Had a solid day of touristing around Bruges. Started with the major climb up the Belfort tower, 366 steps, definitely got the blood flowing right away. Nice view from the top and an interesting Carillon mechanism. Then took the Rick Steves book and followed his recommended walk. That took most of the rest of the morning. Ended up at a nice little restaurant called moules et Poules, mussels and Chicken, for lunch. A nice half a rotisserie chicken and fries did the job. After that it was the hour long open bus tour of the town, which was interesting. Then after some downtime, realized that a couple of the museums would be closed tomorrow, so the only chance to see them would be today. Since I had bought a museum pass, I did a run through of the two that would be closed tomorrow. This is an interesting town and was a seaport before the access silted up. Eventually it became a tourist attraction and it does seem quite busy. Will see how it is on Monday.

Got an early start today with a quick taxi ride to the St. Pancras Eurostar station in London. Considering that yesterday complete fell apart with an old WWII bomb found on the tracks near Gare du Nord halting all trains to Paris, it was remarkably calm and efficient. The train to Brussels was full but it only takes about 2 hours, so not too bad. A quick walk over to another track and right onto the local train just in time for the doors to close. An hour later arrived in Bruges and took a local bus to about a block from the hotel. This town feels like an old medieval place with cobblestone streets, major squares and old buildings. Coming from London it actually seemed a little crowded heard with lots of people out and about. Locals assure me that it is actually slow right now! Checked into a Rick Steve’s recommended hotel a few blocks of the main square and out to find some lunch. Lots and lots of restaurants, cafes and Brasseries here. It’s all about Mussels, Burgers, Frites and Beer. Most of the restaurants have similar menus but do seem to take it seriously. Beautiful town and look forward to further explorations tomorrow, possibly and e-bike rental. Thinking about London, it is very easy to get around, and, there is a huge variety of foods, particularly of different ethnic types. It is very pricey, but I got off lightly using points for both my Airplane ticket and for my 4 night hotel stay. Would definitely like to come back and explore some more. Belgium is interesting because I’m told that Brussels is quite French, but here in Bruges it is very Dutch and you feel almost as if you are in Amsterdam.

Today was a lot of walking around! Started with a cool double decker bus ride over to Covent Gardens to go to the Transporation museum. Riding on the top deck of the bus is super cool. The transport museum had a very interesting history of various forms of transit including trams, the tube and buses. After a thorough exploration it was over to Covent Garden which is a large covered market type space with lots of restaurants and cafes. Eventually chose one for a steak and had a decent lunch, then a good walk towards the center of town. Visited Selfridge, the fancy department store and the the less fancy Marks and Spencer. Also stopped in at Savile Row, famous for fancy tailoring but also the final rooftop concert given by the Beatles. Then a bus up to Baker St. for the Sherlock Holmes museum. There was a line and reviews were lukewarm so decide to pass on that. I was very lucky not to be traveling on the Eurostar today as a bomb was found on the tracks near Gare du Nord and resulted in all the trains bound for Paris being canceled. Creating chaos at the station. Hopefully tomorrow morning when I go, it won’t be so bad. 

Started today by heading for Buckingham Palace to try to catch some of the changing of the guard. Did see a group of horses go by, but that was about it. Then it was a quick train to Vauxhall station for a longer train out to visit college friend Kathleen in Shepperton. After slightly over an hour on the train followed by a mile and half walk through a lovely little town, met up with Kathleen and saw her little cottage that is over a lock and on a pedestrian only island. Very charming with a great atrium and views of the water and many boats. She has her own small boat tied up in front of her house. We had a nice lunch and then a major walk around the area. Following that, she dropped me back at the train station and then it was a good hour plus back to Waterloo station followed by a Change of trains. The Tube is very crowded at rush hour but I only needed to go a few stops. All in all a full day and Kathleen is working on some interesting monetary/central bank projects. GF pizza for dinner.

Managed a decent nights sleep but of course the jet lag thing kicks in a little just when you don’t want it to. Hotel had an extensive buffet with gluten free stuff, so went with the easy solution. Then it was off to Marble Arch for the hop on hop off bus thing. Usually this is a great way to orient to a new town, but with London traffic it was more of a frustration and the narration was pretty sub par. So, it did include a river boat ride and that was fun. Down the Thames to London tower, walked across the Tower Bridge and then lunch at Borough market. Off course after I got some Thai curry I spotted a few places that would have been much better. Oh well. Back on the tube to Kensington Palace and gardens and then back to hotel for a little down time before heading to an Italian Restaurant for dinner. Lovely weather, crisp but not terribly cold.

Off on another adventure with an afternoon flight out of SFO for LHR. This was a very inexpensive freeby using Chase points, 14k, transferred to Virgin Atlantic. I juggled my seat assignment at the last minute so no one would be next to me, resulting a a row of 3 seats. That allowed me to lie down and mostly sleep for the whole trip. As long flights go this was an easy one, and although there is a very long walk to immigration at Heathrow, it is now all done by machine and very fast. Before you arrive you have to get an Eletronic Travel Authorization, so they already know you are coming. Direct train in from the Airport to Bond St. station, walking distance to the Hyatt I’m staying at, also free on Chase points. After showering and regrouping I took the tube over to the London Bridge and Borough market, walked around a bit, stopped in at Evensong at St. Paul’s cathedral and then headed back again by tube to the neighborhood that I am staying in. Found a wine bar with some small plates for dinner, and now just trying to stay up until at least 9:00pm to minimize future jet lag. It is interesting how different in character London is from Paris. Many more modern buildings integrated among older buildings. Also interesting to hear people speaking, assume it is a foreign language and the realize that they are actually speaking English! Transit well sorted with no need to get any kind of pass, just use the Apple Watch and scan Apple Pay on and off! Very practical! Also they have a daily cap, so once you reach about 8.90 you don’t pay more that day. Both of my phones have French SIM cards now and after a few minutes of hooking up and reboot seem to be functioning well.

Got going early and took the bus to the Orsay in time to get in with the members only at 9:00am before the general public. After renewing my expired card went to the visiting Caillebot exhibit and then up to the 5th floor for the impressionists. After that, headed to the Rodin for a quick walk around the gardens and then to try Bisto Paul Bert. That was a bit of a disappointment but that’s how it goes sometimes. Beautiful day with temps up around 75degrees. Prepping for departure tomorrow.

Had a meet up with some other Francophiles for coffee then off to the Musee Conqac Jay. A small museum in the Marais in a beautiful old house. From there a lunch on Rue de Rozier and then off to the Musee Andre Jacquamart. Unfortunately they were not dealing well with walk ins and that plan got abandoned after a substantial wait. Note to visitors of France, just because hours are listed as 10:00am to 6:00pm, don’t be surprised if they are closed for many hours at lunch. Such was the case with this museum and no indication that this would be the case. Common problem throughout France and worse in the country side. A quick visit to the Grand Palais, before and apero and then dinner with John R. And Atsu at their apartment on Ile St. Louis.

Ran in to David Turnley this morning, he is a very well known photographer who happened to attend University of Michigan, Residential college as I did. His twin brother Peter, also a famous Photogapher also attended. We had a nice visit, then it was of to the Butte Aux Cailles in the 13th followed by Pho at Pho Bom. A pleasant dinner with Christian C at his house with oysters and and a number of interesting cheeses.

Very nice weather today in Paris, off the the Bastille Sunday market this morning and the to the Marche d’Aligre. A stop at Le Baron Rouge for some oysters and then Metro to St. Germaine for lunch at Atlas. Visit to the Cluny museum. Very interesting and a nice size. A couple appetizers at the Avant Comptoir de la Terre for dinner and that was the day!