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I travelled by train from Paris to Brussels.  Wow - Brussels has such a different feel.  I  really like it here.  It's cleaner, smells better and the people are friendlier.

View of Brussels from La Place Royale.

The center of the town is called Le Grand Place.  It is a square with a museum and older buildings - very nice architecture and gold leaf accents.  There are patio cafes and people milling about.  

Le Grand Place.

Side street off Le Grand Place.

The city hall in the Grand Place is a big beautiful building with a tall spire.  The rumor is that the spire is slightly off center and the architect was so upset he threw himself off the summit of the tower.  Looks straight to me - or is it?!?

Brussels City Hall.

I found a lush, green park and stayed there for over 3 hours.  It was sunny, warm and beautiful.  A man was playing a flute, and then two sets of church bells started ringing in the distance.  There were many people enjoying some rest and fresh air in the park.  It was such an foreign, surreal experience for me to enjoy relaxing and not feel pressure from within to be working. 

Entrance to the Parc de Bruxelles.

Lovely view from park bench.  This was (so far) one of my favorite days in Europe.

The next day I ate some yummy Belgian waffles with strawberries, bananas and whipped cream. 

Somewhere under all that whipping cream is a Belgian Waffle.

I walked around the Grand Place and the took the city bus tour.  Did you know that Belgium invented French Fries?  I wonder why we don't call them Belgian Fries?

One of many french fry stores.  They serve them in a paper cone with mayo on top.

There are over 400 types of beer here, you could try one a day for over a year!

Stella!!!

I went to a chocolate museum.  A "praline" in Belgium means a cream filled chocolate; there are no nuts in a Belgian praline (hooray!).  I learned about how white, milk and dark chocolate are made.  I even tasted the original cocoa mass (basically the straight chocolate with nothing added to it) - whoa!  The cocoa mass was so bitter that my eyes watered and my lips puckered.  How someone in the 1800's envisioned mixing cocoa mass with sugar to make it taste better, is beyond me.  I would have dropped it and ran in the other direction.

The chocolatierre making pralines.  She went to cooking school and specialized in chocolate.

The museum taught all that the myths about chocolate are not true.  It does not give you pimples, it does not rot your teeth, cause headaches or make you fat.  Everything in moderation, of course!  The chocolatierre taught us how to make pralines and then we got to eat them.  I love it here.

It only took me a few hours in Brussels to master a new trick.  The first day I arrived (for those of you who know me, yes, it was the first 10 minutes) I bought a few chocolates in the first store I saw.  I now have a bag - my proof that I am a so-called spender.  I then go into the many other chocolate and candy shops, with my empty  bag (empty unbeknownst to all shop owners) and they give me free samples.  I barely had to eat the entire time I was in Brussels!  I have never seen so many awesome chocolate, candy and cookie stores in my life.  Brussels is Zanner Heaven.

Cookies - my favorite food group.

Brussels is also famous for eating mussels and fries otherwise known in French as  "Moules et Frites".  I had to take a break from the chocolate and enjoy this local delicacy.  The waiter provided me with a big silver bowl to throw out the shells.  The mussels were served in a salty broth with onions, celery and something green.  I loved it.  The fries were so good I didn't need ketchup.  To make my meal even better at Chez Leon, the Moules & Frites special which came with a  free Belgian beer.

Moules & Frites with Belgian beer (only 399 more beers to try...)

No trip to Brussels would be complete without seeing their famous statue - the Mannequin Pis.  It's a statue of a little boy peeing.  With all the fan fare I thought it would be huge.  I almost missed it!  Other than the crowd of people around - I would not have noticed the little guy.  Years ago, the king of France (Louis XV) provided an outfit for the Mannequin Pis as an apology as a Frenchman had attempted to steal the statue.  As tradition, France has provided many different outfits for the statue.   He was naked when I saw him. 

Mannequin Pis.

Mannequin Pee in relation to Mee.

Of course the city has to capitalize on everything Brussels is famous for.  Someone created a life sized, chocolate inspired, waffle eating, little boy peeing statue.  Much to the delight of tourists.

Whoa lady!

Paris Blues

Wow, Paris at last.  I had these visions of Paris in my mind.  I saw lovers strolling along the Seine while artists delicately painted on canvas propped up on easels.  I heard romantic violins or accordions playing "La Vie en Rose" to the people on the street as they drank coffee in street-side cafes.  All the people would be dressed to the nines; this is after all the glamour capital of the world.  It would be the most grand metropolis of all urban areas.  The cool of the cool, the chic of the chic.

