In Bruges

A few years ago we watched a movie that had been getting good word of mouth.  It's called In Bruges and stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.  They play hit men who are told by their boss (played by Ralph Fiennes) to hide out in Bruges and wait for his instructions. 

Brendan Gleeson's character, Ken, is enchanted by Bruges and it's storybook setting, old buildings, canals and swans.  Ray (Colin Farrell) is bored and not interested in soaking up the local scenery but Ken insists that he go with him.  Of course there is more to the story but I don't want to give anything away. 

I mentioned it because the movie was filmed on location in Bruges and is somewhat of a travelogue.  When we were planning our trip to Europe, one of the reasons I wanted to go to Bruges was because of this movie.  However, this is a violent crime drama so it's not for everyone.  I do recommend it though. 

Bon appetit!

My favorite dinner in Paris was at the restaurant called Mon Vieil Ami (my old friend) which we found by accident.  We had been shopping at a fancy bath store called Durance - http://www.durance.fr/.  It was time to eat so we asked the clerk if she knew of a good place for dinner nearby.  She told us about Mon Vieil Ami and after some searching we found it.  It is a beautiful restaurant and the food was tres magnifique! 

I had a delicious pork dish but unfortunately I didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture of our meals.  We started doing that later on during this trip.  The dessert I had was wonderful too.  We sat next to some friendly people on holiday from South Africa.  We talked about the upcoming World Cup. 

Here is the website for Mon Vieil Ami - http://www.mon-vieil-ami.com/uk. I highly recommend it!  To paraphrase Father Intintola from The Sopranos, "This meal is beyond reproach!  Word up!"

Beautiful Duet

Since we got a satellite dish I've been able to watch The Andy Griffith Show again.  This wonderful family classic is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.  I thought I'd share this clip of a lovely duet called Down in the Valley sung by Andy and Miss Peggy (actress Joanna Moore)  -



The episode is called Andy and Opie - Bachelors.  Peggy is helping out while Aunt Bee is out of town.  By the way, Joanna Moore was Tatum O'Neal's mother.  Joanna passed away from lung cancer in 1997.

Beefeater Bear

I bought a small, adorable teddy bear at the Tower of London gift shop.  It came with this poem -

My active service is complete,
Yet still a role to play
Serving Queen and country
At the Tower where I stay.

I join the Guards with keys in hand
Each night at "witching hour"
I keep the ravens black as space,
Guardians of the Tower.
Yes I am a Yeoman Warder
And bearly can contain
The pride with which I serve
my Queen
And England once again.

I am a serving Yeoman Warder
Or Beefeater it is true
I'm honoured by the post I hold
And proud to inform you
Of history within the Tower
Of London and the fate
Of kings and queens and rebels
Who passed through Traitors' Gate.

My uniform is quite unique,
Upon my coat a crown.
A buckled belt and hatted head
Tradition handed down.

Tower of London

 

The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart

Here is my review:

I really enjoyed this charming and touching story set in the Tower of London. We were visiting there recently and took the guided tour. Our Beefeater guide was wonderfully entertaining and informative. I hadn't known that the Beefeaters and their families are required to live in the Tower.


Balthazar Jones and wife Hebe are stilling reeling from the unexpected death of their young son Milo. Balthazar is charged with opening and maintaining a new menagerie at the Tower with animals given to the Queen. Hebe works in the London Underground's Department of Lost Things and goes to great lengths to return lost items to their rightful owners. I was reminded of how fun it was to take the Tube (mind the gap!) around London.


One of my favorite lines was spoken to Hebe, "You haven't lost Milo completely, you know. I lost my sister when we were both very young.  We always carry a part of those we love tucked inside of us." 


I hope they make a movie based on this book. I would love to see these characters brought to life on the screen. There is even a wonderful Hollywood ending that is really heartwarming.  I look forward to the next book from Julia Stuart.

All Good Things Will Be Added Unto You

I happened to catch part of an episode of The Cosby Show recently.  It was the one where Claire sings a beautiful song with a choir at the Hillman graduation ceremony.  I just love the song so here it is -

Belgian chocolate

Bruges is known for its chocolates and we went to a few stores to sample some.  The first shop we went to offered hot chocolate served in a unique way.  They brought us a cup of warm milk with the chocolate of our choice on a spoon.  We swirled the spoons into the milk until the chocolate melted - yummy!

We also went to the Chocolate Line since our hotel owner said it was the best in town.  The owner, Dominique Persoone, is well known and has a book called Cacao, the Chocolate Route.  You can see the chocolates being made in the store and the delicious scents are intoxicating!

Here I am outside the store  -

The Chocolate Line in Bruges

They have some very unique flavors of chocolate there such as black olive and no, we didn't try that one! I love the lavender chocolates.  They even have chocolate lipstick.  Check out their website -

http://www.thechocolateline.be/

I heard that Dominique worked on the movie Alice in Wonderland and they had some related chocolate items on display in the window.  The store was crowded with tourists  and I'm sure it's listed in many guidebooks as a must-see.