Raphaël Arrive à Bruxelles (III)

Raphaël and I are always scheming. If we're together or not. So when I found out we were going to be in Brussels, I contacted Raphi and asked him to meet us there. It's not terribly far from Paris either by train or car. Of course, he agreed; but we had to make it fun. So we kept it a secret from the hub and my niece Jacq (the cuz) and worked on a way to surprise them. Raphi booked a room at the same B&B we were staying in, the room next to us, in fact; and he was to arrive Friday afternoon after a meeting in Paris.

Since I didn't know exactly where we'd be when he arrived, Raphi and I text each other and stayed in contact that afternoon. This was the same day the hub and kid went sightseeing and the cuz and I slept in. We decided to meet up with the boys at the Hotel Metropole's cafe, which is well known and easy to locate. A perfect place for Raphi to meet us.

We decided that he would walk by us and I would notice him and say to the hub "Doesn't that look like Raphaël?" It worked perfectly. HAHAHAHHA. Raphi walked by and eyed me. And I say "That looked just like Raphaël!" The hub looks and says "And it even walks like him!" At which time Raphi turns around and looks at us, and we all go "OMG, RAPHI!!!" lol We played for a moment like he was just as surprised to see us. We finally told them we had planned this meeting for months.

We can never do things like normal people. We love Raphi!

Later that night, we went to one of Bob's favorite little cafes near the Grand Place and had a feast! Bloody Americans order everything on the menu, no? Yes.

We ordered the mix grill with meat,

and a Paella.

And the kid ordered Moules Frits.

A feast fit for a king! Ooooooof.

With wine of course, for Raphi and the hub.

We finished it ALL and walked it off afterwards heading to the Grand Place where we had more drinks. (Raphi, the hub and I were a tad tipsy by then.) Here Raphi is teasing the Cuz, "And what is your name, little girl?" We were cracking up! (Excuse the photoshopped sunglasses!) You can still see daylight and it must have been after 11 p.m.!

Here, he was admiring her new camera. We finally wobbled home and got some sleep so we could hit the streets again in the morning. Raphi had never been to Brussels.

The next morning we started out towards the Metro. The hub had bought me some flowers for the room before we arrived from this little shoppe.

So pretty and sweet.

And speaking of sweet, more chocolate!

We then jumped on the metro and took it to where the open market was. (Again borrowed sunglasses on the kid.)

Don't smile Raphi!

Brussels is so pretty, as is all of Europe. The parks are gorgeous.

I love the avenues and the architecture. This last building reminds me of a smaller version of the Old Executive Office Building in DC. Makes me homesick.

An angel always calls to me.

And there's just something so quaint about cable cars.

Another beautiful bronze sculpture.

But this one has to be my favorite, "Heh-ep, I can't get up!"

More Brussels to come . . .