Brussels, Beers, and a Dance Party

In 2014 we were supposed to take the Eurostar from Paris to London with the kids for a day, but the booking got messed up.  Since then we have traveled on Amtrak plenty in the US, but we always heard the European rail was so much more.  Today we were up early and ubbered to St. Pancras station to take the Eurostar to Brussels.  It was so well-marked and easy to figure out.

We were booked in Eurostar plus with a table for 4 in car #8.  We did wind up being joined by a young woman, but there was still plenty of room for our bags, us, lapstops out for working, etc..  I thought I would be freaked out about the Chunnel.  The Official name which is the Channel Tunnel is 31.5 miles long and sits 23.5 miles under the English Channel.  But the Eurostar is going 100mph through it, so I hardly had time to think about it.  We also got a continental breakfast with tea, coffe, and juice.

We arrived into Brussels Gare de Midi.  After we disembraked we noticed people everywhere carrying flags and dressed almost like circus people, but all in a matching burgundy guiding people and answering questions.  It would be a couple of hours until we figured out that one of the, if not the, largest Music Festival in Europe was getting ready to start weekend #2 in Belgium, Tomorrowland.

Since in just over 24 hours we will need a rental car I got us a room at the hotel/hostel Meininger Gare du Midi which was less than a 5 miunte walk from the station.  With the festival, even though not in Brussels, the place was packed.  Our room of course was not ready, so again we crammed our bags into 2 large lockers and hopped the Metro to the city's center and walked to the Grand Palace.  Wow, just wow...love, love that everything is pedestrian. Chocolate shop after chocolate shop lined the streets as well as eateries.  And the architecture was beautiful with lots of gold.  In the plaza was a podium in the center with a DJ deck and it was set-up like a concert.  We thought perhaps they were tearing it down from something earlier or preparing for something later.  After all the festival itself is not in Brussels.

It was such a beautiful day we opted to get an outside table at Le "Roy d'Espange" and our first Belgium pints. Built in 1697 it was originally the baker's guild headquarters. Force, wheat, wind, fire, water, and security, all needed by bakers are prepresented from left to right by statues high up on the buildings facade. Above the entrance is Saint-Aubert, patron Saint of Bakers. During and after the French Revolution it went through a few iterations, before returning to a cafe in 1952.  Here we would enjoy our first Belgium Beers and chat with some of the festival attendees.  The Spainards next to us mixed up their AM and PM and told us there was to be a welcome set in the plaza at 3AM,  which makes sense as the festival itself goes until the wee hours of the morning. But we soon found out that was 3PM and we would wind up dancing in the plaza for 90 minutes.

Alec was beyond happy as he purchased a DJ deck to take to school and has been working hard to master it all summer.  And there were even songs, which the DJ duo called "old school" mixed in that Andy and I knew.  It was a lot of fun and a pleasant surprise.  Just like our trip to Europe 10 years ago with the kids when we wandered into a cheese festival and had our 8 and 10 year old out dancing to EDM tunes late into the night.

Exhausted we wound our way to the famous Manneken Pis.  Literally one of the top sites in Brussels and yes, it is a statue just over 2 feet tall of a little boy pissing in a fountain.  There are all kinds of stories about what he presents, but ultimately he was done like Cupid with no big story behind it.  Since then a girl version called Jeanneke Pis has been erected as well for equal rights.  And then someone thought they needed a pet, so a pissing dog refered to as Zinneke Pis was erected.  Then we hopped the nearest metro back to the station and walked back to our hotel to check out the new digs for a night.

Much larger than our last one...Andy and I have the classic singles pushed together.  And Alec is in a bunk bed again.  But this time we have a desk and all the normal bathroom amenities that we did not in our last location.  Hair dryer, soap, towels (were a charge at the last location)....we even have a TV.  We ate at a not very exciting place near the station and are now settling in for the night.  Tomorrow will be a long day with a 4 hour history and food tour in Brussels before getting our car and heading south for 3 nights of glamping at the F1 race.

How fast can you site see in London....24 hours?

