April 10 - April 12: France (Lyon?, Marseille, Nice)

Funny story. On April 10 we got to Paris Gare de Lyon to catch a train to Lyon, the next destination. For riding a train to and within France, you're required to make a reservation if you want to take a non-local train (generally TGVs). This requires paying money, even if you already have an awesome train pass. For example, it was €26 to reserve a seat on a TGV from Brussels to Paris. Yea not cool, but a necessary evil. Generally it's ok to make reservations on the day of your travel, but it's recommended to do so beforehand...

So anyway, back to Gare de Lyon. We attempted to make reservations for a train to Lyon. Turns out they were out of seats for people with rail passes (for each train, there's an x number of seats set aside for pass holders). Not only were they out of seats for the next train to Lyon, they were out for every single train to Lyon until the following day. Crap.

We asked the ticket agent what other options there were to get to Lyon that day since it'd be impossible to find a place to stay in Paris on such short notice and of course, we had a place in Lyon that we paid a deposit for already. After looking at the rail map of France we found a local train to Dijon. From Dijon we'd catch a train to Lyon, bringing us into Lyon at around 9pm. Better than nothing. Optimally we wanted to get there at 1pm and pig out on as much delicious French food as possible -- Lyon's supposedly the place for French cuisine. But we took what we got.

Brief stopover in Dijon for about 20 minutes: This is the place with the famous Dijon mustard. Stores in the station were selling souvenir jars of it.

Continuing on, pulled into Lyon at around 9pm. Took about an hour to find the hostel. Meh. We were pretty hungry, but nothing was open at 11pm except for McDonalds and um.. bars. So we went to McDonalds in Lyon. Some may even consider this heresy. But times were tough.

We barely slept since we had to catch a local train to Nice the following day. Yea, in Paris we tried to take care of reservations from Lyon to Nice but there were no more seats left on the TGV. It's nice that we saved money by taking local trains but it took so much longer.

We had a stopover in Marseille. Fun fact: this was a city I originally wanted to go to but it was scrapped in the final selection process for spring break because we thought Nice would be enough to get a taste of the French Riviera. It was replaced by Lyon because of its wine and cuisine.

It was a 4 hour stopover in Marseille so we got a chance to leave the station and grab a real lunch. I remembered from French class that bouillabaisse is the local specialty so I was determined to find it.

Marseille, as seen from the train station, which seemed to be atop a hill.


We stopped at a sandwich bar near the station to ask where we could get bouillabaisse. The girl working the counter was Chinese, but I still asked her in French, "Où est-ce que je peux manger la bouillabaisse?" And she replied in French and showed us a map of how to get to Old Port. And this was all the French I used in France. The culmination of 1 year in middle school and 3 years in high school of French language classes. This is what I have to show for it.

We found a place at Old Port (Vieux Port) serving a 3 course lunch for €15! I had a seafood salad as an appetizer. Then for main course, I had the bouillabaisse. It is essentially a seafood stew in a broth. There were mussels, crab, scallops, and some kind of fish in mine. Oh yea, that yellow chunk is potato. It was a little too salty and broth-y but I liked the seafood assortment.


For dessert, profiteroles! I thought they were British (after having them at homestay), but I've seen profiteroles on the dessert menu in every French restaurant I'd been to, so maybe it's French.


Old Port (Vieux Port)



Marseille was pretty even though it was a shitty overcast day. I would definitely like to go back there for a proper visit. But we had to go to Nice!

It was still overcast when we got to Nice. :-/ The beaches in Nice are pebble beaches so that's a slight bummer, but it was still very pretty and relaxing. We were really excited to be next to the water.


Jess and I walked around at night and came across Place Masséna. Those colored light things atop the metal poles are naked guys sitting in a meditative pose. It looked really cool and they'd change color!, but my camera/my skills suck so it's blurry.


Most of my nightshots in Nice came out crap, so here's one from Jess.


"Why yes, I got new dreads put in, thanks for noticing!"


Another one from Jess. It felt like being in Las Vegas, if Las Vegas was on the coast! (I guess that would be ... Monte Carlo.)


Hotel Negresco, the most baller hotel you can stay at in Nice. So baller. We went in to ask for directions to the closest night club and the receptionist was dressed like a Buckingham Palace guard sans funny hat. And we felt inferior and terribly underdressed just from being in the lobby. It was that baller.


Turns out the nightclub was just a block away. It was several stories tall and the entrance looked pretty badass. It wasn't open yet (it opened at 11pm) so we decided to go back to the room to take a nap and then wake up later...


