

It’s Lime Time to get back to the train station. Our path takes us through the streets with more commerce. If we had another day I think we would find some really nifty spots. However, we have date with Amsterdam.

This is our last sunset on the train. It has been a pleasant experience riding through the country sides if not a fairly frustrating one trying to confidently secure tickets, train departures, etc. I supposed we will blame some of that on the whole, not speaking the language thing. Ingrid’s phone gives us an update when we pass into The Netherlands.

It’s dark and raining and cold in Amsterdam. None the less, we have a renewed excitement to engulf our last city. The Uber driver is extremely nice. It’s a quality that will follow everyone we meet here. He drops us off on Van Breesstrat. It’s an adorable little street lined with brownstones, small trees, and hundreds of bicycles.

Peter is Dominique’s partner. They own the brownstone we are staying in. Peter, an older gentleman,  greets us at the door and we have a lovely chat before he shows us to the AirBnB apartment up stairs. It’s four flights up to a big open studio with two nice windows. The walls are a pleasant yellow and there is a small coffee table in the corner next to one of the windows. Yes this will do quite nicely.

The rain has stopped and it’s turned into a chilly, but clear night. We take a stroll down the street to release some of the excitement. Peter suggested a place called Carter’s. It’s a corner pub, lit up dimly inside and out. We pull up two stools at the bar and get to know Sarianda, the bar tender. Shocking, she is kind and chats us up over a couple local pints. She’s bored it’s Thursday and the rain kept people from coming out. We work up a good game plan for tomorrow with her and bid farewell.

Tomorrow, how many steps is Amsterdam?