In Bruges

Picture-perfect meadows, wild daisies in full bloom, swans swimming in waters that shimmered in the morning sun and reflected the ancient medieval ramparts of churches and cathedrals. It doesn't get much prettier than this in Europe! I was reminded of Salzburg, another lovely small city full of charm.

Bruges, also called Brugge in Dutch, has preserved its medival charm amazingly well. Time seems to have left untouched the ancient homes, churches and marketplaces. Its waterways and canals gives this city the moniker of 'Venice of the North' in Europe. During the time of the Vikings when this city originated, the canals were the primary means of trade and connected to the sea nearby.


We had come to Bruges by bus from Paris. The comfortable double-decker afforded us an excellent view of the French countryside as we drove up the North of France, past Lille, and into Belgium. The railway track ran alongside and we saw the high-speed Thalys as well as the better known Eurostar trains whiz past. The North of France is mostly agricultural and was once also dominated by coal mining. While the mining industry has long since disappeared, fields of bright yellow mustard and sugarbeet lined the roads. The quick breakfast of delicious croissants, sweet breakfast breads and coffee was refreshing.


After we reached Bruges, we started off on a walking tour frequently stepping aside to avoid the horse-drawn carriages and bicycles. While in neighbouring France, you only see stone buildings, here everything is built with red bricks that have lasted several years. The Church of Our Lady with its tall spire in the city center is among the tallest brick bulidings in the world. Ducks and swans swam languidly ignoring the small boats filled with excited tourists.

We strolled through the winding streets and narrow medieval lanes, through what was one of the world's oldest women's monasteries (the Beguinage) and around churches and cathedrals. Being a Sunday, there was also a flea-market along the canals; after some haggling we came away with some interesting old artifacts. Bruges is famous for its chocolates and handmade lace. We peered into shops and sampled wares before we finally decided to stop for lunch.

There are many pretty cafes and al-fresco restaurants along the canals and winding streets. We sat down enjoying the sunshine and resting our tired feet. The girl immediately decided to try a Belgian waffle, while we ordered a beer as we perused the menu. Bruges is home to 300 different varieties of beer. We loved the Bruges Blonde the waitress recommended. I nibbled on some snails (!) before wolfing down a most delicious Flemish Beef Stew cooked in local dark beer. My wife decided to try a prawn dish that wasn't particularly memorable.




In the afternoon we took a boatride in the canals seeing the lovely city from another perspective as the flat-bottomed boats took us under low bridges and around town. All through the trip, we could see bright flowers - pansies, daisies and tulips - in every porch and window-sill.

Finally, our day came to an end. We were already weighed down by the many bags of chocolates, lace, and other miscelleny from the flea market we had been tempted to purchase. As the sun faded, we drove back into France.




From Paris, we had used Cityrama for the tour; I would recommend them for day trips that originate from Paris. The buses begin their journey near the Tuileries metro stop and within walking distance of our 1st arrondisement aparment - an additional plus.

Selected Posts from previous trips to Europe:

• Imperial Vienna
• The Foodie in Vienna
• Timeless London
• Sweet Dreams Are Made of This
• Bonjour Paris

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The Foodie in Paris

In which city are vegetable producers, cheesemongers and butchers known by name? Paris, of course. Joel Thiebault, Marie-Anne Cantin, and Hugo Desnoyer are names that may be mentioned on a top restaurant's menu.



Like in the USA, French chefs are increasingly going back to basics and letting the quality of their ingredients shine through. In a country so proud of its heritage, technique remains important, but superfluous trimmings and add-ons are becoming passé.

Alain Passard at L'Arpege and Yannick Alleno of Le Meurice are two examples of this trend. Alleno, who recieved his third star only this year, is known for his light touch, teasing out flavors from fresh meat, fish and greens at his opulent restaurant on Rue de Rivoli near Place de la Concorde.

