Back? Wasn't it amazing? Told you.
So this past Sunday, Ayse and I were supposed to go to Normandy to see the beaches and the cemetery and learn all about D-Day. We were so excited that we even watched Saving Private Ryan on the way up to Paris. Alas, we did not make it to Normandy. It was unclear where we were supposed to meet our bus Sunday morning in Paris and so we were one place and the bus was somewhere else. When we finally realized where we should be, the bus had been gone for about 3 minutes. The ONE GODDAMN TIME that the French are on time. Ugh. I was really upset not only because I was so looking forward to going to Normandy but because it is so so so unlike me to do something like that. I think it's the first time I've ever missed some sort of transportation. After speaking with the woman in the office of the bus company, we learned that our two other choices for trips that day were the Loire Valley and Bruges. We decided on Bruges because the gardens at all of the chateaux wouldn't be in bloom. Plus, I got to add another country to my list! (Bringing my grand total to 8... it's lame I know). So we got on the bus and off we went to Belgium!
We had the most hilarious tour guide ever. And by most hilarious I mean worst person ever. He was giving the tour in both English and Spanish so it took him twice as long to explain things plus he forgot our maps in the bus. Cool, guy. After our "tour" we were free to explore the city on our own! Bruges is BEAUTIFUL. It's known as the Venice of the north because it too is a canal-filled city. The architecture is medieval and yet really interesting. We had a traditional belgian lunch of moules frites (mussels and fries) and delicious beer. That was followed up by an INCREDIBLE chocolate covered waffle served by my new best friend out of an adorable little van.
We spent the afternoon wondering around, buying chocolate, visiting churches - I got to see one of Michelangelo's few works that is outside of Italy! - and being generally perplexed by Bruges weather. It would rain for five minutes, then be so windy you couldn't walk without the fear of being blown away, and then the sun would come out and it was gorgeous. Confusion. The whole time we were in Bruges I kept quoting the movie and waiting for Colin Farrell or Brendan Gleeson to pop up. Sadly there were no celeb sightings.
We took the bus back to Paris and had a drink at the café where Amelie works in the movie, which just happened to be right next to our hostel! Paris for the win.
Despite the fact that we didn't end up in our intended destination, the weekend was still a success and I'm so happy we got to see Bruges! I guess that whole it being more about the journey than the destination has some truth to it, right? I'll get to Normandy eventually.
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