I will start with my classes: the bad ones are getting progressively worse and the good ones are becoming more and more fun. Not sure how that works, but my really awful classes are getting to be almost unbearable. I have to constantly tell the students to stop talking and we get very little done. But my good classes are getting more and more interested in the topics we are talking about and it's a lot of fun. Today was a good day because instead of class in the morning, all of the English classes were going to see this film at a nearby cinema. I met them there, and went up to a group of my oldest students and started talking with them. They were so shy and didn't really know what to talk about, so I finally started speaking in French and then they opened up a little bit. They are closer to my age than any of the other classes so it was fun to talk to them for a bit. The movie was "To Be or Not To Be", made in the 40s and in English (with French sub-titles of course). It was way better than actually going to class. And in my class this afternoon, we talked about French and American stereotypes. I also showed them a short clip of NCIS. That class is my favorite so it's very easy to talk with them.
But enough about that and on to the really fun part! This past weekend, I went on a last-minute adventure: Belgium!! I have been wanting to go, and even thought about going in 2008 when I was here so I was very happy the time had finally come! I met with my friend Leah, who is living in Paris doing a fashion internship, at the train station on Friday and we went into Brussels. She got an amazing deal on a hotel but of course, it was pretty far away.
Had to add this pic because it was so funny! Leah and I shared the bed while Lindsay took the bunk!
We managed to figure out there was a train, similar to a metro that went from the stop in our little part of town, into the center of town. Of course, we didn't really know where that was. So we wandered around and got lunch on the outskirts, not knowing it was the outskirts, and finally asked someone who pointed us in the right direction. After about 3 hours in Belgium, we finally found the Grand Place and it was so worth it!
Walking into the square
Such beautiful architecture
Me in the square
After walking around for a bit, we definitely need to get inside and get a drink; it was absolutely frigid outside. We picked this wonderful place, that was really really warm and got a seat right by the window. And of course, we ordered our first Belgian beer of the trip.
Raspberry beer...yummmm!
Leah and I with our Belgian beers
Leah's friend Lindsay met up with us at the bar because she got in later than we did. After hanging out for awhile, we decided that we needed dinner and we wanted to find a couple of bars that people had said were really cool. The square was lit up at night and absolutely awesome! And so was our dinner.... :)
Square at night
So beautiful
Dinner! Belgian Waffles!
We found one of the bars we had heard about and no wonder it's famous. It's three stories, huge, and absolutely packed with people at any given time of the day. It was hard to move around but we found a table and stayed there for the night. We tried all sorts of Belgian beers because the place, called the Delirium Bar, had over 50 beers just on tap! We even met some new friends! We had tons of fun and stayed out late. Which was fine at the time, but the next morning....
We had to get up early on Saturday because we wanted to visit Bruges. So many people had told me about what an amazing place this is so we decided it would be worth it to take a day trip there. We had some trials in the morning such as working off five hours of sleep, missing not one but TWO trains into Brussels and finally just getting a taxi, and then taking lots of time to buy tickets in the super crowded station. But once we made the hour long trek to Bruges, everything became worth it! the city was phenomenal with beautiful buildings and just a different feel than Brussels. It was a gorgeous day to see all of the scenery!
The clock tower
Bruges
Pretty
More of the canal
Lindsay and me
We walked around a lot in Bruges and of course participated in everything Belgian: bought more beer, had fries for lunch, and then got hot chocolate at a chocolaterie. It was a great little adventure and I'm so happy we were able to go!
That night when we got back to Brussels, we decided that we should probably eat an actual meal instead of the fries and waffles that we had been substituting as meals the last couple of days. We found a nice Italian restaurant for some yummy pasta and wine. Lidsay got the muscles which is another Belgian specialty and Leah and I both tried them. After dinner, we visited a really famous fountain in Brussels called Mannekin Pis. It's a fountain of a little boy peeing. There are many legends around the fountain but it's undoubtedly a treasured site of the city.
The little inappropriate statue
And even though we didn't really need it, we decided to share a chocolate waffle. There were so many choices, but we were still stuffed from dinner! I would have one of these every day if I could!
Waffle stand
The next morning was Sunday so we checked out of our hotel, made the train because we got the times right, and wandered around the city for a little while before our train back to Paris. We went to that first place again and got one last Belgian beer and some cheese plate to go with it. And with that, we were back to France, the land of chocolate croissants and wine. We had a little time before my train to Caen so we went to Starbucks naturally. Since I only can get my chai tea lattes when I am in Paris or in the states, I was a pretty happy camper.
So although it was short, it was an amazing little trip to Belgium. Really it was just what I needed. Our next big vacation is not until the end of this month and I was already getting a little restless in Caen. Anytime I can do more exploring, I'm happy. Time for me to end this super long post, hope you enjoyed it! Until next time!
C'est la belle vie!
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