Bruges: B&B Sint Niklaas

Stayed at B&B Sint Niklaas in Bruges.

This was my first time at a B&B and had such a pleasant stay. It's a charming, old house that is conveniently located a block away from Market Square. There are only 3 rooms and we stayed in the rooftop room. Anne, the lady who runs the place, was so friendly, hospitable and welcoming. She let us leave our bags until 8PM and kindly called cabs for us whenever we needed. She also had freshly squeezed Orange Juice in the morning. I would definitely recommend this B&B to anyone who is thinking of visiting Bruges.

Rooftop Room.

Super clean and spacious bathroom/shower.

Views from the window:

Bruges: Market Square

After we booked our flight to Paris, we both agreed that we wanted to go to Belgium. We both love Belgian beers and only a train ride away, why not? We were originally only planning on going to Brussels, but one restaurant extended our trip to Bruges. I LOVED Bruges! It's a tiny city but really scenic and beautiful. You can walk around the main parts of the city in a couple hours, but you'll need much more time than that to taste all the beers! The atmosphere and buildings in Belgium are more gothic, very medieval complete with horse carriages.

Here are pictures of the Market Square during the day and night, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.

Frenchie Bar à Vins

Our last meal in Paris was at Frenchie Bar à Vins.

This wine bar is adjacent to Frenchie, Chef Gregory Marchand’s restaurant that is very challenging to book. They made this wine bar so that you can enjoy Chef Marchand's dishes tapas-style with wine, without having to make reservations months in advance. We didn't want to wait so we just went 15 minutes before they opened and were able to be get seats. By the time we were leaving, this tiny bar was PACKED! The food was unique and delicious (my fave: foie gras mousse, 3rd pic) and the wines were very reasonably priced.

Ladurée

There are many stores in Japan now but Ladurée was a must for me in Paris. We went to the Bonaparte store in the 6th arrondissement.

I'm really picky about my macarons (texture, chewiness, filling..) but I still think it's hard to beat Ladurée (totally a personal preference). They had a collaboration with Tsumori Chisato and the display was super cute but they wouldn't let me take pictures inside the store. I don't understand when stores do that, especially when they're already so established. けち！

Marché Biologique Raspail

On the sunny Sunday before visiting the Louvre, we walked from our hotel to an organic farmer's market that was recommended to me by my Mom.

Street in front of our hotel.

We stayed in the Montparnasse area.

Walked through these types of buildings. This architectural style was my image of Paris before visiting. I love all the details and windows!

Organic farmer's market on Raspail Blvd held every Sunday from 8:30AM-2:30 PM.

We bought some Zucchini & Greens Soup and Yogurt back to the hotel for a light brunch.

Everything at the market looked so fresh and delicious. I wanted to buy the yogurt (above) by the case to bring back... and cheese... and bread... and honey... there's really no end to what I wish I could have bought to haul back with me to Tokyo.

G.H. Mumm

Visited G.H. Mumm Champagne House in Reims.

They have hour-long english guided tours of their caves and museum. The price of the tour depends on which champagne tasting course you choose. Learned some cool new facts about champagne. For example, the difference between a Brut, Extra Brut and Brut Naturale is how much sugar it contains. I didn't even know they added sugar to champagne in the first place.

It was a great experience to actually see the process and how all of the bottles are kept and maintained. A lot of work goes into making one bottle of chamapgne!

Day Trip to Reims

We took a day trip to Reims.

It's located about 80 miles away from Paris, or a convenient 45 minute train ride. Reims is most famous for Champagne, and many of the largest Champagne houses have headquarters here. We briefly saw the Notre Dame of Paris from a cab window but there is also a Notre Dame of Reims (Reims Cathedral), and is listed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I was in awe of the meticulous details and it's unbelievable that everything was done by hand... can't even imagine.

Reims is a quiet, small and charming town. I definitely want to make another trip since we were only able to visit one Champagne house (next post).

Agapé Substance

Agapé Substance is a restaurant in the Saint Germain district that opened last year. It was voted one of the most anticipated restaurants of 2011 and is a contemporary, gastronomy/molecular French cuisine. Gastronomy/molecular cuisine is very fascinating to me, especially with the bizzare flavor combinations and modern presentations. The menu at Agapé Substance is very unique because they hand you a card with a list of ingredients, nothing more (current menu is on their site). You don't know how it's prepared or what other ingredient is in it, until its served.

On a side note, the multi-seed epi bread (5th picture to the left) was fantastic. In general, every restaurant has great bread (and butter!) but this bread really stood out.