Waking up on Day 2 we had slept pretty well.  Our hostel included a European breakfast of toast or rolls, humus, veggies, meats, yogurt, fruit. and a coffee machine that pumped out anything your heart desired.  Then we walked back to the Tower of London where we jumped on our Big Bus Hop On, Hop Off.  Like these things or not they are a great way to get around a large tourist city and garner some info at the same time.

We would take ours to Kensington Palace to see the changing of the guard with several thousand other tourists.  Unless you are pressed against the front gate the best view is from the center around the statues.  The downside though is there only two exit points when it is all over.  Still you get to see quite a bit.  Upon exit we made our way back to a bus stop to my most wanted attraction, Harrods.

No, I do not go for the luxury clothes and upscale jewelry, cigars, etc.  I go for the food halls.  The most amazing floor of chocolate, pastries, meat, seafood, coffee, cheese...shall I go on?  We walked it all and then grabbed some pastries for the next morning and I hit the Harrod's brand store for something for me and something for our missing Jolly.

Now mind you I am not a fan of Hard Rock Cafes, but when your son is into music just as much as your husband you do make a reservation at the original Hard Rock Cafe that opened in London in 1971 and is filled with things from the literal icons of rock-n-roll, most notable the British.  The Beatles, The Who, Clapton, Queen, Elton John, The Sex Pistols...and then throw in the iconic Americans like Madonna,  Prince, BB King, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Our server caught on quick to our interest and even gave us a pass to the vault that is not open on Wenesdays, unless you have one of these passes.  And there were the crown jewels of rock-n-roll.

Next up we went to another shopping area, Regeants Street.  Here Alec had to find his way to Huntsman, a men's handsewn suit shop which has served as the inspiration for Matthew Vaughn’s blockbuster movies Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and the prequel The King’s Man. From there Mom and Dad needed caffeine as we were now nearly 8 hours into our day and well over 7 miles of walking, so we went to a lovely little shop called Kiss the Hippo.  Little did we know it has won the UK Barista Championships twice.

Back on the bus we now had to make our way for the inconic Clark Griswald's "Look kids. There's Big Ben and there's Parliament."  He's supposedly stuck in a traffic circle, which if there was there is not anymore.  We walked all around both, as well as Westmentster Abbey, then being nearly 7PM the buses were starting to dwindle, so we hoped the Underground back to our hostel.

Alec had not yet had a traditional pub visit with folks just off work and playing darts, smoking (yes there is a lot of that still in England), and enjoying a pint with their mates.  So we crossed the street from our hostel and enjoyed a beverage, pizza from homemade dough, and of course European Women's football on the tele at Sir Syndney Smith, This public house has been serving the East End of London since at least 1809. Named after a British Admiral of the Napoleonic Wars, it has somehow survived for over 200 years to become one of the few remaining early 19th century pubs in an area of London which once had hundreds. Then off to bed for an early morning on the Eurostar to Brussels, Stop #2.

Back Going and Back in London

Life has come full circle.  I started writing these blogs when the kids were little, then they took over.  Now as the empty nest lies right in front of us (actually 3 weeks away) I am taking back over again as they are more interested in sharing their travels via snaps or stories.

Today we landed in London.  For Andy and I it was merely a cheap way to get to Europe directly from SFO.  For Alec though this is another country and place he has not been.  Well, let me back-up...we thought it was merely a cheap way, but what we have found in the 12 hours since we arrived is WOW London has changed in the 25 years since we were here last.  Really 25 years?  Seems like yesterday.

Back in 1999 there was not Uber so we trained in from Heathrow.  Now, at least for 3 people, it is more economical to Uber.  You pick-up the "Hail Rides" on the 4th floor outside the terminal.  Very well-marked and easy.  About an hour later and we had weaved our way to our first lodging.

To save money we have opted for hostels for stop #1 and #2.  We chose Wombats on Dock Street for its close proximity to a few major sites.  We were 2 hours before check-in so our room was not ready, but they had luggage lockers, so we quicky grabbed a few things, locked everything else away, and were off.

