Cosy Cottage Aalst

... it was a journey getting there!

Our hostel was nice and we shared the room with one other girl each night.

Our first night there, our mission was to eat waffles. We found the best waffles from the waffle man (similar to an ice cream man). The rest of the night we ate dinner and explored the center of Brussels.

The following day we wondered around seeing many churches and museums. We ate more waffles and enjoyed cones of French ...

... every time I sat still, some Indian dude would find me and want to "practice his English."  Right.  So there I am enjoying the nice weather from a great spot in the shade.  And what happens?  An Indian refugee from Punjab appears and wants to talk about missing his mother.  I made it clear that I was tourist who couldn't help him with his pursuit of a permanent residency card.  But he really missed his mother and Helene was late (what kind of ...

... to Chez Leon's famous moules-frittes, to the fireside rabbit at 't Kelderke and watching the snowstorm in the Grande Place over beers at Le Roy d'Espagne (A famous watering hole in the old bakers' guild house)... the cafe culture never disappointed and never got old. 3) Da Vinci: Out of sheer coincidence, our time in Brussels nicely overlapped the opening of the world's largest Leonardo Da Vinci expo. The exhibit was held in the mammoth ...

... airline. Or maybe I'm just saying that because one of the stewardesses told me I had a nice smile. Anyways, the airline was do comfortable that one of the passengers was in such deep comfort that it took a few tries of strong yelling and shaking, from the flight attendants, before the guy would wake up!

... action face à sa petite taille. Je ne sais pas pourquoi cette statue est aussi célèbre, mais elle est vraiment plus petite que les touristes ne se l'imaginent ! Les Bruxellois tiennent quand même à leur Manneken Pis et au mois de septembre, ils lui mettent un habit lors de la journée de la fête du Manneken Pis. Il y a même un musée avec tous ses habits que j'aimerais voir un jour. Nous prenons ensuite une ...

... I simply had the time to take my tent, a sweater and the few other things I had at Ingrid's place and go back to join Nadine... a bit late. We would leave somewhere (she had prepared a wonderful lunch though!) And to add to that, we even missed the train. We kept going, we would take the train to Jemelles and would after try to go to a camping in Rochefort for the night. Our Go Pass ready, we board the train by the evening so it would be dark when we would arrive. Destination Wallonie!

... Les Gilles se promènent avec des paniers d'oranges qu'ils lancent sur les visiteurs. La musique du carnaval est très rythmée et dynamique, parfois même un peu techno. Avec de tels beaux anciens bâtiments en décor et des gens qui parlent une langue dont je ne comprends qu'un mot sur deux, et une coutume que je comprends encore moins, je me sens vraiment en Europe. Vive le dépaysement, cela ouvre l'esprit !

... truffles were presented along with a cup of hot ganache, which tasted like chocolate soup. I never really cared for chocolate but it was infatuation at first bite. Our next stop was Chocolate Manon which I was told is run by a "chocolate nazi" who will lock the doors if we're one minute late. This small factory concentrates on quality over quantity and fancy packaging. The educational presentation was given by the owner Christian, who is both serious and hilarious. He only ...

Passing through the countryside and farmland of France. The overcast clouds keep getting darker and thicker. In American that would symbolize rain, but I haven't really figured ou tthe weather here yet. My first impression of Paris was definiately not hte right ione. It was very hot and humid. Now it's mostly overcast and mid 60's it feels like. Hopefully it doesn't rain today because I don't have anything for that. I picked up my jacket last minute. Hah, I only brought black ...

... fuse and extinguishing it. So, to commemorate his deed, the Manneken Pis was born. We took a lovely stroll down some seriously charming cobble-stoned streets and past a number of whimsical shops and boutiques. I would have loved to browse and just peruse at my own pace, but we were on a schedule here and had to hustle. When we finally reached the adorably nekked Mannekin Pis, I realized that it was so much smaller than ...