And...We are BACK! To start 2010 off right, we met our friend Smruti and her brother at Les Halles Metro stop before heading to Charles de Gaulle to pick up the car we rented, and 2 hours later (again...took a while for them to bring us the car - its Europe!) we were on our way to Brussels, Belgium. We watched the snow fall to the ground all around the sides of the road but oddly and beautifully for us, it did not get in our way of driving. We drove in an electric blue toy car, as Mana liked to call it, and realized we were in Brussels when the driving patterns from the locals changed. Brussels is a very cute European city, but we got the feeling they don't like to obey traffic laws. As Sahil liked to say, they seem to think it is ALWAYS everyone's right of way!
After what seemed like 2 hours in the car to get to the outskirts of Brussels, it took us 2 more hours to get to our hotel with NUMEROUS stops to get directions since everyone's response was always "Go straight for a few km and you'll be close. Then ask someone there to find the exact location." Turns out while the directions were simple, we didn't see a single STRAIGHT road. But, we made it eventually! And when we got there, it was beautifully quaint!
The two boys got immediately excited with the Belgian waffle stand and the girls jumped up and down at the sight of a Mango store with 50% off clothes...that is until we walked in and saw 20+ people waiting in line to purchase and 30+ people in line for the dressing room. We decided to indulge in a belgian waffle instead which was delicious! Sugar on waffles that melted in our mouths! We proceeded towards the Grand Place, a beautiful square with a castle-like building, cafes with famous Belgian beer, and a huge Christmas tree in the heart of the square. After capturing photos in the chilly weather, we decided we were ready to warm up with some Belgian beer. Numerous beers later, we made our way to see the "pee-pee boy", a famous statue that Brussels is known for. It is a small statue of a little naked boy with water pouring out of his private area to create a fountain. There are many chocolate shops with chocolate renditions of the statue as well as souvenirs and we were told that this was something we had to see. After seeing the somewhat underwhelming statue, we needed comfort food and found it in the form of Belgian chocolates. We spent half an hour selecting the perfect chocolates to eat and Mana's favorite was definitely the white chocolate with vanilla butter cream filling while Sahil's was the milk chocolate with hazelnut and caramel filling - SO YUMMY!!
We headed back to the hotel quickly to change, drink champagne and eat our chocolate, and set out for a night to paint the city of Brussels red, and what a night it was! The nightlife in Brussels is fun - we visited many bars, and finally settled at O'Reilley's where we danced the night away to the beats of famous American artists. Our only issue with the bars in Brussels is that it is impossible to breathe - smokers EVERYWHERE!
The next day we got up and drove around the city (after showering a few times each to get the smell of smoke out) to see the Royal Palace and the other beautiful cathedrals in the city. After a few hours of our rented car tour, we made our way out of Brussels and set off for Champagne, France, the final destination of our mini vacation from vacation.
As we approached Champagne, we saw the rolling hills of grape fields and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We visited the city of Reims, a pretty town that plays host to the Veuve Cliquot and the Pommery vineyards. We stopped at the Pommery vineyard and did a taste tasting of two different champagnes: one was a Cuvee Louise which was said to be their best champagne and the other was a Rose. While Sahil's favorite was the Cuvee Louise, Mana preferred the Rose which had a slightly fruity undertone. After the winery, we headed to the Reims center and saw a beautiful cathedral alongside a really fun street full of various restaurants and bars. We had dinner at Cafe Latino which seemed promising but ended up being mediocre Mexican food at best. We decided that Mexican food was not the right food choice in Europe for us!
After a wonderful evening in Champagne, we headed back to Paris and enjoyed seeing how clear the stars looked in the countryside. We drove to Charles de Gaulle to return our car and took the RER back to our home! We had a wonderful weekend away and are looking forward to our next adventure! Tomorrow brings our first day of business school at ESSEC as we attend our orientation. Wish us luck!
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