Tag: The Grilloir Bistro

Brugge

European Summer Part VII: Bruge

Published on by Cheryl Lock1 Comment
This is one of my favorite photos of the trip <3

Welcome to Bruge, friends!

After missing our first train out of Paris, we caught one an hour later (they said it was standing room only, but we luckily got seats), had a short pitstop in Brussels, and were on our way to Bruge!

Farewell, Paris! It was so much fun!

We stayed at a very fun Airbnb just outside of the city center, which was great for our family.

Nan & her traveling ladies <3

We were pretty exhausted the first night, so after dinner at The Grilloir Bistro (which was so tasty, and had the prettiest courtyard!), we called it a night.

Grandpa makes a comfy pillow!

We hit the ground running on Friday, as we always do on our first day in a city. We walked six miles, had a brewery tour and lunch at De Halve Maan (amazing tour and fantastic lunch, terrible service), went to the Choco Story museum (it was so much fun learning about the history of chocolate, and a presentation at the end showed us how they make their famous pralines), had a horse and buggy ride with a great guide who told us a bunch of history (Lotte and I noticed the day before that everyone seems to have fabulous doorknobs here, and it turns out that’s because the doorknob is the only part of the house people are allowed to personalize … how fascinating is that?!) and ate waffles for dinner from Chez Albert.

What a beautiful day.

I took so many door photos. I was obsessed.
Chris and I went for a morning walk — a favorite part of this whole Europe trip — and found a coffee shop for breakfast.
Walking into the city center along the canal was so much fun!
So many core memories made on this trip.
We saw so many swans and baby swans!
There were so many natural drinking fountains around the city, too, just like everywhere else we’ve been.
Look at this insane town square. Mind blown.
I cannot with the flowers all around the doorframes.
Such good beer at De Halve Maan Brewery!
Even better food!
Yes, our waiter forgot us, and yes, we waited 45 minutes just to put our order in. STILL WORTH IT.
Glorious.
Is there anything cuter, though?
No. No, there is not.
The Choco Story Tour was a lot of fun!
They had a photo booth at the end that you could take photos at that they emailed to you 😉
The pralines that they made at the end were to-die-for.
Our horse tour around town was also super fun! 70 euros well spent.
Waffles for dinner. Duh.
This seems to epitomize the attitude here, and I love it.

On Saturday, we rented bikes! Chris and I have always liked to rent bikes in new cities where we visit, and this was the first time we’ve been able to have Lotte and Grace ride with us. It was so special.

We grabbed ours from Ben’s Bikes in the center of town and rode about 30 minutes to the adorable town of Damme, then rode the Lamme Goedzak canal boat back. Emilia rode on the back of Chris’ bike for the first time in her life (she loved it, I was stressin’), my in-laws rode e-bikes, and the big girls rode their own bikes the whole way! We were so proud of them!

Ready for bikin’!
I could not be prouder of this girl and her middle sister — they did such an amazing job riding!
Treats before the ride, obviously.
This girl had one big fall, and she picked herself up and kept right on going. Rockstar.
The views along the way were stunning. So serene and peaceful.
We ate at De Knotwilg, the sweetest little restaurant in town with tons of old-school games that kept the girls busy the entire time.
Andddddd ice cream on the way out. Obviously.
Look at this cute ferry that took us home!
They even had drinks you could order while you enjoyed the prettiest ride.
My girl <3
And that’s a wrap on Bruge Bikin’!
So many doors of Bruge today!

And that’s a wrap on Bruge! What an adorable, quirky, fun, romantic, serene, wild town. I want so badly to come back here. But for now, we’re on to country No. 9 … Amsterdam! Until then, friends, bis bald!