Day 8-12... We seem to have fallen behind!

Paris

Paris was a little overwhelming and we weren’t sure how to go about seeing all of the famous monuments you have to see while in Paris. Andrew, always the brochure grabber, found a flyer for a free walking tour of Paris so we decided to give it a shot. Our guide (Arnout from Los Angeles, married to Jennifer from Paris) was the greatest guide we could have hoped for. He told us all of the history we wanted to know and threw in a lot of fun facts we never would have guessed. On our tour we made our first (hopefully of many) new friends! We met Ashley and Gillian from Canada, eh. Towards the end of the tour the four of us decided to cut out early and find a good spot to watch the end of the Tour de France. Andrew and Ashley found us a great spot overlooking the course, and saw the riders pass 8 times… Andrew was ecstatic! That night we went over to the Canadians’ hostel and met a bunch of people from all over the world. Allyson drank and played cards with some guys from Tasmania while Andrew drank wine and learned bar tricks with two young, married couples from Columbus, Ohio. One of our best nights so far!

On our last day in Paris we couldn’t resist walking to the base of the Eiffel Tower and taking the typical tourist pictures. We went to L’Orangerie to see Monet’s famous water lilies.. they were even bigger than we had imagined. No Paris trip would be complete without a visit to the Louvre, so we finished our day wandering the endless halls of the spectacular museum.

Brussels

We took the high-speed train from Paris to Brussels (1 hour and 20 minutes!) and got picked up at the Waterloo train station by Xavier, Alicia, and the cripple. Peter was very happy to see us! On our way back to the De Clercq’s house we picked up sushi and had a very nice lunch in their backyard. That afternoon Alicia took us to the Atomium (a giant atom-like monument designed for the 1958 World Fair) and“Mini Europe” (a bunch of famous European monuments scaled down to 1:25). On our way home Alicia took us into Brussels to get an authentic Belgian waffle—delicious! Xavier and Marilyn prepared a delicious dinner barbequed kebabs and mashed potatoes. Yum! The next morning we went to the Waterloo battle monument (a huge hill with a lion statue on top). Even Peter was able to climb the steps to enjoy the view of the Belgian countryside. That afternoon Xavier took us for a bike ride through the forest near their house. Everyone enjoyed it very much, except for Allyson who alternated between being incredibly tired and fearing for her life… she wasn’t left with much time to enjoy the scenery. That evening we went to Brussels for dinner with Xavier, Alicia, and Peter. We enjoyed some famous Belgian mussels and frites. Allyson stalked up on some Belgian chocolate and we all saw the Mannequin Pis… he is much smaller than expected!

Today Xavier and his family (plus Peter) left for Chamonix, where we will meet up with them in a few days. We spent the day with Xavier’s parents, Maggie and Robert… great family friends of the Tights. Robert took us to Brugge where we took a boat tour through the canals. Maggie prepared a delicious dinner for us, and tomorrow we leave for Laussane!

Travel Blunder: One of Allyson’s sorority sisters (Kylie!!) was in Paris at the same time as us and we didn’t realize it until we saw her pictures on Facebook two days after we’d left! Bummer.

Culture Shock: In Belgium people drive very fast, and all but the largest roads don’t have enough space for two cars- you have to hope that oncoming traffic will pull off to let you through! Robert’s car has a button to fold in the side view mirrors to help squeeze through tight spots.

Gourmet Moment: Allyson decided one night in Paris that a banana and nutella crepe would be a suitable dinner. She did not regret it, and Andrew was jealous.

Score of the Day: Free Louvre tickets! Our tour guide told us to always ask if there are any discounts available at museums you visit. At the Louvre Andrew asked about a discount and told the lady that we were American students. She responded, “No, you are from London… here you go!” and handed us two free tickets. Awesome!

Fun Fact #1: French fries come from Belgium, not France.

Fun Fact #2: In many traditional European statues of a man on horseback you can tell how the man died by the stance of the horse. All four feet on the ground: the man died of natural causes. One front and one back leg up: unnatural causes, like murder. Horse rearing up on hind legs: the man died in battle.

Fun Fact #3: The roof of the Louvre is lined with many statues, one of which is of Voltaire. About 20 years ago his nose was about to fall of, so while the French were deciding what to do about it they threw a net over him. After ten years of deciding whether to let the nose fall or to reattach it, they decided to reattach it. Now, ten years later, the net remains over Voltaire because the French are still trying to decide who is qualified to work on the precious statue.