Over a million bugs on Royal Palace ceiling in Brussels
Today we visited the capital of Belgium: Brussels.
We took the train from Bruges to Brussels. At the train station, some of us had a hard time reading the signs without their glasses so Linda gave us a tip: Close one eye and look through your fingers with the other. It sounds odd but it works. Everyone tried it!!!!!
We started the day with a visit of the Palace of the King. This is not where our King, Albert II, and the queen, Paola, live but where he works. Since the king is on vacation, the palace is open to the public.
The Palace is of course very luxurious but maybe not always at our taste. We had a hard time with the ceiling of the mirror room decorated with 1 million 500 thousands beetles from Thailand!! Yes, real beetles (dead of course!!!). It makes it all blue and green. Even the chandelier was all covered with those bugs. It was maybe in fashion under the reign of King Leopold II (the second King of Belgium at the end of the 19th century) but it was for sure not ours. Wish we could have taken pictures…
While we were walking in Brussels, Bonnie stayed at our accommodation near Bruges and painted all day. Here are some of her paintings:
During that time, we were still wandering around and of course eating some Belgian waffles. Actually there is not such a thing as A Belgian waffle in Belgium. There are two types of waffles: the Liege waffle or the Brussel Waffle. The Liege waffle is harder and has more sugar than the Brussel waffle. The shape is also a bit different (oval for Liege, rectangular for Brussels).
Here is the Brussel waffle (with powder sugar and whipped cream ):
And here is the Liege waffle:
You can of course have them plain or with whipped cream, chocolate, strawberries, etc…
The day ended with a great dinner at our hotel, served by Monique who is a real delight. To characterize Monique, I will just say: “Ask and you shall receive.”
Teresa was cold one day and Monique prepared her a hot bath with candles for the ambiance. Sandy can’t eat sugar, so Monique would bring her an alternative dessert. Teresa wanted to take a pic of her chocolate pralines and Monique brought her a plate and arrange them for the picture to make sure it looked nice. It wouldn’t be the same without her. That is a big reason that made me choose her accommodation.
The evening ended with some of us dancing in the dining room (Teresa and Catherine on the picture)!!!!!
Tomorrow, I will post some of the paintings made by the group. Make sure to check again.
Join us next year on this fabulous trip: check our site at www.frenchescapade.com
My name is Jackie Grandchamps. In 2003, I founded French Escapade, offering painting, cooking and cultural tours for only 8 guests each time. "Don't be a tourist, be our guest" is the moto and spirit of my company.
Check www.frenchescapade.com
Through this blog, I will provide information about the countries I organize tours in, like France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, California but also some stories from my guests on the tours.
Learn more about my travel company in the French Escapade section of this blog.
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Don’t be a tourist. Be our guest! | Over a million bugs on Royal Palace ceiling in Brussels…