This is the city filled with celebrity chef-run restaurants: Alain Ducasse, Taillevent, Pierre Gagnaire, Le Grand Vefour and many others. Reservations usually have to be made weeks in advance and the chef's tasting menu without wine pairing is usually upwards of €250. In recent times, the Michelin Guide has been springing some surprises: Le Grand Vefour, a revered two-century-old Parisian temple of gastronomy lost its third star last year as did Taillevent which held its three stars for 34 years. Here is the 2009 list of Michelin starred restaurants in Paris (pdf): there are 23 three-star restaurants in this list.

If you want my recommendation for three-star dining, try the Le Meurice: both the food and the setting are amazing and the chef is an rising star here. However, if you love history and tradition, you may want to dine at the Vefour or Taillevent (ignoring their dropped stars).


Still, Paris is not known as a foodie's paradise only for its Michelin starred restaurants. The city's ubiquitous cafes, bistros and brasseries have their unique charm and even the 'fast' food can turn out to be pretty appetizing. Cafe chairs set on the sidewalks don't face each other; instead, you sit together facing the street and watching people! We discovered the Croque Monsieur, a Parisian version of the ham and cheese sandwich and even the interestingly named Croque Madame which comes with a fried egg on top (apparently, this looks like a old-fashioned woman's hat and hence the Madame in the name). During the evenings, we sipped on some of the most interesting Bordeaux and Cote de'ventoux in these places with our food. The small Parisian restaurants usually only have a small handwritten menu (in French) and a dozen seats, but the food rarely disappoints.

Then there are the many wine shops, fromangeries, boulangeries and speciality butcher shops for those who like to create gourmet spreads at home. Actually, there are entire gourmet food megastores (Fauchon, Hediard, etc.) that should be on your must-see places if you are a foodie. I don't think there is anything like this in any other city.

And for fellow Indian foodies, what is pleasing is the French too like their meat and produce fresh. Which means they usually buy directly from open markets and butchers' shops (unlike in the USA).

Among the many things I ate here, I will remember the crepes. There are varieties of them with sweet as well as savory fillings. We loved the ones with chocolate, nutella or cream & sugar fillings. The savory ones are sometimes listed as Galettes. The ham and cheese galette we ate a few times are extremely filling and available at most tourist spots like the Concorde or Notre Dame.


The brioche, macacons, eclairs, mille fuielles and other heavenly breads and pastries are something you must try in Paris. Even cold sandwiches and hot dogs taste so much better there because of the high quality of their bread, cheese and ham.

I tried a number of different cheese including Brie, Roquefort, Lou Perac. BTW, the hot chocolate is also great here as are the desserts, even in the smallest cafe. I will remember the Cream Brulees, Chocolat Fondants and Apple and Cream Tarts I sampled here.

In restaurants I ate Steak Frites, Salmon with buttered Basmati Rice and flambeed Tomatoes, Salmon-topped Pasta, Panga on a bed of Ratatouile - a new fish imported from Vietnam and now on every French plate, Haddock on Blanched Spinach in a White Sauce, pate de Campagne, and much more. My little girl loved the hot-dogs, pasta and even the home-made onion soups.


Among the more interesting restaurants was the L'Artoise just off Champs-Elysees, run by a lovely couple. My friend Patrice took me here on my last day in this city. We settled for the menu of the day starting with Rillette of Salmon - sort of a pate - on toast with salad leaves in olive oil. The entree was a beautifully made dish of flaky, fresh Manta Ray (raie in French) covered with a citrus sauce and potato fondant.The dessert was a fitting end to this meal: a large portion of Nougat glace in a coulis of Framboise (French raspberry).


Finally, the snails! After debating if I would have the stomach for this, I did try them. Escargots are a local delicacy, made of large snails in a garlic-parsley-butter sauce. Check out the pictures. :)

Next: Au Revoir Paris
Prev: Museum Hopping

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Paris: Museum Hopping

The Louvre is both the world's largest palace and its largest museum. While there are other palaces more impressive, as a museum there are no equals. The Louvre's collection covers a broad spectrum of history, from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to the 19th century. Some 35,000 works of art and artifacts are on show, divided into eight departments and housed in three wings: Denon, Sully and Richelieu. Our plan was to spend quality time in the Egyptian and Greco-Roman sections before sampling the best of the rest.


