Brussels, Belgium

I can't believe it! I got on the train to Brussels. It was a fast train called Thalys. The train left on time. However, I noticed the train stopped many times. Then, I heard an announcement saying that the train has a mechanical problem. I had about 45 minutes to spare in Brussels in case I couldn't easily find the meeting point for the chocolate workshop tour. However the train arrived 1 hour and 20 minutes late.... So, I couldn't make it to the workshop. Fortunately, I didn't pre-pay for it. But what could I do now??

I had another reason to come to Brussels: the beer. A friend of mine told me about a brewery in Brussels (yes, Belgian beer!). But I didn't need 8.5 hours for just a brewery. Because the workshop was supposed to take 4 hours, I didn't do any other research on Brussels.

I found a café with free wifi and found places for Belgian waffles and chocolate.


I was expecting to see Belgian waffle stands everywhere. But I didn't see any. Even the café that I went to for wifi didn't have any waffles. Anyway, I arrived at the Belgian waffle place that I found online....

What's this??? It looked so touristy.... And this was in the middle of a very touristy area.. I tried one anyway and it was horrible. Maybe Belgian waffles are supposed to be eaten at home? Or is this food that became overly popular outside Belgium?

After I explored the city, I went to a couple of chocolatiers that I found online.

                                                                    Laurent Gerbaud

Pierre Mancolini. 

I saw a group of people who looked like they were part of a chocolate tour. Is this the one I was supposed to join?? Anyway, I got an assortment with their standard chocolate along with other chocolate with cacao from various countries. They were all simple chocolate without any ganache or nuts. So, I thought this would be the perfect way to compare cacaos from different countries.


Then, I headed to the brewery, Cantillon. I tried one of their major beers, called Gueuze, which is a lambic beer. To be honest, I didn't know much about Belgian beer. But it is sour!!! And it has some distinctive fermented flavor, that reminds me of the sidra that I had in the Basque region. Sidra is a traditional apple cider in the Basque region. I had it once when I was there and I would say that's an acquired taste...

After I came back to Paris, I did the last of my shopping because I'm leaving for the US tomorrow morning.


First, I went back to La Maison du Chocolat where I went yesterday on the chocolate tasting tour. I really liked their chocolate. Yes, I can get it in the US., but the only location is in New York. I don't want to fly 6 hours to get this chocolate...

Then, I went to a macaron shop that the tour guide mentioned yesterday. He said Pierre Herman has more creative flavors so I wanted to get some. He said all macarons should be consumed within 48 hours because the crust gets soggier after that. But because I'm leaving tomorrow morning, I think I can still enjoy them when I'm back in the US.

I will give the report of all the sweets (in boxes) once I'm back in the US.


I'm leaving for the US tomorrow morning...