In September of 2016 I was fortunate enough to attend a week-long conference in Bruges, Belgium. As Ryan and I had not yet taken a honeymoon we turned this into a mini vacation.
After arriving in Bruges and spending the first day exploring the city, we hopped on first world war bus tour of the Flanders region, which was in my opinion the very best part of the entire trip. We visited various memorials and battle site, and our excellent guide took the time to describe minute details of the events of a century earlier, always emphasizing how destructive, and ultimately futile many of the battles were, with hundreds of thousands dying to move a line a mile or so in one direction. One site in particular I enjoyed was a visit to John McCrae’s hospital where he wrote “In Flanders Field”, the only piece of poetry I know by heart. We finished in Ypres, visiting the Flanders Field museum and viewing the last post ceremony and the Menin gate, a remembrance ceremony that’s taken place every evening since 1928, except during German occupation during the second world war.
Most of the rest of the week in Bruges I spent at my conference during the day, and exploring the city during the evening. A shout out to the evening free walking tour, where you’ll stray outside the main beaten path and learn some fun history that’s not in any guide book. On our last day in the area we took the train to Knokke on the coast and I dipped my feet in the ocean, but it was too cold for anything beyond that. We walked around the town for a few hours before heading back.
After the conference we hopped a train to Paris for 3 nights, all I was allowed to tack onto the end of my trip. I honestly wasn’t a big fan. It was a big exciting city, sure, but other than having some interesting old architecture, it just didn’t feel that different than any other city. I guess metropolitan cities just aren’t what excite me, though a day at the Louvre was certainly enjoyable.
As with Belgium the best part of this phase of the vacation was a day trip out of the city for a tour of WWII Normandy, visiting various landing sites and museums.
On our last day we walked around to the various iconic spots, Notre Dame and catacombs, Napoleon’s tomb, the Arc de Triumph, the Champs-Elysees, and of course the Eiffel tower.
