I woke up early and couldn’t fall back asleep on Monday morning, so I left the hotel just after 7:00 to take a neighborhood walk and bring back some breakfast pastries for the family. Renard Bakery was a few blocks from the Moxy, well-rated on Google, and evidently very popular. With a big line and language barrier, I felt rushed to make my choices: I returned with a croissant, waffle, crepe, cinnamon roll, and brioche with chocolate. Eilidh was enthusiastic about her crepe, but the rest of the food feedback was merely average.
We didn’t have to check out of the hotel right away, so we returned to the city center to revisit The Grand Place (to see it in the daytime) and Elisabeth Chocolate (to buy more chocolate.) We also saw the famous statue of the kid peeing (Manneken Pis), popped into a couple of forgettable souvenir shops, and snagged some UK-made Curly Wurly chocolate bars that Amanda really likes but are hard to find. The highlight of the morning may have been an impromptu stop at the Waffle Factory, where Emmie and Eilidh split a Belgian waffle smothered in chocolate and whipped cream.
Distinctive buildings en route to the Grand Place.
I was intrigued by the Grand Place’s Starbucks and its fancy buidling.
The famous Manneken Pis.
A small part of the chocolate selection at Elisabeth Chocolates.
I snuck in a quick McDonald’s meal on our way back to the hotel. Their signature burger was the best thing I’ve eaten from McDonald’s in years, but the extra Euro for ‘shaker fries’ didn’t seem worth it. (You were given a packet of paprika and a bag to shake it on to the fries.)
We felt familiar enough with the Brussels Metro that we decided to replace our planned Uber ride with a cheaper, and nearly-as-fast subway ride to the train station, where we boarded our high-speed train to Paris. Unlike Brussels, we weren’t as confident in our ability to navigate with luggage through the Paris Metro, so we opted for Uber to our Airbnb. The pickup process was smooth, and we arrived just after 3:00 to check in.
Noah fell asleep for much of the train ride.
The Airbnb proprietor Hakim met us to give us the keys and share a few basic house rules and instructions. The two-bedroom apartment isn’t the most modern or snazziest place we’ve stayed, but it offered enough space, needed amenities like a washing machine, and is adjacent to a stop on the Paris Metro. The similarly-priced but more spacious options we’d considered were significantly further from Paris’ biggest attractions, while those close to said attractions were significantly more expensive.
Arrival in Paris.
Checking out the small apartment balcony.
Noah, Emmie, and I immediately picked up some groceries at the Franprix market across the street, and then we regrouped as a family and made the 15-minute walk to the Paris Catacombs. Eilidh wasn’t thrilled with the visit starting with the descending curving stairs, and Emmie was alarmed by the millions of bones in the catacomb tunnels. We made it through, learned a lot, and were glad we had the reservation and took time for the stop.
Grocery store walk selfie.
Outside the entrance to our Paris Airbnb.
While our Facebook feeds were filled with posts from Thanksgiving meals and gatherings, the holiday is (understandably) not celebrated in Europe, and Thursday seemed like any other day when walking around Paris. While it wasn’t a traditional turkey or ham, we picked a completely American place for dinner: Pizza Hut. The helpful employee pointed us to their ‘menu’ deals where we could pair a couple of pizzas with sides and a drink for a significantly cheaper cost than even paying for two individual pizzas.
