Brussels

It was supposed to rain all weekend, but I forgot my umbrella. All in all, we had 3 drops of rain in 2 days. The Saturday trip was stressful as it was raining cats and dogs in Geneva and I was stuck in the streets waiting for a cab at 05:30am, for a plane leaving at 06:50am. Luckily I got another taxi company on the phone to rush me to the airport.

I also discovered the pride of the country: chocolate and beer. I was aware of the beer culture, with its fruit beer and monastery beer. It makes me smile how many abbeys are also breweries. I suppose they had to get high one way or another, those monks.

This time though, I nonchalantly asked where to get some good Belgian chocolates: my friends al offered different answers, but also pointed me to the right place to go shopping: place des Sablons.  Imagine the Place Vendôme in paris, where the big names of jewelries have their flagship stores. Well, the chocolatiers have their own territory around this little square on top pf a hill and between 2 beautiful churches: Godiva, Pierre Marcolini, Whittamer, Leonidas, Neuhaus were conffronting each other on that square. 

Of course, next to the old grand Place, there are a lot more chocolatier and touristy places to buy chocolates. But this was the place to get the grand cru of chocolate and to admire the easter season windows settings.

After much sampling and walking around, I also explored much of line 3, 2, 6 of the metro, crisscrossing the old town and doing antique on Rue Haute (Hoog straat). Getting lost int he old town and stumbling on pita street (a whole street of pita restaurants), seafood street (another one with only seafood restaurant, including Leon de Bruxelles), and italian street (yes, only italian restaurants) was fun, and although the country is very flat, the old town has some nice paved hills that made me earn those chocolate bites.