Bordeaux et Bruxelles :)

I feel like I have so much to say!!  I don’t even know where to begin.

Last weekend, for Valentine’s Day weekend, I went to Bordeaux with the people in my program and it was a lot of fun.  We took the TGV down to Bordeaux, which was about a 3hr train ride.  We got in to the hotel pretty late and went to bed shortly after arriving.  Then the next day, we walked all around downtown Bordeaux, which is BEAUTIFUL.

Beautiful Bordeaux

all of us in front of the Opera House

Afterward, we had some free time so we all went shopping because they had a huge weekend sale, called the “braderie,” which is where they have all these street markets with really good discounts and sales.  I bought 2 pairs of shoes: one pair of boots and one pair of flats, which are really cute!

la braderie!

SO many people out shopping

Then we took a tour of 2 different châteaux.  In Bordeaux, they call their vineyards châteaux.  We learned all about making wine and the fermentation process…and we even got to taste it!  Everything was so delicious.  Then after that, we had some free time so we just strolled the streets and shops until dinner.  We ate at this place called Chez Edouard and I tried something that I’ve been wanting to try for so long:  les cuisses de grenouille!!!  aka FROG LEGS!!!  They were sooo tasty.  I think they’re my new favorite food here now    After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and got ready to go out.  We went out to this bar called The Frog and Rosbif.  We had a few drinks, hung out for a while, and went back to the hotel because we had to be up early the next morning to see our last château, which was by far my favorite!!  That pretty much wraps up the trip to Bordeaux.  I really liked it there.

the vineyard at Château Pape-Clément

wine tasting

Then this past weekend, we went to Brussels!!  I HAD AN AMAZING TIME THERE!  I loved everything about that city.  There is cobblestone EVERYWHERE…to the point where my feet were happy to be back in Paris, haha.  But seriously – some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  Everyone was so outgoing and friendly and from all over the world.

Market Sq when we arrived in Brussels

view from outside the hotel!

After getting into the hotel, we headed back outside to check out this bar called Delirium Café, that has 2,004 different types of beer!!  I had SUCH a good time!!  It was PACKED in there on a Friday night.

Delirium Café!!

inside Delirium Café

group pic!

We stayed at Delirium for a long time and then we went across the street to anothe bar called Floris Bar to try absinthe!!  We all wanted to try it and figured why not.  It kind of tasted like black licorice and it wasn’t really bad — I actually liked it!!  Good times.  After Floris and Delirium, we were all hungry so we got pitas at this falafel place and they were all so nice there!!  They let us go behind the counter and somehow I ended up holding the knife!! HAHA!

pita place!

The next day we got up early for a tour of the city of Brussels.  We had a GREAT tour guide!!  He showed us all around the city for nearly 2 hours.  It was so nice getting to see everything because I don’t know if I would have been able to if I did it on my own!  Some pictures from the tour:

Market Square filled with people

Belgian Waffles! Mmm.

Me about to eat my Belgian Waffle!! It was so good.

The famous Manneken Pis statue, haha

Group pic in front of Market Square

Overall, I had an AMAZING time in Brussels and in Bordeaux.  Everything has been going really well here.  I love it   Just last night, my roommates and I went to go see Ce que pensent les hommes (He’s Just Not That Into You) and it was so cute!  We saw it in English with French subtitles.  It was a lot of fun and nice to check out a new, BIGGER, movie theater.  Today after class, Matt and I went to Saint Sulpice to look around inside and then afterward, we headed back towards the Saint-Michele area and went into Shakespeare and Company to look at some books.  I’ll definitely post more pictures soon!!  Tomorrow we’re checking out Père Lachaise, one of the main cemeteries in Paris where famous people like Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried.  And then on Saturday, we’re taking a day trip to Reims to which I’m really looking forward!!!  Keep checking back for more pics and updates

Love and miss you all!!!

Bisous,

Monique