An English Girl in Brussels

Mention the word Brussels to anyone and I'm sure the same images come to mind: chocolate, mussels, beer and Tintin.

Last year, after making it my new year's resolution to visit as many European cities as possible; I took a weekend trip to Brussels with my best friend Leona. I have to admit that before I went there I had little if any knowledge about Belgium's capital city, other than they spoke French and had a few beer factories nearby.  I left the city still only knowing that they spoke French and a had a beer factories nearby, but also completely full up on tasty mussels,chips and chocolate...it may have been a stereotypical perception, but it still was a great one.

Now living in Paris, and only a few hours away, Leona and I decided it was time to re-visit, this time  alongwith the boyfriend and my best guy mate Ian.

I could lie and pretend that this was a cuturally inspired trip, but in reality I still am as clueless to the cities cutural history as I was before my first visit. Really for me, this was just an excuse to eat as much sea food and chocolate as possible, oh and sneek in a few cheeky beers whilst I was there.

A great location for anyone looking for a tasty sea food lunch/snack/champagne stop should try Mer du Nord, a lovely little outdoor fish cafe/restaurant/which serves fresh fish served right in front of you - from old classics like scampi, calamari to scallops served with mushroom sauce - and all of it was between 4 and 6 euros! Even in the cold and rain, this was still a highlight of the trip.

Calamari and champagne, perfect lunch time treat

My favourite destination of the night however, had to be Delirium Cafe, a bar that's famous for having the biggest beer selection in the world....with stats like that who needs cultural history?! There was everything from Mongozo fruit beers (my personal faves) to Springfield's very own Duff. Between the four of us we tried a good selection of their finest bevvies.

The drinks menu - the size of a small encyclopedia

One tiny bit of 'culture' that I stumbled upon was the Manneken Pis (literally little man pee in Dutch). A famous statue located in the heart of Brussels.





...and even comes in Chocolate

Mer Du Nord
Rue Sainte-Catherine 1
1000 Bruxelles, Belgique



Delerium Café
Impasse de la Fidélité, 4A
1000 Bruxelles

Au Petit Grec..a petit piece of food heaven

Ask any ex pat to list their favourite places to eat in Paris and they'll definately mention Au Petit Grec.When I first arrived in Paris I heard it name dropped dozens of times and it is on all of my friends iteneray lists for their visitors. After months of hearing "oh my god you HAVE to go there", I eventually went down there with some work friends to see what all the fuss was about.

Au Petit Grec is a little place in the latin quater on Rue Mouffetard, which serves the most amazing gallettes (savoury crepes) and crepes in Paris. No matter what time of day it is, you will always see a queue there and believe me it is worth the wait.

You can create your own or choose from a variety of their own menu suggestions. Made from scratch with fresh ingredients which vary from fresh salad and veg cheese, tuna, ham, bacon, egg, to the sweeter nutella, cream and sugar, the portions are HUGE and it usually takes a while to savour all of it, if you can manage it.

As I always go for nutella normally, so my first order I opted for a vegetarian savoury gallette. It was yummy, delcious, scrumptious..and any other synonym you can think of to describe something that tasted really good. Normally I am sceptical when it comes to hype, but in this case, it was true. To top it all off, it is really cheap there too! Prices vary from 3 to 6 euros, depending on how many ingredients you have.




Blissfully happy with my crepe!


A few days later, I took my boyfriend, a self confessed food lover, to try one.I can definately see why Au Petit Grec is on the top of everybody's list of places to take people; the look of satisfaction peoples faces after they take their first bite feels almost as good as tasting your own!  You feel smug in knowing that you've discovered this quaint little place and know that whoever you take is going to spread the word too...

The look of happiness and excitement that
 only a first time goe-er to the Petit Grec will experience



Yummy goodness!


Needless to say my boyfriend loved the experience, so much that he almost bought another one straight away. I was relieved he didn't as I would have ended up doing the same!




Au Petit Grec
66, Rue Mouffetard, 75005 Paris  
Metro: Place Monge, Ligne 7

Two more English girls in Paris

Having been away from home for almost three months now, there are some certain home comforts that I miss; Marks and Spencer, fish and chips, sky plus and London Underground (trust me, once you've become a Metro regular you'll understand!) to name a few.

Above all else I miss my girlfriends. Yes sadly it would seem I have become the type of 'Sex and the City' stereotype that most men and feminists roll their eyes at; I long for the days of girly chats over dinner and cocktails after work on Friday. I miss girly conversation from analytical conversations about minor events, relationships to bitching about work.