Only 15 minutes from the Tower of London and Tower Bridge we had grabbed tour tickets on-line at the airport and asked the front desk for a recommendation for lunch enroute there.  They suggested we check out St. Katherines Docks only a 10 minute stroll from the hotel.

Andy certainly enjoyed the walk as the docks were lined with beautiful boats as well as artworks and restaurants.  Once there we opted for this amazing building, The Dickens Inn, perched right on the water and 3 stories high.  "The Dickens Inn is an original warehouse building near Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and The Shard. Dating back to the 18th century, it is thought to have been built in the early 1700s as a tea factory or a local brewery. Years later, it was converted into a local tavern, with sawdust strewn floors and no bottled or canned beer would have been stocked. Diners also enjoyed candlelit meals on the balconies; this practice has been phased out due to modern fire safety regulations! In May 1976, The Dickens Inn was opened by the grandson of Charles Dickens, Cedric Charles Dickens.Charles Dickens was particularly fond of Thameside and East London with his work being stocked with characters and scenes memorably linked with the area." Here Andy and Alec would have their first pints and I opted for a Pimms Spritz.  I love Pimms and will be recreating this one back home.  Andy also got his first fish and chips, while Alec opted for a burger and myself a salad.  It is an overcast day with showers off and on, but we managed to dine outside without a drop.

Next we followed the water to London Bridge and after a few pictures made our way to the Tower for our 2:30 entry time.  We got our tickets straight through the Historic Royal Palaces website versus all the 3rd party travel vendors like Viator, etc.. Once inside as grabbed our audio tour and were off.  The showers have now made it a little muggy, so we sped through our 2 hour highlight tour in 90 minutes.  We saw the Crown Jewels, alongside torture chambers, the famous ravens, and more.  The humidity and our jet-lagged state caught up to us and we called it quits after listening to a few funny tales by one of the Yaomen Warders.  These soldiers and lengthy and decorated service are now charged to guard the Tower and all of its prized possessions.  We loved seeing the mix of soldiers present that day...including women which we had not seen in 1999 as well as representatives of various ethnicites, also not seen 25 years ago.

A quick 15 minute walk back to the hostel we gave into a 1 hr power nap, then we went to the basement of our hostel to this amazing little place, the WomBar, which was bustling with people and affordable drinks.  We would catch up with family via wifi, play cards, and manage to stay awake until nearly 10PM.  We might have also enjoyed when the gal running the trivia night shut down a group of young Americans from the south when they attempted to chant USA when we were introducing where we were all from. We and another group from Cali were a little more subdued.  And you wonder why Americans get a bad rap as tourists.  Really!?!? That's how you introduce yourself to a hostel bar full of people from all around the world. After a quick exit from trivia we onboarded some melatonin on board and crawled into our bunk beds...yep that's how you get a private with ensuite bathroom in a hostel for a family...and are ready to crash out and awaken tomorrow to cramming as much of London as possible into one day.

Paris .... Slowing It Down

We slept in on Monday and enjoyed our mediocre breakfast at the hostel.  Andy spent the morning geting the City Mapper app set-up on my phone, so Ally and I could navigate our morning without him.  You see I've always been the driver and Andy the navigator.  Even on trips I plan the destinations whether a hotel, restaurant, or other and Andy figures out how to get us there.  City Mapper was awesome.  You set your city and then put in where you want to go and it gives you ALL of your options.  I mean all from walking to scooter rental to moped rental to bike to cab to buses to the metro.  The part I was most frightened about was getting on the metro going to wrong direction, but it even told you that.

So with that about 9:30AM we were off and actually got to ride the first train together and the boys got off a couple of stops in front of us as they were headed to Musée de l'Armée while we girls were headed to the shopping district with our first stop being the iconic Galeries Lafayette.

The boys gave the Museum high marks and totally wished they had more time.  But loved what they saw, but really wanted to make it around the back to Napoleon's Tomb.  The exhibits range from arms and armor of the 13th century all the way up to modern day and the World Wars.  It's definitely a place they want to return as their 2.5hours only scratched the surface.