Yea we ended up not waking up til the next morning. We were pretty tired, just a tad.

Breakfast the next morning: crêpe with jam (crêpe avec confiture) and an ice cream (IJ-shoorn!) from Quick. Hells yea!


Place Masséna by day.



Cours Saleya Flower Market, essentially an outdoor farmers market with fresh produce, flowers, food, and unique gifts.



After Cours Saleya, we climbed Castle Hill (Colline du Château) to get a spectacular view of the city.


Gorgeous!



At the top of Castle Hill, there were ruins of a castle, which makes sense.


And a waterfall!


After this we pretty much had to get on the late afternoon train to Milan. I really didn't want to leave. Being in Nice was very relaxing and enjoyable in a different way from most of the other cities we had been to thus far. It wasn't about hitting as many historial landmarks as possible or admiring old architecture, it was about sitting on/near the pebble beaches and just breathing the fresh ocean air and admiring the shimmering blue sea. Of course, my wanting to stay in Nice might've had something to do with being quite tired from frenetic sightseeing in Paris.

So that wraps up France. I noticed that the French are really laidback. Yes, I was quickly reminded of what I learned in French class -- this was the land of 2 month paid vacation or something ridiculous like that. I spoke with Jess's friend Anouar a couple times in Paris and did not sense a strong concern about finding employment after graduation (he's looking, but he's not stressed about it). Additionally, I noticed a lot of people in the parks during midday just sitting and lounging (Luxembourg Garden in Paris and of course the pebble beaches in Nice, though I can't imagine people working in Nice to begin with). The French are mad chill, even more chill than the British. By the way, as the trip progressed, the similarities between British and American culture became more pronounced. I guess that makes sense.

France in general, specifically my experiences with it, is probably an excellent place to go on holiday with a lover. Whilst we were walking around Nice at night, Jess and I were like, "I wish we had boyfriends to share this with!" So true. France is very beautiful in a romantic way. It's got a very rich culture, too. I definitely wouldn't mind visiting France again with a significant other.

April 7 - April 9: France (Paris)

After a breakfast of Belgian waffles, we got on a train for Paris. We stayed in Paris for 3 nights.

Oh my lord.

Paris is HUGE. I won't go into tremendously detailed narrative like I've done with the other cities thus far . However, here's a summary and things you may assume without proof:

• Jessica's friend from internship, Anouar, took us on very rigorous walking tours through Paris during all 3 days we were there. Suffice it to say that he took us to every tourist destination. Every. Single. One. We basically accomplished the impossible task of seeing all of Paris's highlights and even some lesser known stuff in 3 days. Anouar was the best! At the price of my ailing feet. Btw, my feet started flipping a shit in Paris and would continue to do so for the rest of the trip (at this point: 1.5 weeks left to go).
• Paris is indeed as pretty as it looks in the movies. Though Amélie definitely did a lot of color enhancing.
• French people PDA more seriously than a bunch of hormonal high schoolers. Holy cow.
• Good, fresh baguettes are not supposed to be rock-hard and scrape up the insides of your mouth. Even though our hostel had all-you-can-eat baguettes with hazelnut spread (noisettes!), it's really all-you-can-eat-until-your-mouth-starts-bleeding.
• We went to a French bar on the first night. It was a small one and not very crowded. There was live music. If I recall correctly, there was a dude performing covers of American songs. Typical. At this bar, I tried a kamikaze for the first time. I found it to be a bit too vodka-y, but I still enjoyed it because it was a cocktail. Also I tried a Kronenbourg 1664, a French pale lager and also the best-selling beer in France. In the typical French fashion, there wasn't much of a punch and in fact it was a little sweet? Thus continuing the streak of sweet beers started in Amsterdam. Drink on!
  

Photo highlights:

Sacré-Cœur Basilica (Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, or simply just Sacré-Cœur). Definitely reminded me of the scene in Amélie when Amélie leaves Nino a bunch of clues about her location. Awww.


Atop Sacré-Cœur. Note the people on the leftmost bench making out (click to enlarge the image). They were actually amongst the more conservative couples I saw in Paris.


Could this be?! Café Amélie Poulain is down this street?! Though I'm pretty sure it was called Les Deux Moulins and not Moulin Rouge (dude, I've seen this movie almost 10 times, probably because it's my favorite movie). But those silly tourists won't know, right?


Turns out, theres no Café Moulin Rouge on this street, but there was a Café des 2 Moulins. Score!!!


