Too much to say!

These past couple of weeks have been filled with adventure, so much so that its a daunting task to write all about them in the blog. I will keep it as simple as possible or else this blog entry would turn into a novel.

My vacation for tousaints went something like this:

Left Strasbourg for Paris on the 23 of October

Stayed for 3 nights in Paris with the entire group!

Went to Brussels for 2 nights with two girls from the group

Took a 7 hour train to Munich to spend Halloween with Kevin

My 3 hour train turned into 8 hours to get back home to Strasbourg!

Now for details:

PARIS:

On my list of places I want to go, I had never before considered Paris, France. It just seemed too typical to include. I had also heard from many that it was a disappointing place to visit after all of the high expectations. However, on the train to Paris I realized I was going to PARIS FRANCE! So I shoved aside my preconceived notions of the city and took it for what it was. And it was amazing! I feel so grateful that I was able to visit such a beautiful city. It's true what they say about it being a romantic place, something about it is just soooo lovely and wonderful. We ate very well in Paris, especially the chocolate mousse! We saw the play "La Lecon" by Eugene Ionesco, walked to the Louvre at night:

and saw the eiffel tour sparkle (it lights up every hour), and skipped down the champs elysees. Not bad huh?

My favorite part: seeing the Van Gogh's in La Musee D'Orsay.

Interesting part: The pedestrian bridge over the Seine is covered in padlocks with couple's names on them. It really made me miss a certain someone. 

Surprising part: I did not "go out" at all in Paris. We were all so tired from walking all day that we just wanted to sleep!

Pop quiz: What is this place? (Answer at the end of blog entry)

BRUSSELS:

Of course our train from Paris to Brussels was cancelled (the strikes) so we hopped on another one and sat in the stowaway area. Even though the trains here have been really complicated and not very reliable because of the strikes, there is something magical about watching the countryside roll by and watching the houses change from little french homes to brick belgian homes. 

I stayed in the Hello Hostel in Brussels for 2 nights with Mary Alice and Lainie (from Michigan).

I would describe our trip as one of gastronomic goals. We ate everything quintessentially Belgian:

Belgian fries: I took mine with sauce piquant. No idea what it was made out of, but delicious.

 

Belgian waffles (seriously the best thing in the world, I didn't even know that's how they were supposed to taste. It was like a cake/cookie/waffle, completely magical)

Belgian beer (mine's the one in the middle)

Belgian chocolate

HEAVEN!

We found this great little bar in Brussels with 46 beers on tap at a time. They ask you how you are feeling and they choose a beer for you. They are always right! We were always satisfied with our beers, no matter how strange they were. 

We also visited the flea market where I picked up some nice little trinkets:

Then we walked around Brussels without using the Metro. It's really not that big after being in Paris, so we chose to hoof it. So worth it! We walked up the hill to the museum area and went to the Rene Magritte museum. He has always been one of my favorite artists, so I was really excited to go, especially because it was only 2 euros for students! They didn't have any of his really famous paintings there but it was interesting to see how he progressed as an artist. 

We walked to the Palace and the royal gardens, past the european parliament building, and found our way back to the bar to quench our thirsts with some Geuze, a strange specialty beer of Brussels that involves spontaneous fermentation and a mixing of 3 lambics from different years! Wasnt half bad!

Also, a bus we frequently saw in Brussels, sorry I couldn't help myself:

MUNICH:

Time to relax! I love to travel to new places but sometimes it just feels great to kick back your feet, sleep in, and eat well. I am a creature of comfort. Originally, I thought I would go to Amsterdam after Brussels, but Munich called my name and I went. 

On saturday, Kevin, Hannah, and I went to Garmisch. They Olympics were held there in the 1930's. Its an adorable bavarian ski village. The train ride took our breathes away with the fall colors and the Alps...

We then visited the Olympic ski jumping area:

...and took a gondola to the top of the mountain to really get a sense of where we were:

Absolutely breathtaking!

Sunday we had Halloween! We got to carve pumpkins and roast the seeds, and also decorate for the party with cobwebs. I dressed as a zebra, even made my own mask, and Kevin went as the fruit stripes gum (the one with the multi-colored zebra on it) that we loved when we were kids. 

Kevin's bookshelf: 2 belgian beers courtesey of yours truly, a german mas, my zebra mask, my pumpkin who had a bad knife incident, and Kevin's with unfortunate skin problems. We had a great time!

My return trip home was twice as long as it should have been, I was quite miserable. At least there was a pretty sunset to watch as my train broke down. 

Tomorrow I am going on an excursion to Colmar, south of Strasbourg! Can't wait!

*POP QUIZ ANSWER: Starbucks!

Mes sentiments distinguees,

Michelle

xoxo