Brussel Spouting: October 2008

My Friend, Betsy, came to visit in early October. She had been to Europe several times prior to this trip and had already seen a lot of the major cities. Therefore, she was interested in visiting some of the smaller places in Belgium and seeing the country through the eyes of a local. Besides Brussels, we went to Ghent, Bruges and the Ardennes. We also did a side trip to Champagne, France (see separate Blog). For me, it was great just hanging out and catching up on girl talk. It was also fun introducing her to some of my friends and giving her a glimpse of my life here. She also brought some great weather with her!

Betsy was amused by the fact that my European experience is all about food and alcohol. A lot of the activities I had planned involved eating or drinking something that I was passionate about. I made sure she got to try the best frites, waffles, bread, cheese, olives and beer. When we were not eating or drinking, my friends and I were talking about food or alcohol. Betsy seemed to get a kick out of this and I think she enjoyed trying all of the different things.

She also got into the fine art of scarf-wearing. Scarves are not just for winter over here. They are a big part of the fashion. She bought a couple of awesome scarves so we were able to share. Although, I have to admit that I had a bit of scarf envy as I really liked one of the scarves that she bought.

Here is a collection of pictures from our various outings. I was more in local tour guide mode than I was in tourist mode so, unfortunately, there are not many.

Chatelain Market, Brussels

My Birthday Dinner

Brussels

Bruges

Some weird town that we biked to from Bruges

This was next to a church...don't ask!

An Interesting Cemetery

We had a picnic here

Caves at Han-Sur-Lesse in the Ardennes

That's one great scarf!

Ghent

A good way to end the day.

Here are some pictures from our girls' trip to Champagne, France in early October. Me and my friends Ali, Stephanie and Betsy, who was visiting from Atlanta, set out for a girly weekend of tasting and buying champagne. We used the town of Epernay as our home base as was recommended by the guidebooks and websites that I read. The reason is that this is where many of the big, famous champagne houses such as Mercier, Perrier-Joüet, Castellane, & Moët et Chandon (the producers of Dom Pérignon) are located. The other comparable town is Reims. While the Avenue de Champagne (the street that is home to many of the Grandes Maisons) is lined with many beautiful buildings, Epernay itself is not a very attractive town. Moreover, we found that we were not that impressed with the champagne that we tried at two of the houses we visited. The champagne is mass produced and, therefore, standardized to always have a certain taste...and not necessarily a good one! However, we had interesting tours at both Mercier and Castellane. At Mercier, we took a train through the ancient caves and at Castellane, we got a good history of champagne production. If you are interested in learning about how champagne is made and seeing the caves where it is housed, the big champagne houses are the places to be. However, if you are interested in visiting quaint, picturesque villages and drinking great campagne, head to the countryside and visit the smaller houses.

We finally got in the groove on the second day and did just that. We went to the town of Mesnil-Sur-Oger where we tasted champagne at two different places. These places were superb! The atmosphere was warm and cozy as was the hospitality. Also, the champagne was delicious! In addtition to tasting champagne, we went to a local food and wine market where we bought some cheese. It was there that we met one of the owners of the Robert Charlemagne champagne house. She was working at the market with her husband. I decided to try out my French and inquire about good champagne houses in the area. Her response was "My place, of course". "Where is that?" I asked. "Why, it's right across the street". We waited a few minutes for her to finish some things up and then she invited us to her home for a private tasting. She sat with us and chatted about her life and her family's business. She was very interesting and her English was really good. We all bought several bottles of her champagne as it was the best we tasted all weekend. We left with smiles on our faces as that is the kind of experience you don't get at the large, corporate champagne houses!

We had a lot of fun and I gained a new appreciation for Champagne. I never found champagne to be very drinkable before. When I visit the area again, however, I am not going to make the rookie mistake of going to Epernay. I'll find a nice B&B in the countryside and stick to the champagne houses along the "Route du Champagne".

MERCIER

EPERNAY, FRANCE