Ally and I explored the floors of the Galeries with most being way to expensive for us.  There was an entire floor with major designers that the pieces did not even have price tags and there were salons for you to view things with your personal shopper.  We opted for the more affordable floor and even found a top on sale in orange (GO BEAVS) in the Diesel section.  Then we scooted across the street to H&M, which mind you this is H&M Paris.  So this Mom was very happy to see the more classy looks versus ripped jeans.  Ally found a "going out" top as well as two pairs of pants for school.  Then we agreed it was caffeine time, but there were not any traditional cafes in the area so yes, we went to Starbucks, but they had tables outside set-up like a normal cafe so we could watch the passers-by and even more important....a bathroom.

We were both pretty tired so we opted to walk to meet the boys at the Louvre for our 1PM entry.  We got a little nervous as the boys metro'ed in and got lost in the labrynth that is a shopping mall and food court under the Louvre.  But they made their way out and we approched the lines which wrapped and wrapped themselves around the glass pyramid entrance.  After we found out which line we were to be in I almost threw in the towel, but we agreed we would give it 15 minutes to see how fast it moved.  And it flew...and we were in quickly.  We had a reservation and pre-bought tickets.  Most of the scarey lines were people who were trying their luck at getting in without a reservation.  

Once in though it was still packed and today the temps outside had finally increased to more summer-like and the a/c was struggling to keep up with the throngs of people packed inside.  So we went on a mission...in 2 hours we would see the majors...Venus de Milo, Winged Mercury, and the Mona Lisa, and whatever else we happened upon while taking this path.  And we did it...at the end of our two hours we followed the hundred of people to the room with the Mona Lisa.  Andy more wanted the kids to see the craziness around it...this massive room and hung on a massive wall with tons of traffic control for the masses of people hung a painting that is only 30inches x 20 inches.  Yep, that's it!

We wound our way out of the Louvre and back underground for Alec to secure his McRoyal with Cheese from McDonalds so he could send a pic to his friends.  This is something to only be done once...our order took 45minutes.  Ouch!  But it gave us time to relax and discuss our evening.

Back to the hostel the kids were done!  So we ordered pizza to be delivered to the hotel along with soda and they could chillax, take showers, and pack for our early morning flight.  Andy would research and find us a wonderful French resturant close-by to go have a couple's dinner and we would bring the kids macaroons for dessert.

I love all the walking in Paris.  We ventured down to the area of our first dinner and settled into outside seats and went all in on a French cuisine at La villa des abbesses.  Andy started with French Onion Soup and I had mussels in escagot butter (I had escargot the previous night) for starters.  For an entree I had duck and Andy had a pork loin.  We both had traditional french wines with Andy having a Bourdeux and myself a Chablis (we had visited the Chablis region on our last trip).  A couple of hours later and we were stuffed and ready for that walk and re-visited Dolce Pepone from our first night as they also had macaroons.  

We now knew our flight was already a couple of hours delayed the next day, so we would get to sleep in, so after getting videos of our view we all settled in for a pleasant last night snooze in Paris.  Tomorrow we were headed home and another amazing trip would come to an end.

Paris at Warp Speed

Our travel companions, the Jarnac, family had not been to Paris where this was our family's second visit and Andy and my third visit.  So we opted to spend the day hitting the highlights and making sure they got a taste to return.

They started their morning with a tour of the Eiffel.  They booked early which was smart and ubered down to the site and we slept in a bit.  We would metro down to the Place de Concord and then get on our major source of transportation for the day, The Big Bus Tour, a hop on hop off bus, and we took it around to the Eiffel Tower to meet them when they came down.

One of my bucket list items was seeing the city from the Seine, so this time we added that with Beataux Parisiens to our ticket and after grabbing expensive snacks we made our way to the terminal and were one of the first in line for seats for the 12:30.  Most opted to be outside on the upper deck.  Ally and I opted for inside.  This boat uses a app which recognizes your location and plays audio accordningly.  It was a beautiful vantage point plus we got to see all the wonderful boat homes as well as folks lounging and just enjoying the river.  The most shocking moment for us was seeing Notre Dame.  We had watched it burn on TV while visiting my Dad in Ohio in 2019.  We were all so sad.  It was incredible to see the scaffolding and the work going into reconstructing it.

