Living in the North of France, I am lucky enough to live right on the Belgian border. Literally a 15 minute drive. It’s nuts. In fact, I know many people that ride their bikes to and from Belgium. It seems crazy to go from one country to another by simply driving, walking, biking, etc. sans passport. Alas, it makes for great day and weekend trips with friends. Especially considering Belgium has a lower tax on beer than in France. AMEN!
My Belgian trips thus far have included: Brussels, Bruges, Ghant, Da Haan (Beach town), Tournai, and most recently, Bellewaeder Amusement park with the kids.
My trip to Brussels was with my friend from Morocco. She and I stayed two days and two nights in the city just next to the Grand Platz. It was so beautiful! That was my first time in Brussels and I fell in love immediately. It is such an international city with so much to see. Definitely livable in my book. We spent the first day sight seeing around town, gawking over the Grand Platz beauty, and indulging in Belgian waffles and chocolates. That night, I had sent a Facebook message to those 3 students from Chicago and Southern Ohio that I met while on the train to London a few weeks prior. They all lived in Brussels so I figured I’d ask if they wanted to meet up for drinks since our encounter was so weird and fun. The girl and the guy from Ohio said of course! The guy from Chicago was back home for a wedding. But the 4 of us went to the coolest bar I’ve ever been to called “Delirium”. It has over 2,000 different types of beer! The place was huge. We all had Belgian beers made by monks which were super good and we all had such a fun time.
The next day my friend and I took the train out of Brussels to see some museums about 20 minutes away. They were all located near each other on this huge park with running paths, horseback riding trails, and lakes. It was absolutely gorgeous. The train ride was lovely too. The views were spectacular! We spent the whole day wondering around the park and stopping in the museums.
Bruges was wonderful. I had been once before with my mom back when I was in high school, but this time it was with some other au pair friends and just before Christmastime. I love Bruges. It looks like something out of a fairytale with swans, medieval buildings, a canal that runs through the whole town (which have tiny boats that remind me of the Disney ride, It’s a Small World). There was a Christmas market in the middle of the Grande Place with an ice rink too. It looked very German. Each little market stand looked like a wooden log cabin. It was TOO adorable. We stayed in Bruges for just the day and then headed back to Lille that night. It was such a lovely time.
A few weekends ago, the previous au pair for this family (Hannah) and I drove up to Belgium on a Saturday and a Sunday. Saturday we drove to Ghant which is very similar to Bruges with its canals and medieval buildings. We ate lunch in a pub, watched some soccer (Scotland was playing, Hannah’s country), then spent the day walking around and people watching. We headed back to Lille that night and then the next day drove up to the Da Haan beach. It was a perfect day! Sunny, warm (too cold to swim though), and the town was so perfectly beachy. It almost looked like we were on the East-Coast back home or in Charleston. It didn’t seem like we were in Belgium. We sat on the beach, grabbed some lunch, and finished off the day with some gelato. I love Belgium. The people are so friendly, the country is beautiful, and the fries are to die for.
Tournai is another small Belgian town that my friends and I go to because it’s only a 15min drive from here and has lots of great bars and restaurants. That’s probably one of my most frequently visited cities since being in Europe. It’s always a fun time with great people and great (cheap) beer.
My last trip to Belgium was to take the kids to an amusement park called Bellewaeder. It was during their vacation so I took the 3 kids and one of their friends. The park was actually a lot bigger than I had anticipated, but still much smaller than say Disney or 6 Flags. The park was beautiful with tons of trees and a zoo throughout. Each area of the park was split up into different countries and continents. Since all the Belgium kids had just finished their school vacation we basically had the park to our selves. It was totally cool. We could just stay on the rides because there was no one in line. Unfortunately, that didn’t work in my favor when I told the boy (Hugo) that I would ride the super fast, super twisty, and super loopy roller coaster with him. I swear, he made me ride that thing at least 7 times, each time in a different seat to make sure we had maximum thrills each time.
We spent the entire day at that park and we all had the best time. The workers had to kick us out at the end because these kids wanted to keep riding everything. Needless to say that night the kids and I were exhausted.
I love Belgium and I am always happy to take a trip there. I only have 2 months left as an Au Pair so I will surely make at least on last trip to Belgium before I go.
See you all soon!
Bisous!
Claire
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