Tourists trolling the Seine.

I am sad to say that I find Paris very dirty, very smelly and none of the above.  Most places are covered in graphiti, there is garbage in the streets and there is a strong smell that surfaces every 2 blocks or so.  I'll leave the organic olfactory description to your imagination.   The service in restaurants is non-existent (OK, so I didn't go to any 5 star restaurants, but I don't do that at home either).  I had better service from the teenagers at Boston Pizza then at the cafes on Rue St. Michel and Rue St. Martin.   Isn't Paris supposed to have the best restaurants, stores and street-side atmosphere?

Is it because I am visiting tourist areas and us foreigners have worn out our welcome?  A few days later, I did find a delightful little café called Evangeline near the Musee D'Orsee.  I splurged and had crepes with chocolate and banana filling. 

J'aime beaucoup les crepes chocolat et banane.

The couple running the cafe were helpful, pleasant and very French!  This place was so small that they put mirrors everywhere to displace the sensation of being in a small box.  When I stepped up to the counter I freaked out  because I was looking at my face, not the Monsieur behind the counter. 

Csn you see the mirrors?  This is the Evangeline cafe, seriously, this is it!

Although I was disappointed with the vibe and my overall impression of Paris, I was impressed with the key landmarks that make this city unique.  The Louvre was better than I imagined (even after reading The DaVinci Code). 

Pyramid at the Louvre.  Very early in the morning - look, there are no people!

Tres bien, Monsieur.



I also like to hang out my boobs when I claim victory.



Venus in shadow.



Musee D'Orsay has an amazing collection of famous impressionist paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Manet, Degas, Renoir and many others.  They even have the rough sketches that the artists created prior to finishing their grand works of art.  Manet practiced 6 different creases in an elbow for one painting.  Seeing the evolution of the art is something that is not offered in other museums that I have been to. 

L'Arc De Triomphe is huge, and only by standing under it do you understand the gravity of the price paid for victory. 

L'Arc de Triomphe.

The Eiffel Tower is an engineering masterpiece - it gets painted every 7 years which requires 60 tons of paint!  I always thought the tower was grey, but it's actually brown.   I opted to walk up the stairs to save a few euros.  

The stairs are the way to go.  Look, no people!

Only 669 stairs to the 2nd viewing platform, piece of cake.

 

Trusses and rivets create a masterpiece.

 

When I heard the bell ringing at the Cathedral de Notre Dame, and saw the amazing grandeur and stained glass windows, my heart opened a little bit for Paris.

Twin bell towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral, home of Quasimoto.

Stained glass window inside Notre Dame.

A tourist attraction that is not as common is the thousands of "cadenas d'amour" (love padlocks) that are attached to the railings of the Pont des Arts bridge over the Seine  Left Bank by the Louvre.  Each padlock has a message to a lover, or a note proclaiming eternal love.  Now this is more like the romantic Paris of my dreams! 

Nothing says true love like a bike lock.

My favorite part of Paris is the Champs D'Elysees.  It is a stretch of road between the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe.  One section is a garden with trees, flowers and water fountains.  There are very comfy reclining metal chairs that you can sit in to enjoy the warm weather and the view.  The other section is shops and restaurants.  It was here that I saw Louis Vuitton and Cartier stores that were larger than life!  Of course, I had to shop and buy some new clothes.  It was time to switch from tacky tourist to tres chic.

THE Louis Vuitton store.

Great view from restaurant on Champs D'Elysees.  Service and food...not so great.

I spoke in French most of the time in Paris, so the 12 years of schooling in French Immersion finally were put to good use after 20 years.  Merci Madame Szwender!

There is still hope for my view of Paris.  I have one more day in Paris planned at the end of my trip.  Perhaps a new light (and hopefully a new smell) will give me a change of heart.

Braveheart

Edinburgh is pronounced Edinburrrrr because it is cold here.   That's what my tour guide said.  Luckily for me - it is sunny and not raining.  What a beautiful city.  I was quite surprised by the Edinburgh skyline - there is an amazing castle, palace, cathedral and tower right outside my hotel room window.  A beautiful park at the base of the hills completes the view.  As I opened my window , a bagpiper started to play "Scotland The Brave".  There could not have been a more idyllic experience!

View of Edinburgh from my hotel window.

