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Last year my boyfriend Gio and I went on a cheap bus trip between France and Belgium. In 2016 I spent one year living in France and in 2014 I did a school exchange in Belgium, so I wanted to share with him what I enjoyed the most about these countries during my experiences abroad.
We started by visiting Orléans, the capital of the Centre-Val de Loire region.
Do you know what Orléans is most famous for?During the Middle Ages it was a strategic point because it was close to Paris and crossed by the river Loire. 🧩
In this city, on 8th May 1429 Joan of Arc, aka "The Maid of Orléans" lift the siege of the Plantagenets during the Hundred Years' War with the help of the royal generals Dunois and Florent d'Illiers. 🗡
The city's inhabitants have continued to remain faithful and grateful to her to this day offering her a middle-class house in the city, and contributing to her ransom when she was taken prisoner. 💐
Events: every year on 8th May the citizens of Orléans commemorate this event with a parade with Joan of Arc, horses, knights and infantrymen besides wondeful light shows. Gio and I attended this event and it really felt like being in the XV century! Amazing! 🐎
What I loved the most about Orléans: in "Parc Pasteur" I discovered one of my favourite statues: "Le premier toit" ("The first roof") by Maxime Real del Sarte. Don't you find it extremely heart-warming? 💗
We then
decided to spend two days in Paris to have a blowout on museums, since the
entrance is free for those who live in the EU and are under 26 years old.
5 things we loved the most in Paris
1. Musée de l'Orangerie: a museum renowned for its impressionist and Post-impressionist paintings, including a large Water Lilies cycle by Monet. It offers wonderful temporary expositions as well. 🌸
2. Musée National de Picasso: here you can have the honour to see lots of Picasso's drafts and painting. Underrated, but excellent exposition. 🎨
3. Père Lachaise Cemetery: It is the most prestigious and most visited necropolis in Paris. All funerary art styles are represented and visitors can cross the burial places of Frédéric Chopin, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Camille Pissarro, Oscar Wilde... and many more!
4. Walking by the Seine: "respirer Paris, cela conserve l'ame!" (V. Hugo) 🚶
5. The stunning view on Paris from the Tour Eiffel: okay it's banal, but if you're wondering wether it is worth it or not to climb its stairs... Yes, it definitely is! 👀
Challenge yourself!
Try to order in French a baguette, a pain au chocolat or a flan in a boulangerie, that will be very satisfying 🥖
Another
day, another city, this one was to new to both of us! On our third day we chose
to visit Rouen. We prepared two super satisfying baguettes with cheese,
tomatoes and salad and went for it.
The one thing you will never forget about Rouen: the "Gros Horloge" and its audioguided tour, probably one of the best I've ever listened to. This astronomic clock lays on a Renaissance arch spanning the busy street of rue du Gros-Horloge (see the photo taken from the inside through a green piece of glass) and is flanked by a Gothic belfry from the 14th century. Educational and funny! 🕔
Nice things to visit if you have only one day to spend in Rouen: the "Beaux Arts Museum" which contains paintings by Monet, Géricault, Delacroix and Caravaggio, the Saint Ouen Church and the Notre Dame Church. ⛪
Where to end your day: do you know the saying "happy wife, happy life"? Well, Gio decided to take me eat a galette at "Creperie Rouennaise" for dinner and I still remeber how tasty and abundant it was 😋
We couldn't
spend the last days of this magical trip between history and culture in a
better city than Ghent: the largest city in the Flanders region after Antwerp.
Okay... we admit it, we decided to visit Ghent to taste delicious french fries, excellent Belgian chocolate, gaufres, waffles and yummy Cuberdons (typical candies looking like "purple noses") 😍 We've nourished our bodies for two days with only these foods 😅
How to feel that Flemish atmosphere in 3 steps:
- Visit the Gravensteen Castle where the most fascinating information we retained was that the counts used to poop in the water basin around the castle from its outer ramparts. The audioguided tour was sooo captivating and funny! Try it! 👑
- Contemplate "The Adoration of the mystic Lamb" by Van Eyck in the "St. Bavo's Church" without being discouraged by the queue 🐏 and St. Nicholas' Church
- Walk along the river (Korenlei and Graslei) while admiring typical Flemish buildings 🏠
Our journey has now come to an end. We've learned a lot about Europe and its history and had so much fun... Hope you'll do the same one day by following our suggestions! 🐙
SUPER SPECIAL THANKS TO GIO 💕 because most of these photos are taken by him and this trip wouldn't have been that funny without him. If I'll ever win the contest, he'll come with me to offer Tripchilkis the best content.
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