Paris & Bruges - Days 3 & 4 (Tuesday May 27th, & Wednesday May 28th)

ledzeppelin6896
May 29
3 min read

Day three in Paris began with a nice breakfast complete with croissants, pastries, omelettes and cappuccinos. We decided to take the metro to Montmartre atop a large hill to the north of town. Once we arrived we decided to go into the main attraction there, the Sacre-Coeur basilica. Last time we were in town, we didn't go into the basilica, so we figured that this time, we should see what's actually inside. The interior of the basilica was enormous and took the better part of half an hour to walk the exterior around the seats and altar. The pictures I posted below don't capture the vastness of this impressive church.

Sacre-Coeur basilica complete with Catholic nuns chanting.

After spending a few minutes taking some pictures of Paris from atop the hill, we walked over to artist's square and checked out all of the paintings and works of art from some of Paris' finest artists. We LOVE coming to this area of Montmartre because of the art and cool vibe.

After returning back to the hotel room and catching a quick bite for lunch, we decided to go to the Army Museum and Napoleon's tomb, which Mike was excited to finally see! (history nerd moment!). The museum was basically a chronological stroll through France's history of warfare and military technology. From the Middle Ages, through the 100 Years' War, French Revolution, Napoleonic era, Franco-Prussian War, WWI, WWII.....you get the idea. Mike loved this place and Katie took one for the team :-) Afterwards we made a beeline to the golden dome and Napoleon's tomb....and arrived at 5:50pm..10 minutes before closing. Apparently they don't allow additional visitors after about 5:45pm so they can clear the area and get out of work on time and make it home for dinner. Mike's anguished cries of disbelief could be heard all the way to Versailles as we missed the opportunity. Some say Mike's trail of tears stained the sidewalks of Paris and are a visible reminder of the pain he experienced that fateful day.

After visiting the museum (and NOT Napoleon's tomb!) we made our way over to (you guessed it) Tasca's for dinner yet again. This night Katie had the stuffed ravioli and Mike went for the shrimp, mushroom and zucchini risotto. It was delicious! Afterwards, we strolled one final time past the Eifel tower and went back to the hotel to pack and get ready to depart for Bruges Belgium the following day.

Wednesday morning we slept in a bit, had a nice Parisian breakfast at a new cafe, L'Eclair. This time we added to our pastries and omelettes some fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice. YUM! We then finished packing, and then caught an Uber to the train station. Thankfully we didn't have to drive. Word to the wise: NEVER drive in Paris....it's an absolute horror show on the roads! We made the trip to the train station with time to spare and boarded the train to Bruges Belgium. From Paris, to Brussels, ending in Bruges, it took us roughly 2 1/2 hours. It's so nice to be able to get about anywhere in Europe via the railroad!

After Ubering to our hotel (B&B Augusto), we quickly unpacked and went out to explore. The area we are staying is in the heart of this adorable city. We are literally a 2 minute walk to the town center where all the action is happening. The construction/architecture of the buildings is really unique and most of the buildings are hundreds of years old. Words fail me at this point, so you are now better off seeing the pictures below or Googling the city to see the fabulous buildings.

We discovered that about 1 minute from our hotel is an old pub called the Monk. We decided to stop and have a quick beer (and we found a nice gluten-free mango beer for Katie!). From there, we decided to walk around the city, explore, and take in the sights. We later also might have stopped for another beer and maybe some gluten-free chocolate covered waffles on a stick! What is Belgium known for? Beer, chocolate and waffles. We covered that in the first 60 minutes there! What a great country!! For dinner we stopped at a gluten free dinner at the Pittahuis restaurant and it was delicious. Then it was back home for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow (Thursday) we plan on exploring the town a bit.

That's it for now. Until next time, tot ziens! (Flemish for goodbye!)

By the way, Mike has changed a few things on the site. Feel free to drop a "like" or a comment if you feel so inclined!