The Edinburgh castle is on one side of the old city, and the palace is on the other side.  They are connected by the Royal Mile.  Greg and I walked the Royal Mile and took in the views, the shops and the restaurants.

A small part of the big castle.

The Royal Mile.

We toured the castle, including the prison.  They held many prisoners in a very dark, cramped dungeon.  It felt eerie walking through.

Castle dungeon.

Prisoners slept shoulder to shoulder...

...with other prisoners in hammocks above them.

We went to a traditional Scottish dinner with Highland dancers, bagpipers, fiddlers and accordion.  It was a very authentic night - there was a lot of plaid and a lot of kilts! 

MacZanner and MacPiper.

After the dinner, our hosts piped in a haggis.  It was on a large platter complete with a huge rack of antlers.  The MC recited the poem by Robby Burns "Ode to a Haggis".  It was a huge procession and it felt like a religious ceremony.

Haggis looks like a big sausage.



Our MC reciting poetry to the haggis.

I ate the haggis!  We were told not to believe all the rumors you hear about the Scottish delicacy.  As the MC said  "Some people think that Haggis is brains, eyeballs,  kidneys, liver, intestines etc.  That is….baloney!"  Haggis is lamb stomach, oatmeal, herbs and spices, so he said.  It tasted like spicy meatloaf and I enjoyed it.  It was served with mashed potato and turnip.

It doesn't look too bad.

I might as well try it.

Preparing myself for the legendary horrible taste.

Haggis isn't so bad after all!

My second day in Edinburgh involved a bus trip to Rosslyn Chapel of "The DaVinci Code" fame. 

Our transport to Rosslyn Chapel used tartan MacBus.

There is no rose line, no crypt with ancient records, and the St. Clair family does not believe they are related to Jesus.  Dan Brown hasn't even visited Rosslyn Chapel.  They used to get one thousand visitors a year.  Now they get 1000 visitors a day.

Regardless of Dan Brown's creative writing, Rosslyn Chapel is a beautiful chapel.  There is a legend that something of major historical significance is buried under the floor.  A large stone arrow is carved in the stone ceiling and it points down to mark a spot on the floor.  People say they feel warm or tingling when they stand on the spot.  I felt nothing.  That doesn't mean I don't believe that something could be down there!

The St. Clair family had the chapel built hundreds of years ago to help ensure their family members get into heaven.  As was the custom, they paid priests to pray for them around the clock.  The current family members won't let anyone dig up "the spot".  I think it is very cool of the St. Clair's to hold their ground.  The world always needs a good mystery.

The filming of " The DaVinci Code" did happen at the chapel.  The set designer put a star of David above the stairs to the lower chapel and when he removed it, it left a white circle.  This is now referred to as the star of Hollywood.

In the 1950's someone covered the entire chapel (walls, ceilings, pillars, stone carvings, statues - everything!) with cement.  It dulled the details and is ruining the chapel.  The intent was to help preserve the chapel, but unfortunately water is trapped under the cement and the sandstone is deteriorating rapidly.   A massive restoration is underway.

Massive restoration at Rosslyn Chapel - no cameras were allowed inside.

Scotland's beauty blew me away.  Due to the lack of historical accuracy in Dan Brown's book, and in the movie "Braveheart",  I figure I owe it to myself to return to Scotland and spend more time here.  Of all the cities so far on my UK trip - Edinburgh has been the most amazing!



View of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth waterway from the castle.



Sister Act

From Dublin we drove to Belfast to catch a ferry to Scotland.  My friends Amanda and Bobbie-Jo met up with us in Belfast's Donegall Square.   It wasn't enough that they got up early to meet us - they came bearing gifts!  I was thrilled that they bought me an Irish claddagh necklace and Greg a Northern Ireland soccer jersey.

Bobbie-Jo, Zanner, Greg and Amanda in Belfast.

My new necklace.

The sisters made us a yummy lunch that we ate on our ferry ride to Scotland.  All the other passengers were very jealous.

A true friend puts chocolate in your lunch!

I found it incredibly special that they put in so much effort, all for a 15 minute visit!  That is all the bus tour allowed us for time.   I met Amanda and Bobbie-Jo at Coral Beach in the Bahamas when I was there in March.  I was so touched that we got the chance to reconnect, it made my Ireland trip one I will never forget.

Amanda, Zanner and Bobbie-Jo in Bahamas in March 2011.