So we had been to the Venice of the alps (Annecy) and now, the Venice of the north was waiting. Another adventure. Another country with its world famous chocolates, waffles, beer (not my thing), frittes, ancient medieval architecture, beautiful UNESCO world heritage sites and gorgeous old towns and villages, like the stunning Bruges, where we were headed for the next couple of days.

Arrived just in time for sunset and I as usual, ran around like a crazy woman trying to capture the gorgeousness of this place and it’s perfect reflections before I lost the light.

But what a shock to the system the temperature here was. After the prolonged Indian summer everywhere we had been right up to Paris, with temperatures usually around 28°, I found myself walking at sunrise at 5°. But I wouldn’t have missed it… so beautiful. I so enjoy the serenity and calmness at that time of the morning before the hordes of tourists hit the road.

I went back to get Anne and the temperature had gone up slightly although it hovered around 8° for most of the day… including some rain (which I believe is pretty standard in this part of the world). Rugged up, we immersed ourselves anyway in the medieval charm of the city of romantic canals…

… cobblestone streets and the interesting Flemish architecture that I had never seen before.

The old town, the regions capital in 1089, resembles a medieval world with picturesque cobbled lanes & canals leading to an amazing colourful delight- the historic market square dominated by the towering Belfry (which I didn’t realise until too late that I could have climbed for a spectacular view)…

… and lined by historical buildings and churches…

… colourful buildings housing restaurants aplenty…

… and lane after lane of old whitewashed almshouses. And horses and carts…

Only a stones throw away, another sensational square… the Burg Square which houses the important political and religious buildings adorned with intricate architectural details.

Churches abound…although we did have trouble finding our way into some of them. Enchanted by the gothic architecture of the Church of Our Lady where Madonna & Child (circa 1504) is housed… the first sculpture by Michelangelo to leave Italy during his lifetime.

Discovered the amazing Basilica of the holy Blood, which houses a sacred relic of the Holy Blood allegedly collected by Joseph of Arimathea.

Much of the city had been taken over by the yearly Brugge marathon…

… and by the end of the day, as usual we felt pretty much like we’d been a part of it. Brugges phenomenal beauty does bring in the tourist crowds, (which I hate and that’s why I need to stay in these places so I get time in the mornings and evenings when the day trippers are not around) but combine those crowds with the runners, local onlookers cheering them on, blocked off streets everywhere and a huge celebration in the town square around the finish line… and the town was literally mayhem…

… such a contrast from my serene early morning walk. We were happy to escape it and sit down for a while, so we cruised the picturesque canals on a boat and admired the colourful facades that lined them from a different perspective (partially under an umbrella 😂).

Chilled to the bone, we retreated to a restaurant and sat by a heater and drank wine… ate heart local beef stew and finished with delicious mulled wine at our favourite little waffle bar we had discovered this morning.

Absolutely delicious!

And then walked home still in awe of this beautiful town.

I had sort of planned to leave Brugge early and catch the train back to Brussels via Ghent, another gorgeous Flemish city very close by… but honestly I don’t think we have the energy at this stage. So we had a late start, waffles and real hot chocolate again for (late) breakfast and headed straight to Brussels, Belgiums capital, where we would get our connection back to Paris. We spent a couple of hours in the city centre… and it was 100% worth it… though we didn’t do much more than sit in the square, eat frittes and drink wine.

The square is perhaps the most stunning square in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – the Grand Place… and this architectural gem alone is a good reason to visit Brussels. But it’s not just one spectacular building. The square is surrounded by architecturally mesmerizing buildings, including the city’s Town Hall and the Brussels City Museum.

I have seen pictures of this spectacular square, made even more spectacular when every other year a hundred volunteers assemble a carpet of flowers… begonias, dahlias, potted chrysanthemums and euonymus japonicus… that cover the square for the Flower Carpet Festival. What an extraordinary spectacle that would be (add to the never ending bucket list 😂).

Then it was back on the train to Paris for our last couple of nights before heading home.