Category: France/Belgium, Summer 2022

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!

Chablis, while having it’s own distinct style and flavor profiles, is still a part of the wine region of “Burgundy”. The further northern latitude produces wines with more acidity and lower fruit flavors than Chardonnay grown in southern Burgundy. Chablis also typically uses a lot less oak than their southern counterparts.

For my non-wine friends, Burgundy is known for two grape varietals, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (aka Red Burgundy and White Burgundy). Chablis ONLY makes Chardonnay.

Our first stop after we checked in was a snack and of course, some Chablis.

We walked about 50 yards for a tasting at one of the most famous wineries in Chablis, William-Fevre. The rocks below are descriptive of the type of soil in the region.

Excellent tasting of about 7 wines, ending with the Grand Cru, which was very good. The 2019 was even better that the 2018, but it was so acidic I didn’t think it would be ready to drink for a decade! Who’s got that kind of time?

The next day I had three tastings lined up, but Kim wasn’t feeling very well, so I did these solo. All three of these wineries sell their wine via Garagiste, a Seattle area importer I use to buy the bulk of my white wines. First up was Domaine Charly Nicolle.

The winery owners wife Lucie took time out of her busy day to pour me a bunch of their wine. She was busy boxing up shipments when I arrived, so I tried not to linger too long. The wines were all excellent, and I look forward to seeing them come up on Garagiste soon. Unfortunately I didn’t get shots of any of the people I was tasting with in Chablis.

This shot shows the vineyards nearby.

I drove up into the vineyards on the opposing hillside to get a better photo.

The vineyards on the top of the hills are much rockier than at the lower levels.

Tasting #2 was Eleonore Moreau. Eleonore is one of the few female winemakers in Chablis, but that’s changing. Her father is the farmer, and would rather be out in the vineyard all day, and that’s just fine by her. She ages her Chablis in stainless steel tanks for much longer than most other producers to achieve an elevated flavor profile. Excellent wines that I’ve yet to see on Garagiste, but will be watching out for them. The 1er Cru in particular was outstanding, with lovely acidity and minerality.

My last tasting was with Guillaume Vrignaud, winemaker for Domaine Vrignaud. Stock photo since I was so lame with my camera.

This was my favorite tasting in Chablis, as Guillaume is a passionate advocate for the region, and was able to answer all of my wine geeky questions. They have a super cool tasting room in their cellar, which was a nice break from the heat of the summer day.

He also opened a ton of his wine, including a 2015 that he wanted me to try to see how well Chablis can age. I ended up bringing one of those home to open with friends.

I buy a lot of Domaine Vrignaud from Garagiste, but after tasting several of his wines I’ll definitely be ordering more than I usually do. Thanks so much Guillaume!

On the way back into the little town of Chablis, I stopped and took some photos of the Grand Cru vineyards.

The Grand Cru “Les Clos” vineyard in the foreground, the town of Chablis in the background.

Before we departed the next morning I brought Kim up to the top of the Grand Cru lookout.

I definitely found Chablis to be a worthwhile trip, just don’t expect it to have the amenities that can be found in southern Burgundy. Regardless, it’s a great spot and you won’t see many tourists, and I love that aspect of it. Just need to brush up on what little French I know, as the locals barely speak English.

This marked the end of our trip, minus our horrible plane flight home…21 hours on a flight that was supposed to last 10….it was too horrid to relive right now. I’ll likely mention it in a trip wrap up.. Thanks for reading!