Long and Winding Trip to Bruges

Getting from Avignon to Bruges was a long and exhausting day with 3 trains and 3 taxi/Uber connections. Without luggage, transport would have been long but easy. But 12 transitions with luggage getting in/out and on/off made it hard on all of us.

Vincent, our Airbnb co-host, arranged two taxis at 6 am pick-up for a 15-minute ride to a 7:30 departure to Paris. Believing casual early is better than frantic late, we enjoyed coffee and fresh croissants at the cafe in the ultra modern station.

After the 3-hour train to Paris Gare de Lyon, a van carried us across Paris to Gare de Nord. The route took us past the Bastille Opera House and the Place de la Republique through the neighborhood where Becky and I stayed on two previous trips to Paris. Normally a 30 minute drive, the driver completed the trip in 16 minutes with some daredevil driving in the bus lanes.

Facing a 3 to 4 hour layover, we assessed the options for lunch. Five Guys burgers reeked of stale fried food; the Taco place had no place to sit like most other places which were slammed busy. Then suddenly, we spied CoteSushi, the same fresh and healthy food chain we liked in Avignon.

We spent half our laover occupying a table at CoteSushi. Maybe “sushi” draws a more selective clientele as it was never crowded? After 2 hours we yielded squatters rights and wandered through the station looking for empty seats. Gradually, we aggregated 4 seats creating a compound around our luggage.

At the appointed hour, we joined the throng going north on the Eurostar for a short trip to Brussels and shorter one to Bruges. Getting luggage stowed was a problem because someone had filled the entire luggage rack with a bicycle in a huge padded, protective carton taking up all the space except the very top. Summoning the strength of Hercules, I hurled our heavy bags on top of the bicycle carton.

Getting luggage off the train In Brussels was another problem. The bicyclist, apparently enraged about suitcases on top of his monster bike box, had distributed ours bags into various new spots. We found 3 bags quickly but Becky’s carry-on was missing and the train was ready to go go go. The bicyclist retrieved our bag at the last second, and we flung it off to Jim in the nick of train time or we would have been visiting Rotterdam.

At Brussels Midi/Zuid station, the Intercity Train to Bruges was on a different level from our arriving Eurostar. We dragged bags up a long flight of steps to Platform 10 for a short wait and short ride to Bruges.

The train station at Bruges is probably the best organized station of the whole trip. Elevators and escalators connect upper level platforms to a long, wide central corridor. The corridor features a variety of options: Burger King, a Dunkin Donuts, a Relay convenience store, and a chocolate candy emporium tempting travelers coming and going. Bruges is known for chocolate.

At the open end of the corridor, a wide plaza led to a taxi rank and bus stands. In ten minutes, a van delivered us to Langerie 91 facing an impressive canal on the north side of old town Bruges.

Living by the Canal

Instead of being surrounded by walls as in Avignon, old town Bruges is encircled and bisected with canals. Our lodging faced an array of ancient houses and churches of various architectural styles and ages across the canal.

Three swans aswimming provided continuous entertainment: floating by, preening, and flapping wings for mock take offs and landings. We pretended they were performing just for us. Near the bridge at the end of the street, they were tending a nest.

Clippety clop occurred at 9:00 each morning. Five horse-drawn carriages passed our window on their way to Old Town Square to carry tourists around cobblestone streets.

Getting around old town Bruges from the apartment was easy.. Bus #2 had three stops within a few blocks and went straight through the old town center to the train station. We purchased discounted bus tickets on our phones and activated them before each ride. A sour note was when Jim asked for information about bus routes at the bus information center. The attendant was dismissive two times when Jim asked for a map or directions. Similarly some of the bus drivers were uncooperative when we lost Americans asked questions. We called this attitude “brusque in Bruges.”

The other major mode of transport was bicycling. We relearned the lesson of looking both ways twice before stepping into the street.

Most important to getting each day started, Jim’s morning croissant run was about a quarter mile each way to the Carrefour grocery

Stylish Design with Cautions

Our host Fillip greeted us with an extensive tour of the apartment—a duplex adjoining his home through a connecting door. His career as a architect and arts administrator was obvious in the sleek, spartan apartment with a mixture of Danish modern chairs, bright blue reupholstered Victorian settee, a mid-century dining table with stylish metal chairs, and a variety of impressionist artwork.

Although great looking, the apartment was not that easy to live in. Everything was museum-like “just so” with quirks and cautions.

• Don’t slide the dining chairs (which weighed 25 lbs) on the floor because it wears out the rubber tips on their legs.
• If you open the windows or doors for ventilation, don’t close the electronic curtains because they will rip.
• Stainless steel kitchen countertops were impossible to keep clean as every crumb and drop of water showed.
• Six identical black drawers in the kitchen had sliding compartments inside each drawer. Plates, cups with saucers, bowls, glassware, pans, silverware, and utensils lived in separate compartments. We repeatedly opened and closed drawers looking for what we wanted.
• The convenient toilet on the first floor was inconvenient. The door was hard to shut because latch was too tight. The door resisted opening because the handle was so hard to turn. Pounding on the door for rescue was required several times.
• The espresso machine was on the fritz. Morning coffee frenzy relied on a French press coffee maker. The Robsons were unfamiliar with this device, but we reassured them it was doable since we use one at home. I googled 10 steps to brewing perfect coffee with French press which seemed like 5 too many steps.

A comment in the guest book noted that the apartment came with 10 rules but suggested we forget them and enjoy being there. We tried not to feel too inhibited but had the continuing sense we were about to break something or put something amiss.

The apartment is in an historic residential area with the first floor dating to the 1500s; the second and third floor were only two centuries old. The remodel was quite impressive, but treacherous due to multiple floor levels, potential trip hazards, and lack of railings on the stairs. We realized that we depend on railings for balance and support. Building codes in USA would never have approved this.

