France and Belgium trip wrap-up

Now that we have been home for over a month I wanted to mention our favorite parts of the trip.  There are several places I can highly recommend for a visit:

#1 – Bruges, Belgium.  This little city is jam packed with history and beauty.  I would definitely return in the future.  If you go to Belgium to see one city, this would be it.

#2 – Bastogne, Belgium.  The WWII history is amazing, particularly visiting the Easy Company Bois Jacques Foxholes from the Battle of the Bulge.

#3 – Dunkirk, France.  If you love WWII history and the movie of the same name, this is an excellent visit.  Make sure you get a guided tour, and count on spending more time in the museum than you expect.

#4 – Chablis, France.  If you love wine and small producers set in an area around a quiet little village, this is your spot.

For the foodies, the best meals we had were as follows:

#1 – Park Restaurant, Bruges Belgium – This restaurant was exceptional, from the food to the service.  Their wine list and stemware are top notch!

#2 – Kin Khao, Ghent Belgium – This Thai spot has a tasting menu that is out of this world good!  If this place were near us we would be here a couple times a month!  They will adjust flavors based on how spicy you like things, but even those dishes that weren’t spicy were flavorful.  This restaurant is #1 on Trip Advisor for a reason!

#3 – La Lune, Beaune France – This small restaurant cooks the meals right in front of you, so you are salivating before the food even arrives!  I had the best scallops in years here…perfectly seared!  Everything was excellent!

#4 – Villa in the Sky, Brussels Belgium – This restaurant has 1 Michelin Star and sits at the top of an office building, with views to die for.  We arrived early and were lucky enough to get the best table they have.  The food was excellent, but the view was even better.  The first shot shows the restaurant balcony lit up from below.

This was the view from our table.

#5 – Every meal we had at Ne5t Hotel, Namur Belgium – This luxury hotel serves dinner in their restaurant, by the pool, or in your room.  We had four meals here and they were all Michelin quality.  The owner/chef has no formal training, he’s just really good at what he does!  This hotel was also a perfect spot to make day trips to Bastogne and Dinant.

As for our horrific flight home, we boarded our plane at Charles de Gaulle airport and were all set for a 0915 departure.  They closed the doors and started the pre-flight safety video.  The video stopped halfway though and the Captain advised us that a part that was supposed to be replaced hours earlier hadn’t been taken care of.  For the next 4+ hours the Captain gave us one story after another about finding and replacing this part.

At hour 5 the Captain advised us that the crew was going to run out of workable hours due to federal regulations regarding overtime.  The solution to this was for our flight to now fly to Chicago, where they would do a crew change, and then get us on our way.  However, because of the weight of the fuel onboard was too much to land in Chicago, they needed to remove some cargo they had loaded previously.  We did not take off from CDG until 1530, over 6 hours late!  They finally served “breakfast” at 1615!  Kim does not do well without food!  Thankfully I had some packets of nuts in my backpack.

The “quick stop” in Chicago turned out to be 2+ hours as the new Captain discovered we didn’t have enough food on board.  We finally arrived in San Francisco at 2230, a full 11 hours late.

United offered us $200 each in flight credit due to the incident.  However, if a flight originates or ends in the EU and encounters a delay of over 4 hours, then the airline owes you 600 euros each, a far cry from $200.  I filed a complaint with United, and while it took a month, they finally responded and ensured us we would get the 1200 euros.  However, United also offered an alternative, $1000 credit each, which we accepted.  Bottom line, don’t take the first offer they throw at you.  Research your rights and push back!

Next up, we will be heading to Ireland and Scotland in 2 weeks to celebrate a friends 50th birthday.  We are very excited, as Ireland has been at the top of our Bucket List since we retired.  Our travel map will be posted soon.  Thanks for reading!