One week in Europe

While Mum was visiting - we took a quick trip to Brussels and Paris, leaving London on the Eurostar on Thurs evening - spending the long weekend with William in Brussels and then taking the Thalys from Brussels to Paris on Monday afternoon, followed by 3 nights in Paris.
Brussels
Over the weekend, there was a large beerfest in the town square, and with really good late summer weather, everyone was out and about during the evening.
We did alot of walking, fueled by beer and those fabulous Belgium chocolates :)







On Saturday we visited the Atomium, a monument built for Expo '58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. The Atomium stands 102 meters tall and is in the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. Not so interesting really.....




We were really lucky with the weather, especially on Sunday, and after running around for 2 days - I was happy to sit in the sun for most of the day :)


Paris
We arrived at Paris Gard du Nord in the middle of a downpour, so took a cab to our hotel near Sacre Coeur.



We had brilliant views from our hotel room of Sacre Coeur and the whole of Paris.





On our first evening, we wondered up the street to a gorgeous little restaurant for vin rouge and fabulous food in the heart of Sacre Coeur surrounded by the famous art market - where I bought an original oil on canvass the day we left.




On Day 2 we took the Metro from Monmartre to Champs Elysees and walked to the Arc de Triompe - where we had lunch.




































We then wondered back down the Champs Elysees towards the Place de la Concorde and through the gardens to the Louvre.





On day 2 to headed via Metro straight to the Eiffel Tower and then on to Notre Dame after a cafe lunch along the Seine :)



On our last evening we had Fromage Fondue and a tiny cafe not far from the hotel and in the morning we ate crepe and spent time at Sacre Coeur again...