A Brief Interlude of Traveling, then Paris

-- pictures from Paris --

Upon leaving Bruges, I took the train to Bruxelles-Zuid/Midi or whatever that train station wants to call itself today, and then took the Eurostar through the Chunnel to London. That was quite the hassel, and unfortunately, it was after dark and I couldn't see anything. The following day I picked up my mother, we saw a bit of London, and then the day after headed to Paris.

Paris had its ups and downs. I had become used to staying in hostels -- where you can get recommendations for cheap food, meet people, etc. The hotel we stayed at was nice, but impersonal, and the staff were kinda useless. Regardless, Paris was beautiful (and frigidly cold).

We went to the Louvre, and I have to admit, I had a difficult time with it. I had been spoiled by the quiet, relaxed atmosphere in, say, the National Gallery in London. The Louvre was filled with frantic tourists, flashing their cameras, trying to tick the Mona Lisa box in their mental masterpiece checklist. The cameras... no one was stopping people from using their flash. It was... appalling.

For me, the highlights of the Louvre were da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks, Géricault's Raft of the Medusa, and the building itself (which is overpowering in its scale).

Other best moments: the Eiffel Tower lit up EU-style and sparkling, going up to its second level on Christmas day (the top was closed), the Christmas market on the Champs-Elysees, the view from Sacre-Coeur, and the artists at Montmatre

Finally, there was our excursion a bit out of town, to Versailles. It was a pilgrimage of sorts for my art history interests, and it didn't disappoint. Salon after salon of elaborate ceiling paintings, leading up to the drama of the Hall of Mirrors. I wish it had been a less busy time of year - I wouldn't have minded lingering in there for some time. It was one of those surreal times when you finally encounter that which you have discussed and discussed and written papers about and so forth... excellent.

Though cold, I enjoyed Paris, and I even spoke a bit of French here and there (just enough to get into trouble, no more)

Bruges

-- pictures from Bruges --

The next stop along the way... Belgium. Bruges manages to be a gorgeous quiet small town, despite being the number one place for tourists in the country (helps that we were there in the middle of December).

Highlights include... the chocolate museum, climbing the Belfry, cheap soup at the oldest pub in town, Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolate, fancy raspberry beer, the Flemish masters art gallery, how most shopkeepers spoke Flemish, English, and French, and (of course) wandering around.

I remember walking around, on my own, across this rather picturesque bridge. This French couple approached me and the girl asked me to take their picture (she asked in French, and I actually understood her). I nodded, took the picture, she said "merci," and without thinking, I replied "no problem." Totally caught her off guard... I got a strange look for that. Good times.

Bruges is one of the most quaint places I've been, especially with Christmas decorations up. Highly recommended.

And no, I didn't go there because of the film. I swear, I got asked that a dozen times (there's a recent film called In Bruges that is supposed to be good, but I haven't seen it)

Amsterdam

-- pictures from Amsterdam --

I realized that the main things we did, I don't have pictures of. We went to the Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh museum, and both were fantastic. I could have probably just sat in a corner of the Van Gogh museum for hours and just absorbed the greatness of it all... just being surrounded by such wonders.

København

-- photos from Copenhagen --

I finally got some reliable internet access in Florence...

Highlights in Denmark included a friendly hostel, getting into Tivoli for free, getting into the Glyptotek for free (and seeing their fantastic collection of statues), and the Danish changing of the guard