After our tour, time to snack again.  All the eating in Greece had definitely caused our stomachs to grow and require more food.  So we sat and the kids ordered all kinds of stuff - pizza, crepes, slushies...and the adults... a bottle of wine.  We were hanging out and awaiting a neat moment for Ally.  One of her sorority sisters from OSU was in the city and close by and she and her family were going to stop and say hello.  It was a fun moment.

Then we hit the bus and decided to stop at some of the larger stops...Notre Dame, Louvre, and finally we thought the Champs.  However, the city has taken to closing it off on Sundays to pedestrian traffic which is cool, but it meant the bus dropped you off pretty far away..actually back where we started our morning.  So the Jollys opted to head back to the hotel to rest and the Jarnacs would stay out.

Then we would all meet up at 8:30 for dinner at the same place we had taken our kids 8 years earlier.  Cafe De Trocadero. We remembered it as a bit of a tourist trap, but we were there for the location and they took reservations.  We could see the sparkle without the crush of the crowds.  Dinner was actually very good and our waiter was amazing.  We totally remember having a very rude waiter last time, but we were younger with kids definitely on a budget and probably picky.  Timing was perfect.  The lights went off at 10PM and I would hold down the table while everyone else ran to the grass round in the middle of the street and had an unobstructed view without the crowds (See the other side of the street?  There are probably a couple thousand people there.) and during the 5 minutes dinner arrived.  It was such a nice evening.

After dinner we parted way...the Jarnacs off to find one of the best hot choloate places in Paris and we were off to sleep as we had one more day and they would be flying back to Cali in the morning.

Evening 1 Paris: Walking the Montemarte

Last time we were in Paris we stayed at a Cross Pollinate property in the Montemarte but out at the Jules Joffrin Metro station.  This time we wanted to be walking distance to more, so we did Caulincourt Hotel & Hostel.  We've stayed at a hostel in San Francisco now a couple of times and we like the extra exposure it gives the kids to other people and cultures.  Where hotels in Paris go for $500+ US a night this was less than $200 and included breakfast...albeit meager it was something.  It was the only real downside we read in the reviews.  It still included coffee, juice, tea, a basket with one criossant and one small bread loaf, jam, butter, cereal, and milk.  It was an easy walk to the Lamark-Caulicourt Metro station.

We opted to Uber into town from the airport versus the train to the Metro and were there in half the time which gave us time to clean up before meeting our guide at the Abesses Station for a walking tour I had secured through Get Your Guide.  The weather was a shock.  We had prepared a bit with rain coats, but given the heatwave that was gripping the majority of the world we expected a warm rain.  Paris was CHILLY...in the mid 60's with rain, wind, and just brrrr....  But we made a quick pit stop at our first Boulangerie, Alexine, in route for a little sugar/pastry pick us up.  Our guide, Hannah, was this cute short lady who's English was quite good, and with her energy and our sugar and carbs we were off. She showed us everything I had on my list...the Wall of Love, the vineyard, the places Picasso, Van Gough, and others frequented, oldest operational cabaret (Au Lapine Agile), the running man in a wall (stuck there supposedly busted escaping the house of his mistress)...and yes Alec touched the bust of Dalida a famous singer who lived and is buried here and touching her bust supposedly gives you luck with females.  And much more.  She would leave us after 90 minutes at the Basilica/Sacre Couer, the famed monument of the neighborhood.

I had first tried for a reservation at a famous French restaurant, but couldn't get a table for our group of 9.  So I went for Al Caratello, an Italian restaurant within 10 minutes from the hotel.  It was in the top 150 of over 14K resteraunts (according to Trip Advisor) in the city, so we figured it has to be good.  A charming place off a little side street we entered the place at 7PM and there were only two other tables.  By the time we left it was packed and people were waiting and locals were getting take-out.  It was scrumptious with massive portions.  I would leave a little early with several of the kids to get gelato at Dolce Pepone while others stayed behind to finish wine and enjoy the company of some friends who happen to also be in Paris and joined us.