Last week Sophie and Leo; two of my best girlfriends from London came over for a visit. I always love when friends from back home come for a visit, not just because I have missed them, but for me it is like seeing Paris for the first time again. Seeing how much they enjoy the beauty and vibrance of Paris gives me back the initial excitement that I had when I first got here, which is something I seriously take for granted.

Luckily for me, both of them had been to Paris before and weren't too fussed with the touristy sight seeing, so as soon as they arrived (with Marks and Spencers goodies!!!), I wasted no time in getting the girly chats underway and took them to a Bistro round the corner from my appartment for some much needed food, wine and catch up time!


Girl time: taking time out from relaxing to pose for a photo


Once we were satisfied with the level of gossip, chocolate and wine consumption, the rest of the weekend included shopping at the lovely bio market on my street and a stroll in one of my favourite places; The Marais. The Marais is the Jewish/Gay quarter of Paris where museums, vintage shops, luxury boutiques, old fashioned cafés and trendy gay bars all come together. A bit like Soho...but slightly more up market!

On the Sunday we took a stroll through Montmartre and discovered an AMAZING food market called Le Fete de Vendages. It had everything a Londoner dreams of finding at a French food market; seafood, cheese, jams, snails, meats, olives, plenty of wine and just to tip it off  French accordian music playing in the background. We went for the mussels, rosé and champagne...all 




Sophie with our scrummy plate of garlic mussels



French accordian and general merryment from the fete.

 

Leo and Sophie enjoying a glass of rosé champagne...
our third glass that morning!


All in all, it was a picture post card Paris and a fantastic way to finish what had been an amazing girly weekend. It may have been clichéd but I loved it.

Montmartre, je t'aime

Ever since I first saw Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amélie Poulain back in A level French class, I always dreamed of living in Montmartre; spinning around on the beautiful carousel at the bottom of the Sacre Coeur, shopping at quaint village markets on a Sunday, running around flirtatiously and generally living a pretty, nostalgic French existence, whilst Yann Tiersen music played in the background.

Luckily for me, that dream has become a reality. Well almost....I live in the 17th arrondisement, which is the one next door to Montmartre....and the Yann Tieresen music doesn't actually play in the background  - although I have been known to put it on my ipod whilst I walk through the streets of Paris to get to work.

That aside, I live only ten minutes from the Moulin Rouge (not quite a romantic Ewan McGregor-esque setting at 5 am on a Saturday morning!). and the infamous Cafe de 2 Moulins and the iconic Sacre Coeur, has become an every day fixture on my way to work. This is the beautiful view I am greeted with every morning when I step out the front door:

The Sacre Coeur;  view from my street.

It makes the routine journey to work just that little bit more enjoyable!

An English Girl in Paris: Better late than never! Welcome to my blog!

OK, confession time. I have been meaning to start this blog from the moment I arrived in Paris. Two months ago. Two and a half months to be exact. But something always seemed to get in the way; whether it was work, fonctionnaire strikes or just copious amounts of wine drinking! But now, after months of procrascination I have finally got round to writing.

So to elaborate a bit further; as it says in the 'About Me' section, my name is Hazel or 'aaazzell' as they say over here in Paris.

This is actually second time as an 'English girl in France'. My first was a glorious Erasmus year in Bordeaux in 2007, most of which was spent once again drinking copious amounts of tasty red wine and eating far too many steaks and pastries. Two stone heavier, I returned to England to complete the last year of my degree, become a vegetarian and fall in love.

A year after graduating with a French and Journalism degree, and several soul destroying internships, part time jobs and unsucessful job interviews later, in July I was offered a job as a marketing assistant at Sarenza, a French online shoe company who were looking for an English girl with a flair for fashion to help them appeal to the UK market. I jumped at the chance just to be able to get into close proximity of some of the shoes that they sell, which, I found out upon arriving is over 250 different brands. Nice. Within two weeks later I was here in Paris the City of Love (sans boyfriend who was back in London) and the rest is history - well two months if we're being honest but history none the less!

I luckily managed to find a great appartment in a great part of Paris, which I share with my fabulous flatmate Chloe, an aspiring fashion designer. I really love my job and I'm really settling in to the Parisian way of life, give or take a few annoyances! I've even managed to start freelance writing again, which is something I love to do. Oh and the relationship is still wonderful, in fact it has got even stronger since we've been apart (absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that!)

I guess this blog is more of a diary for myself and anyone else interested in my travels, along the way I hope to be able to provide useful tips, hints and guides whether it be in music, food, entertainment, culture, fashion and of course shoes - they have become my speciality now!


Thanks for reading!