Les vacances de la Toussaint!

Sorry I haven't been very active recently. Its currently les vacances de la Toussaint which is the All Saints Holiday so I've had just under 2 weeks of holiday. It has been a wonderful break and I've been travelling with my friend Paddy. We went to Luxembourg, Trier Germany, Brussels & Bruges! I had such a great time & was nice to get away from France and see a few new places. 

Me in Luxembourg 

Our adventure started in Reims where Paddy arrived at 9am last Tuesday. We went to the Cathedral & went to the Pommery champagne house before going out for drinks in the evening in Place d'Erlon - our town centre. We then had an early start the next morning for the train to Luxembourg. Neither of us knew particularly much about Luxembourg and wanted to go there because its probably the most random EU country & just wanted to tell people we have been there. It was a very charming, pictoresque country and moBst things are very expensive with the exception of cigarettes due to low taxes on them! But it was nice to take the beautiful scenery in, visit some of the sights there & see some delightful architecture.


The next day we took a train to Trier in Germany. Its only 45 minutes away and is best known as being the oldest city in Germany & the birth place of Karl Marx. We wondered around this wonderful city - it truly is something special & I would definitely recommend a visit! We also bumped into my friend Emily & her family who were doing a similar tour to us. The food and drink in Germany is incredible. We tried the local delights of Bratwurst - a German sausage & Glühwein - a warm white wine! It was nice to be able to visit Germany for the first time & I will definitely be making a return soon. 

Trier 

After spending the night in our hostel in Luxembourg; we took the train to Brussels. Brussels holds a very special place in my heart as 3 years ago I went there & undertook work experience at the EU Parliament. Brussels has since become one of  my favourite European cities, for its Europeaness; its delightful beer, food & of course chocolate. Walking along the streets of Brussels brought back lots of memories & I was especially glad to see the European Parliament again. However extreme tiredness meant that we didn't experience the Brussels nightlife centred around the Grand Place & instead went to bed early.

The next day we took a train to Bruges- a city probably best known as the capital of chocolate & for the movie In Bruges. Paddy had wanted to go specifically for the latter reason & I was more inclined to go for  the chocolate! Bruges, I have to say Bruges was incredible & may perhaps be my favourite EU city at this moment in time! We climbed up the Belfry of Bruges, a medieval bell tower which was a central feature of the movie In Bruges! It was funny as at the top of the building people had written quotes from the movie. We also went to the Basilica of the Holy Blood, a beautiful church which houses a vial of Jesus Christ's blood. We also tried the beers; including one called De Garre that is only sold in one old fashioned, backstreet pub! And we went to a lovely restaurant where we had the traditional Mussels and Fries & then to a pub that sells over 400 different types of beer- a great way to end a great trip!

We met some interesting people travelling too including an American guy who had been travelling round Europe for 3 months, an Australian lady visiting Bruges following a business trip & 2 fellow teaching assistants from Lille & Dijon doing a bit of travelling round Belgium.

One of my aims in life is to visit every EU country & I'm glad to have added another 2 to my list in a space of 6 days. I'm pleased to be back in Reims now- back to the comfort of my own bed. I've been feeling a little drained out and definitely need to rest but this wasn't helped by me wanting to watch the US midterm election results but I will blog about those later!