We avoided the long queues at the Louvre's pyramid entrance by buying advance tickets at the Virgin Megastore and entering the museum through the Carrousel du Louvre. We were the first visitors of the day into Sully and while we were getting oriented, we found ourselves face-to-face with the museum's second most popular exhibit, Venus de Milo (only the Mona Lisa attracts more crowds). Shortly after, entered into Egypt Antiquities section announced by the pink granite Gaint Sphinx (1898-1866 BC).


We were immediately immersed in the exhibits that evoked the glory of this ancient civilization. Artifacts and drawings presented Nile culture: fishing, agriculture, hunting, daily and cultural life, religion and death. Most fascinating was the Mastaba of Akhethetep, a decorated burial chamber from Sakkara dating back to 2400 BC. Elaborately painted sarcophagi, elements of the temple complex with goddesses, mummies, amulets, jewelry and entrails formed a vivid display that is difficult to forget. What was remarkable to me was how advanced the Egyptians were even during those ancient times: this is visible from their furniture, which almost looks contemporary, and their elaborate jewelry, toys and drawings. Mankind's progress seems to have happened in fits and starts. When the Egyptian civilization collapsed, it took with it a lot of its knowledge and we started all over again.




The earliest Greek scuptures in the Louvre date far back into the 7th century BC. From Classical elegance to Realism: from depicting athletic, muscular figures to potrayal of old age and infancy. We saw the statue of the Centaur Chiron being teased by the young God Eros; in Greek mythology, Chiron became the constellation Sagittarius after his death. Among French sculptures we saw Artemis with a Doe from the 4th century BC.


The opulent apartments of Napolean III are an exceptional record of Second Empire decorative art. The state dining room features an imposing table and sideboard in black-stained wood with gilt bronze decorations. The painted ceiling (a luminous sky traversed by exotic birds) is by Eugène Appert.



The Reubens hall containing a series of 24 paintings on the life of Marie de Medisi by Reubens was fascinating. Finally, we ended our day-long visit by visiting Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece the Mona Lisa. Given the hype, the small painting at the end of a large hall is somewhat of an anti-climax; here's a picture of the crowds eagerly photographing the famous painting.



Having read (and seen) the Da Vinci Code which begins its fast-paced drama in this hall of the Louvre, we went down to the Inverted Pyramid in the Carrousel du Louvre where the movie ends (the Holy Grail supposedly buried underneath). As we walked back to our apartment, we ran into the 'Rose Line' in the book: these Arago disks trace the Paris Meridian line that once tried to rival Greenwich.


On another day, we went back to Sainte Chapelle on Ile de City, a gothic marvel of a museum with its huge stained glass windows which depict the stories of the Bible in 1134 scenes. This chapel once housed the Crown of Thorns and other Christian relics for which the king paid twice as much as the amont to build the chapel itself.



Today, we visited Musee d'Orsay, an old rail station converted into one of the world's great museums. The Orsay boasts an astounding collection of big names: Manet, Monet, Delacroix, Renoir and many others.

I have always liked the vivid colors of a Van Gogh, and it was particularly thrilling to be in a room filled with some many of his masterpieces. Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (the luncheon on grass) stirred up controversy when he seated a nude women among clothed men and is among the most popular works in this museum (picture below).


In addition to the Impressionist painters, there were sections on the different schools of painting that emerged during the mid-1800s and early 1900s: Naturalism, Academic, and Symbolism. We were also lucky to see an entire exhibition devoted to Rodin and others who embraced a new, modern form of sculpture inspired by his works. Rodin's work departed from the classical works which were decorative and based on mythological themes; instead, he modeled the human body with a focus on human fraility as well as individuality.



Paris is filled with museums and it is difficult to choose. However, if you have time for only one, it has to be the Louvre. If you have time for two, I would also recommend the d'Orsay. If you plan to visit more, consider buying a museum pass.

Next: The Food!
Prev: Champs-Elysees and More

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