Paris and Belgium!

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Here we are again. We spent a week in Paris (our stay extended due to the pesky flue and a bout of "OMG What the hell have we done and we can't speak French!")

We met up with a couple from Sydney on our 2nd day in Paris and enjoyed a few jam packed sightseeing days with them. It was great to go around with someone else particularly someone from your neck of the woods.

Paris was a welcome relief from London with the hot weather although the 3rd 35 degree day got a bit much. We did the tourist trail and took loads of pics. We didn't enjoy much French cuisine though - the prices are ridiculous so mainly existed on bread and cheese. We splurged on the last day and bought icecream from the homemade Gelato place - it was divine!

Our French (non-existent) has improved dramatically and now that we find ourselves in the predominantly Dutch speaking region of Belgium we still keep trying to speak French to everyone (not very well!!). We've found most people speak English anyhow although we had a funny encounter with the man at the laundromat who was intent on giving us tips on how to do our washing who didn't speak a bit of English. We kept trying to communicate but to no avail we'd all throw our hands up in defeat (we thought) and silence would prevail for 20seconds before he'd pipe up again and have another go!

We caught the train to Brussels on Thursday (20th) and were quite pleased to be leaving Paris, the bread and cheese diet was getting boring and we were wanting to branch out and eat things from other food groups! We came to the right place! We officially LOVE Belgium! We were greeted with a shopping mall (not dissimilar to our Hay Street) and normal people that all speak different languages but don't stare at you like you're a tourist (even though we are!). The mall was lined with shops (of course) but more importantly with delicious smelling waffle and icee stands! Heaven!! From a tip in our guide book we made our way to Waffle Papillon, and enjoyed the BEST waffles ever!! Topped with soft serve icecream (different and better to the stuff at home) and rich chocolate sauce and strawberries - yummo! We then finished our meal with an icee and a cone of fries (frittes as their known here - also a Belgian speciality). The best thing is - it is all cheap! So needless to say we spent 2 days in Brussels eating and doing little else. We figure after our bread and cheese diet in Paris we deserved it! We are continuing our gastronomic trip across Belgium and have landed in the beautiful city of Bruges - not so many waffles but even better fries and the recently discovered local speciality - the Bicky Burger. Not sure what makes it so special and not sure if we really want to know but it is GOOD! The burgers are better in Bruges!

Trish has also discovered that beer can be good! They have a cherry flavoured beer - Kriek, and loves it! Daniel has had to try a few different types before finding one that he enjoys but there is about 300 different types so there is plenty to choose from.

Belgium is so much more laid back than London and Paris and we're lapping it up. We're here until tomorrow before catching the train to Amsterdam but have concluded we definitely love Belgium (need to brush up on our Dutch though!!!).

Anyway we can smell the Bicky Burger coming off the barbie so best be off.......sorry for the food centric blog but we're just so darn hungry after Paris and the food and beer is sooooo good!!!!

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Comments

[Dan and Trish]

Yoghurt in France
We did have yoghurt too but yoghurt is yoghurt unfortunately. Just as coke is coke and graffitti is graffitti no matter where you are in the world - oh and no matter how classy the city/town - there are still weirdos and drunks! Good to hear the rain is falling for you! Dan and Trish