Time for rest because the next day was getting the Jarnac family as much of Paris as we could cram in a day before they would head home because this was their first visit.

Interested in our Greece Trip/Ship

Nearly everyone we have shared the Greece trip with has asked how I found it.  I honestly am not really sure.  I know I wanted a cruise, after getting Andy to abandon the notion of a chartered sailboat trip with a captain and cook.  And then I know I wanted a small ship as we are spoiled on other low ratio trips where we get to know staff and staff us.  I wanted some inclusive aspects, again me not cooking was part of my argument for not doing the charter.  I think I just Googled and Goggled and stumbled across ....

We flipped through their trips.  And wound up reaching out to them regarding three:

• Best of Bali
• Signature Greece Small Ship Cruise
• And another Greek Cruise I don't currently see on their list currently, but it was a large double masted sailboat with about 20 rooms if I recall correctly.

The kids and we quickly dismissed Bali after having spent the last sabbatical in Thailand, Cambobia, & Vietnam.  And after speaking with the agents we decided the second Greek cruise fellow passenger demographics might pose to too large of an age gap to our kids.  So we settled on the Signature Greece Cruise.

We were nervous as we didn't know much about the company, so we read reviews, read through all their policies, and placed our deposit.  We felt a little better when we received a big glossy magazine filled with all their trips and I was able to reach out several times to Nora, who is the travel specialist for this trip to work through cabin selections and ask other questions about amenities.

The trip would include wonderfully appointed rooms (ok they could be a little more generous on the bath shampoo and conditioner, but that is truly our only "even better if")), 2 meals a day on board (generally buffet, except the special ones), lots of free on-board amenities (samba lessons, pilates, cooking lessons as well as hot tub, kayaks, snorkel gear, and more), and transfers.  Additional out of pocket included of course the bar (pricing published upfront), spa (yes there were services on board), guided excusions (but our activities crew was always ready to recommend do it ourself instructions), and gratuity (also recommendations made upfront and really quite affordable).  We added an additional transfer and hotel on for when we landed in Greece before boarding the ship that they booked as well.

We would spend the months ahead researching photos of the ship, passenger reviews, and down right getting excited.  We would find later that Unforgettable Travel was a middle man for The Elysium, the Ship of Elixir Luxury Cruises  The pictures are pretty spot on of the ship.  Here's their Facebook too with videos and more.  The only thing perhaps slightly askew of all their claims was the gym....was very tiny and minimally appointed (notice there are not pictures of it), but Alec still used it a few times and didn't complain.

In regards to service again everything was pretty spot on.  Only two things to note... 1) GMT (Greece Mean Time) means things may or may not happen per the schedule.  Be flexible.  And us being used to "Island Time" in Jamaica this was no problem.  And 2) was the beach party beverages.  We really should have known they were not included, but there were two meals where a cocktail or two were included that were more special set-ups, so we thought this was the same.  Our bartender was usually very diligent about getting our charges right, but on this day our 6 beers became 11 on our tab, but really in the grand scheme of things it wasn't a big deal.

We loved the vibe and energy on the ship.  Our fellow shipmates were a big part of this and this is not always the case as the staff remarked time and time again how we were the best energy all year.  With 6 teens on board and a total of 8 nearly life-long fraternity friends and wives (our two from Purdue and the other 6 from ASU) well we brought the party for sure.  And the staff was incredibly friendly, on it, and always, I mean always, making sure we were taken care of...

We were super happy with this trip.  It was a chunk of change, but felt very much worth it.  Would we recommend it to others - YES!  We might suggest you look into booking straight with Elixir as it appears they give discounts for your 3rd and 4th persons.  I haven't done the math exactly, but it appears at first glance it would save some money.

Here's links to two videos we did of a "ship tour."

• Our Floor and Our Room
• Main Deck of Ship

And after our 7AM pick-up including the same driver we had when we arrived we were off with the Jarnac family to the Athens Airport and our next adventure - a couple day layover in Paris