We adapted to the challenges with due caution. The kitchen was half a flight away from the dining room requiring juggling food, plates, and drinks up and down stairs. We began handing things up and down rather than juggling. We left a light on in the hall at night (despite a request to conserve electricity) because we had a tricky step at the door in the dark in the bedroom. Bear crawling up stairs was my solution to no railings. Getting back down was a two-footed sidewise walk and one hand pushing against the opposite wall. Not graceful but I did not fall.

Despite the quirks and cautions, Langerie 91 was a lovely and convenient place to stay for 6 days.

Exploring Bruges

Central Bruges is organized around a huge square with the Belfort Tower dominating one side, a large historical museum on another, and restaurants occupying the other two sides including a Frite Museum popular with school groups.

The Historium offers three explorations of town history. Becky and I got tickets for the virtual reality visualization of early Bruges. The immersive visuals and narration showed a town built to unload and store goods from faraway and exotic places. Our first experience with Virtual Reality goggles was quite amazing.

All four bought tickets to a multi-room video tour about a young apprentice who worked for the famous local artist Jan van Eck. The story involved the young apprentice, the arrival by boat of a beautiful young woman who was to be a model, a broken rosary, a mystical quest, and two parrots. All these elements are connected in some way to the famous Madonna and Child painted by Jan van Eyck.

Whether the story was based on actual events or a charming fiction to explain why two parrots are in the middle of the commissioned work was not clear. The fourth floor museum held an extensive display of text, pictures and artifacts about Bruges and opened onto a balcony with a spectacular view of the square.

After a quick pizza lunch on the square, a city bus tour took us past points of interest in the old town—museums and churches we could visit, but we did not, as we were pretty well done with museums and churches after six weeks of travel. Several boat docks were located along the canals offering tours. The Robsons enjoyed their boat ride on the canal.

Betsy and Jim were lured into the Dali museum which turned out to be a sales office for expensive reproductions of Dali works. The prints were termed “authentic” because Dali had commissioned the reproductions before he died 50 years ago.

The pitch reminded me of the recent huckstering and shenanigans by Thomas Kinkade authorized art galleries and reproductions.

https://www.courthousenews.com/kinkade-company-pushes-bogus-art-dealer-says/

Jim and Betsy found a harp museum on their stroll and enjoyed an hour-long harp concert. The musician had constructed many harps which represent different cultures and time periods. He played them all, explained their origin, and demonstrated their unique aspects. It was a highlight of their walk and they purchased a CD of the music.

Our Airbnb hosts forwarded a notice about a Beethoven concert scheduled during our visit. The orchestra Anima Eterna Brugge with a guest soprano entertained us for two and a half hours.

The glorious music, exuberant conductor, and amazing Concertgebouw with a bright red exterior made for an amazing musical evening event. We treated ourselves to an Uber ride back to the Airbnb instead of waiting 20 minutes for the bus in the chill night air.

Near the end of our journey, Becky and I had accumulated books and other stuff that could be mailed home and lighten our load. A DHL shipping office was a short walk and bus ride away in a mini convenience store. We had several difficulties getting the shipping instructions to work, but finally the box was labeled and ready to go. But they did not accept credit cards. This was a shock because we had used credit cards for everything and had very limited cash. I found an ATM and brought the money back the next day. Lighter suitcases were the reward for the effort.

Foodies in Bruges

We had excellent food experiences in Bruges. On our first night, Fillip suggested the restaurant two blocks away at the canal bridge. Our young waiter was funny. When we asked about a fish dish on the menu, he scrunched his face and proclaimed “I do not like fish. I do not eat fish. I know nothing about fish or seafood, but I like salmon.”

The food was good enough for hungry travelers that night, but outside at dusk we were cold and hurried through dinner. Becky and I returned for lunch while the Robsons were exploring Ghent.

We ate inside this time. She had the fish stew which was excellent, and Thai Chicken Curry was also fantastic.

The cafe on the square where we enjoyed pizza on our first day, apparently had a reputation for the most famous of Belgian dishes. Many patrons were ordering Belgian Waffles piled high with chocolate, whipped crème, ice cream, and perhaps other caloric delights.

Waffles seem to be a main course not compatible with pizza, but we wanted Belgian waffle sometime before leaving Bruges.

On two nights, we commisioned Jim to get Take-Out on the corner where his choices were pizza or pizza. He brought back very good vegetable pizzas which we ate with made-at-home salad.

While waiting for pizza, Jim struck up a conversation with the Iranian pizza man about global politics. Part of Jim’s charm/mojo is that he engages in conversation with complete strangers. By the second night, Jim and the pizza guy were buddies.

The Concertgebouw concert hall has a long row of restaurants nearby. We perused the menus at several and found a one that met all of our criteria: it looked smart, had empty tables, a good variety of food, and reasonable prices. We are not sure about its name, but it was a quad winner. Three of us had phenomenal salads, goat cheese, Nicoise, or Greek, and all were excellent. Becky had fish and chips that she rated A+ .

On our last night we returned to this cafe still not knowing its name to eat salads we had raved about. As my last chance to have a Belgian waffle, I ordered the chocolate, ice cream, and whipped cream confection—no need for food

Coming soon. The next blog is Beyond Bruges about exploring other places in Belgium.

On a completely different note, the title of this episode is a reference to a fine movie that you may find streaming somewhere

In Bruges starring

• Colin Farrell
• Brendan Gleeson
• Ralph Fiennes

In Bruges is a 2008 black comedy-drama crime thriller film^[4] directed and written by Martin McDonagh in his feature-length debut. It stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two London-based Irish hitmen hiding in Bruges, with Ralph Fiennes as their boss. The film is set and was filmed in Bruges, Belgium.