There have been numerous times I’ve wanted to head to Europe, but there are always destinations that have taken priority – surely you remember the great trip to South America. But when flight prices are down and opportunity strikes, you book that flight and head to Paris.
But you can’t just do one city
We opted to combine France with Belgium – starting in Ghent, to Brussels, then back to Paris. Here’s how it went.
By the Numbers
Between Mike and me, some of our most notable stats are:
2 times we walked into the wrong restroom, 5 times we met the opposite sex in the restroom.
I was first thrown off when payment was required to access the bathrooms, but I became far more confused after walking into the men’s room. The bathrooms aren’t labelled particularly well, but it also doesn’t help when many restrooms are co-ed. It felt pretty bizarre the first time encountering men at the urinal while trying to access the stall, but they sure don’t seem to mind there.
Mike had the best story, though, after following a guy into the restroom to wash his hands, he was called out by a woman asking, “Is there something wrong with the gentleman’s?” We did our best.
11 Belgian waffles.
I don’t know what they do – but they do it right.
In the best areas, there was at least 1 window on each block you could walk up to that was selling waffles. We dabbled in some of the toppings (like Belgian chocolate – of course), but ultimately gorged on the originals. Weirdly enough, the best waffle we had was at the Brussels train station. Which was awesome, because we had plenty of stops there.
20 Croissants.
Yeah, Europe really knows what they’re doing here. They were all so buttery and delicious, and only like €1.50 each. When we weren’t eating waffles in Belgium, we were snacking on croissants. This was clearly our go-to breakfast and snack throughout the majority of the trip. The classic was perfect, but we’d occasionally opt for the chocolate, or pain du chocolat, or almond. The winner, though, was a chocolate + almond croissant we had in Montmartre.
4 Belgian frites.
Did you know that aside from Belgian waffles, Brussels has a reputation for its fries? If the block didn’t have waffles, they definitely had a Belgian Frites window. And with that, a lot of pigeons. Transparently, I didn’t love the fries as much as I thought I would. It was really common for fries to be served with mayo, though they had some creative dipping sauces I enjoyed much more. Coincidentally, the Dallas was my favorite.
8 Hot chocolates.
Sipping on hot chocolate on a rainy Parisian day was something out of a dream. There was a lot of variety amongst the various places we went. Naturally, Belgium takes its chocolate seriously, but Paris’ whipped cream was what made all the difference.
It rained 6 out of the 9 days we were there, with one snowy morning in Paris (beautiful), which made this so exceptionally enjoyable.
163,708 Steps, approximately 80 miles total.
An average of 19,608 steps/day. On the days that weren’t full travel days, of course.
It was such a treat roaming through the different neighborhoods of the cities we visited. The architecture was beautiful, the pace was slow, and there was no shortage of landmarks. It seemed every detail was thoughtfully designed – lamp posts, door handles, statues atop buildings, murals… each building, a display of its own.
7 Miles biked.
Ghent was a city of bikes. When we first got there, there was a lot of no less than 5,000 bikes (based on vibes). But seriously – the lot was filled – I had never seen so many in my life.
Our Airbnb had bikes for us to use, which was ideal. Within a few blocks from where we were staying, we could hop on the trail that took us straight downtown within a mile(ish). We had a couple of near-spills, but neither of us officially wrecked. Which is a win on its own.
Biking in a city where that’s its primary mode of transportation was pretty neat. There were numerous bike stands on every block, and cars were always working around you. While most places here have bike lanes or paths along the river, I had never been to a place that revolved around the bikers.
20 Beers.
Give or take. But you know what they say, when in Belgium. Surely someone has said that at some point, anyway.
The beers were just too good to pass up. And the best part about Brussels is that happy hour was like 8 hours everywhere you went. From noon to 8pm, you were getting the deal of deals.
One of the most humbling experiences I had was trying to order our drinks in French, and the server told me it was okay if I spoke English.
4 Blisters.
Honestly, not bad. We both got new shoes for the trip, given that the streets were going to be cold, wet, and slippery. We both did our best to break them in, but the rest was done on the trip.
I recommend Doc Martens for any similar trips. With thick wool socks, you can go for miles.
11 Total train rides.
Day 1: From Paris to Brussels, then to Ghent.
Day 4: Ghent to Brussels.
Day 6: Brussels to Paris.
Day 7: Paris to Versailles.
Then, 6 more across Paris. It was really easy to navigate and such an ideal way to navigate, especially with our Airbnb right across the street from an access point.
2 Bottles of wine purchased.
The beer in Belgium was great, but we dove a little more into wine in Paris. The secret, however, was buying the wine at the stores. You can buy really, really good wine for €4, and we did!
Paris has the potential to be a really expensive destination, but small things like this made it much easier on the wallet.
3 Airbnbs, 2 we’d rebook.
- Ghent: The cottage we stayed at in Ghent was an absolute dream. It was so incredibly cozy, and the location was unbeatable (until Paris, anyway). We also met the hosts, who were so kind and accommodating.
- Brussels: We were a little nervous going into this one after re-reading the reviews. Only because our introduction to Brussels was a little sketchy. Looking into the safety of the city, we read that the neighborhood we were staying in was slightly unsafe by European standards, but totally fine by American standards (lol – yikes at America). We didn’t have many issues with it, and it was nice being such a short walk from Grand Place. We likely wouldn’t rebook since it didn’t really stand out, but it was fine for our short stay.
- Paris: Holy moly. We were literally 10 steps from Notre Dame. I can’t imagine a better place to stay – we were so close to fun nightlife, and right in the middle of so many landmarks. The furthest we had to travel was the transit to Montmartre and the walk to the Eiffel Tower. Both were so easy, given the walkability of the city and the proximity of the metro. I would recommend this to anyone and would 1000% rebook. It was the perfect, cozy place to sleep, while also being in the middle of everything.
11 Items we packed but didn’t wear.
Ha, we all do this! We got especially lucky because our Paris lodging had a washing machine, so we could stretch our items’ use just a little further. But given the frigid weather, we had a lot of overlap in our daily outfits since we often opted for what was the warmest/driest.
6 Rainy days, 1 snow day.
I mentioned this earlier, but worth mentioning again. It snowed on our last morning in Paris, and it was beautiful.
However, we did get a little tired of the rain on some days. I purchased the second most touristy souvenir of all time (second to my beret, because there was no way I was leaving without one), being an I ❤ Paris umbrella. And as you know, the French love tourists, so I was so excited to get that attention.
The best part of the rainy weather, though, was the food. Much of the food we ate was very hearty, rich, and warm. Being cold and wet just made it all that much better.
The Summary
Of course, there is so much more to the trip outside the numbers.
It was such an incredible opportunity to cover so much ground and see so many different cultures. From the medieval streets of Ghent to quirky Brussels, to the city of Love, it was a well-rounded trip.
We got our portraits drawn on the streets of Montmartre, drank beer outside of Gravenstein, ate waffles outside the beer museum in Brussels, toured various cathedrals (and accidentally attended mass at Notre Dame), and made many incredible memories.
Shut Up Madi 