My wife and I spent two weeks in Brugge, Paris and Brussels in June of this year. I don't want to bore everyone with a long trip report, so I will try to just mention some of the highlights. I am a little late in posting this because we spent many of our weekends since the trip completing a book documenting our travels on Blurb.com. It is just for our memories, but if you are interested, it can be viewed at http://www.blurb.com/books/1546686. We have done this for the last four major trips we have taken and it is a great way to memorialize the trip.

We loved Brugge. The weather was a little chilly but beautiful. We were happy we stayed in Brugge for three days because it gave us the ability to see the city both with the hordes of daytrippers and without.

Our highlights of Brugge were walking the canals, seeing the Markt, the Burg and the Beguinage. I was especially moved by the service at the Basilica of the Holy Blood during which they allowed you to touch a vial said to contain drops of the Holy Blood.

Our favorite meals were at Den Dyver (we ate there for lunch and dinner on differen days), 't Fonteintje, Cambrinus andCafe Terrastje.

We stayed at the Cote Canal B&B which is the nicest B&B we have ever stayed in. The rooms were lovely, but Caroline, our hostess, was amazing. The day we arrived, we were starved and Caroline - after listening to our general restaurant preferences - suggested we eat at Den Dyver. It's in a beautiful old house with a pleasant patio, although we chose to eat inside. The meal is a prix fixe which comes with several choices, accompanied by a flight of beer or wine. Knowing Belgium is famous for its beers, we both chose the former. After the meal, we spent the afternoon sightseeing in Brugge. The buildings were beautiful. The old buildings around the Markt and the Burg were amazing, but even the smaller houses were extremely well cared for. When we returned to the Cote Canal, Caroline mentioned the waiter at the Den Dyver had called to say we had left our credit card there. She offered to go pick it up for us, but we were going out later so we stopped by to retrieve it. Even so, I thought it was truly above and beyond for Caroline to offer to drop what she was doing to go pick it up. Those are the kinds of things we remember.

After three wonderful days in Brugge, it was time to take the Thalys to Paris.....