Luxembourg Garden (Jardin du Luxembourg). Pretty public park that I did not know about prior to this trip. Lots of chairs are provided for sitting and ruminating, etc. Beautiful day.


Went to the Louvre on Day 2. Yea, the crowd of people getting a glimpse of the Mona Lisa (La Jaconde). Somewhat sickening, but it is the Mona Lisa after all. I did not enjoy the Louvre much since the sheer size of the museum discouraged any hope of seeing most of the stuff. Also it was crawling with tourists. And also, I wasn't feeling any of the art. Too classical and old, and statue-y.


A croque-madame. I remember the croque-monsieur from French class, but I didn't know what a croque-madame was so I ordered it. Only difference from the monsieur is that it comes with an egg. Clever.


Made it out to Versailles on Day 3. It's free to walk around in the Gardens, but it costs money to go into the Palace. It works out alright, since the line for the Palace was ridiculously long (like the line to get into the Louvre). It would've been nice to see the Hall of Mirrors (la galerie des Glaces or Grande Galerie), but not a huge loss. The Garden was pretty nice, but I bet it would've been absolutely gorgeous if the trees had leaves.


Only my family will understand this picture. :)


The garden was slightly less crowded than the major attractions in Paris.


Back to Paris. Did you know that the names of famous Frenchmen are on the Eiffel Tower?! I certainly did not. Look, Laplace! and Lavoisier! Lagrange was also on there. Okay, I'm done math/science-dorking.


On the final night, Anouar took us to his university's restaurant. Anouar's university has a military program so we were being served by cadets (they weren't dressed in cadet attire though). It was a swanky affair, which was a nice break -- to get cultured for a bit and not just run around crossing attractions off a list. Since it was a swanky affair, I did not take pictures of my food because it would've been tacky. But it was an excellent meal with some pâté action going on and some juicy, deliciously marinated pork.

Overall, I'm not sure what to think of Paris. When I was younger and after many viewings of Amélie, I really wanted to go to Paris. But over time I forgot about it. Then I finally get here after it's lost its relevance. I was a little disenchanted, possibly unable to appreciate it to as high a degree as I wanted to because we were only there for 3 nights. I get the impression that Paris is definitely one of those cities whose magic fully hits you if you live there, and not so much if you're just passing through. Note to self: spend more time in Paris next time. Much more time.

April 6 - April 7: Belgium (Brussels)

The next morning we took a short train ride, about a couple hours, to Brussels. Belgium has three official languages: French, Dutch, and German. However, most of the signs are only bilingual (French and Dutch). As I refer to Belgian things in this post, I'll be listing their French name first, and then their Dutch name.

When we were pulling into the Brussels Central (Bruxelles-Midi, Brussel-Zuid) station, it looked like a sketchy part of NYC, or west Philadelphia. I was a little confused and worried since I was expecting impeccably manicured gardens to greet me, as the AAA book led me to believe. Of course, it turns out the station was on the outskirts of Brussels and when we finally got towards the real Brussels, things improved tremendously.

Before I continue, I would like to note that in every city thus far (except Basel) in which I've used the public transit system, it's been an honor system. Yea sure, we bought a couple tickets here and there in Berlin, and in Vienna we actually bought a day pass since it was early on and we were still honest n00bish tourists. But we did take a lot of free rides in Berlin and we rode the tram in Brussels to our hostel without paying as well. We felt a little bad, but hey. Though we still saw locals buying tickets because there are spot checks occasionally. We had the luxury of witnessing one in Milan -- terrifying stuff. But I digress. Back to Brussels.

Our hostel was located in Grand Place (Grand Place, Grote Markt), more or less Brussels most well-known attraction. It is a wide open cobblestone square with lots of old, ornate, slightly gilded buildings. The two bigger buildings are a museum and the town hall. The rest are fancy restaurants and bars, with private residences at the upper stories, if I had to hazard a guess. There might've been a couple hotels too, but they would've been tucked away. The square isn't that huge after all.

This might be a hotel.


This is a museum. Our hostel is just tucked in the alley on the right in the picture. Excellent location!


Yea let's! ... Ok. This is a rare PSA-ish thing that actually makes smoking look attractive...


After putting down our bags, we hit the streets surrounding Grand Place, which are mostly lined with waffle, chocolate, beer, and souvenir shops -- in order of frequency. We got waffles at a place called Elisabeth (website is of the chocolate shop, but they have an ice cream/waffle stand adjacent to it which is what we went to). There are apparently two varieties of waffles. We got the Liège waffle, which is more chewy and doughy than the Belgian waffle (which is just like the Belgian waffles in the US). I liked this waffle a lot -- it was almost like bread, but waffle-shaped and waffle-flavored. I had whipped cream, bananas, and chocolate syrup with it. Consequently I had a severe sugar crash, but it was awesome!

