Brugge at night is just as fun as during the day. I re-visited some of the places I went to during the day. I saw: · Canals and Bridges · Open Market Areas · Archways and doors · Food and drink at the markets I also had dinner in a local restaurant – omelette and pom frittes... read more

I arrived in Bruges and made my way to my hotel. It was in an amazing location and the view was great, but I should have listened to the reviews, as it wasn’t very clean or comfortable. My room was the single dormer window on the white building. Never-mind, it was too late, so I went exploring! I saw lots of sights including: Canals and bridges Alleyways Open Market areas Statues Archways Old Buildings ... read more

Today was a train trip to Brugge / Bruges in Belgium. I caught the metro to Gare du Nord, then a Thalys train to Brussels Midi (South), then a local train to Brugges. I’ll split today into the following posts: Gard du Nord to Brugge Brugges in daylight Brugge Sweet Food Brugges at night The average temperature in Brugges was 6C / 42F, and I did 19,421 steps on my fitbit ... read more

I booked this tour before I even left Australia. I had to drink real French champagne in the champagne region in France. I never knew how to pronounce “Moët”. Most Australians say something like “Mo-ee”. I learnt the T is actually pronounced kind of like “Mo-et”. Aussies take note! I chose which bottles I would get to test (I chose the most expensive one – I’d come half way around the world for this!), I got my tickets and waited for the tour to start. We then had our chance to taste test 2 champagnes. They turned out to be full glasses. I hadn’t eaten a proper meal since breakfast, so I was rather drunk by the time I left!... read more

When I left the station at Reims, I turned left and walked through a lovely park and headed towards La Porte de Mars, an old Roman ruin. Mars Gate is the only remaining monumental gate built in the first part of the 3rd century and giving access to the Roman city of Durocortorum. I then headed along the pedestrian street Place Drouet d’ergon which was where their christmas markets were being held. I kept going until I came to Rue de Vesle. I then made my way to the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Reims. It is truly worth the visit. Excavations have shown that the present building occupies roughly the same site as the original cathedral, founded c.400 under the episcopacy of St Nicaise. That church was rebuilt during the Carolingian period and further extended ... read more