Bonne Année de Paris et de Bruxelles!

After a whirlwind trip to Europe (Paris & Brussels), the Messimer family is finally home (cat and all). Leaving the day after Christmas is hectic enough, not to add the stresses of only knowing “merci,” “bonjour,” and “je veux manger un panini,” in the language. (I will say I have more than doubled this knowledge since my first arrival).

1. Day one someone thought I was French. Why? I was wearing a hat. “I told you guys! French people do wear hats!!!” How precious, twelve-year-old American boy.
2. Gare du Nord is (excuse my French) a hell hole. Pardon the pun, but I can’t think of any worse way to spend four hours than in below freezing temperatures at a train station with people eyeing my bags. I’ve never been more miserable or wanting to get on a train after a nine-hour flight with little sleep. Thankfully, this made the rest of our trip seem peachy (no TCU pun intended here).
3. French and Belgian croissants are awesome. I’ve had many croissants in my twenty years, and these top the list. I had more of these in my seven days than I have had prior to the trip and I’m not ashamed. 
4. Cobblestone pathways aren’t only old looking, but make you feel old. My knees are still aching from this old-world charm.
5. I have another reason to question why people smoke. How on earth can you keep your hands out of gloves when it is this cold?!
6. Museums are even more fun when you can’t read the language. There is something so beautiful about having to recreate the stories for yourself. Van Gogh’s self-portrait in person is enough to make an art lover like myself get lost in the mass of people around me.
7. Any place where I can eat waffles at 4 pm is my kind of place.
8. Churches are always on the top of the Messimer “must see” list and this trip was no exception. It was a wonder to pull back reference to The Hunchback of Notre Dame and visit such a striking house of worship. Can we bring back stained glass to the year 2015?
9. Bruges is such a quaint little town with little nooks and crannies of history. It’s hard not to look around and smile, pretending you are back a few hundred years, spinning around in a fancy dress, and reading a good book.
10. I don’t like non-free water. Je ne aime pas du tout.
11. I don’t speak Flemish, in case you were wondering. Did we know the people of Bruges spoke Flemish? No. Do they like you speaking French? No. Thankfully, they loooooove English. Score!
12. Macarons are yummy, especially when they come from France. You should make a trip to France just to eat them (or to your neighborhood Central Market).
13. I brought in 2015 the way I like it, reading a good book, French football in the background, in my pajamas, eating (you guessed it) macarons. Crazy party, right?
14. Pancakes in Paris have syrup inside them. INSIDE them.
15. TCU made me even more proud to be a Horned Frog on New Year’s Eve. It was a Peach Bowl win to remember, especially from my Paris lobby while eating a cheeseburger. Just a week until spring semester, let’s make it a great one!