Outside of the Grand Place a bit, we see the Brussels Stock Exchange (Bourse de Bruxelles, Beurs van Brussel). Lots of people sit on the steps during the day chatting with friends, eating, or just plain spending personal time.

We went to a café next to the stock exchange for dinner. Since it was only 6pm, the wait staff was a bit confused and thought we were just having "afternoon" tea. There were some language issues (a couple of the waiters we spoke to had trouble understanding English, and our French wasn't good at conveying what we wanted). Eventually they figured us out and we got a waiter who knew English. So we took a table outside in the "having a regular meal k thanks" section, as opposed to the "sipping afternoon tea and watching the world turn" section (we originally sat in the tea section so the waiter was confused when we tried ordering pasta dishes).

Belgian cuisine's not that memorable or unique. On the menu we didn't notice anything that we'd never tried before, save for some game meat. I had a linguine with pesto sauce because I wasn't feeling any of the stuff on the menu, but Ivy was brave and tried the vol au vent. It looks like a Yorkshire pudding sans filling atop chunks of chicken in white sauce. I tried a bit and I honestly don't remember what it tasted like, except a wee too salty.


After dinner, we decided to wander Brussels. The historical-ness of Brussels is mostly just limited to the medieval Grand Place, though we were only in Brussels for 24 hours and didn't see the whole city. Outside of Grand Place and on the street with the stock exchange, it looked like an ordinary city. But once we got off the stock exchange street and onto the side streets, things got more interesting and we began to understand Brussels' true nature.

Here's a shop selling a bunch of things I've seen at CMU. Yay slightly geeky toys!


But wait it gets better. Brussels is nicknamed the Comic City. This is because there are comic panels on the sides of some buildings (generally residential buildings or small businesses). I don't know if they're from real comic strips, but most of them have a Tin Tin + Miyazaki + Archie look to them. I'm not a comics connoisseur, regrettably.


The sun set in Brussels but people are still out and about, and eating. The Belgian waffle shops are still open! It must've been about 11pm when we were here.


Cafés are still very busy!

The place where we ate dinner, except it was still light out when we ate there lol.


An artist outside of Grand Place


Oh yea, forgot to mention earlier. This is the window next to our hostel's entrance... que?


We returned to Grand Place. Earlier we had been shopping for Belgian beers, since they are supposedly amongst the best in the world (a couple varieties have won World's Best Beer in the past few years so it must be good). We sat down and enjoyed them while taking in all the lights. There were other people "picnicking" on the cobblestones too. A couple young guys asked us if they could join us, but we didn't let them -- they probably wanted to drink our beers, or steal our money. Yea we couldn't take our chances.



The beers. John picked a Trappistes Rocheforte 8, which won Best Beer either last year or 2006. Jess picked the Brugse Zot, another Best Beer in recent years. Ivy took a recommendation from the beer shop owner, Liefman's Kriek. I bought a bottle of Kasteel Rouge because I loved it so much in Amsterdam. The Liefman's Kriek was fizzy when we opened it, hence the spill.


When Jess was still sitting straight up...


... but not for long.


We were pretty pleased with our cherry-flavored beers.


Later that night, this dude came by asking us for directions to the closest ATM or something. Then he came back and we all chatted with him a little more. Turns out he's also a study abroad student in our year, and he went to high school with one of John's friends at CMU. What a small world!

It was a fabulous night. The weather was perfect and we were surrounded by medieval buildings all lit up and pretty. There were other groups of young folks just sitting around and doing the same thing. At one point there was even a band playing for loose change. The whole experience was very bohemian. This is amongst my favorite memories of the trip.

The next morning, before heading for Paris, we had Belgian waffles for breakfast at the waffle shop we saw the previous evening, Gaufre de Bruxelles. Here's an awkward picture of me about to dig into my waffle. We all ordered Belgian waffles with Belgian hot chocolate on the side :). Deeeelicious!

We considered going to find the pissing boy statue (Manneken Pis), another symbol of Brussels. The Belgians like to have fun with it and dress it up in costumes occasionally. However, we didn't have the time to go look for him since we were heading to Paris! But next time... oh yea I decided I'll be returning to Brussels. 24 hours wasn't enough. I didn't expect Brussels to have more than just waffles and chocolate to offer!