Beautiful Brussels, Strasbourg and Paris

Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.

The word ran through my head on repeat, like a shimmering earworm, throughout much of our recent trip to France and Belgium.

Paris? Beautiful.

Strasbourg? Beautiful.

Brussels? Beautiful.

One of the aspects of travel that I love most is that it forces you to pay attention. There is no autopilot, no movement from A to B which does not involve noticing your surroundings. What a joy to get to walk through a European city, morning, afternoon and night, feasting my eyes on the elegant and energetic scenes unfolding around me.

We decided to return to Europe again this year for our winter trip. We stayed in Kuwait for Christmas, which gave Wil a chance to cover the holiday for co-workers and for us to celebrate from the comfort of our own home. We flew to Paris on the 27th, taking advantage of cheaper flights than we’ll likely ever see from the US, and spent the next eight days walking in cities and taking efficient trains between them.  

We timed it right to visit the bustling Christmas markets in Brussels, to stand in a dark square and hear the bells of Strasbourg’s 12^th century cathedral chime out at midnight at the start of the new year, and to wander the rain-streaked streets of Paris in several early January downfalls.

Everywhere, there was beauty. In Paris, we succeeded in visiting the ethereal Sainte-Chapelle and marvelled at the stained glass constructed for the pleasure of kings and to house the relics of Christ. In Brussels, we stood multiple times in the aptly named La Grand-Place square, as a 15-minute light show washed over the gothic facades of the 17^th century buildings. In Strasbourg, we walked, and walked, and walked the cobblestones some more, lingering along the canals in the medieval Petite France quarter, squinting our eyes just enough to pretend that we’d travelled back in time to when the half-timbered homes had first been built.

Even rain couldn’t dampen the beauty. If anything, at times it amplified it, the streets and sidewalks reflecting the lines and lights of the city above to create a duplicate view. I soaked it all in, soggy jeans and all, reveling in the chance to slip away from the confined routine of daily life and step out into the sparkling world.

It was a welcome respite. There’s much to grieve in today’s world, too much news of humans failing to care for their neighbors, too much anger and strife and destruction. It can feel crass to take pleasure in travel. At some levels, it is. We cannot, and should not, hide from the news.

But—I’d like to think there’s still room to bask in the loveliness of what humans have built, celebrating the creative forces which constructed Notre Dame and who are rebuilding it now, to appreciate the ease of movement between national borders that makes it possible to dine on croissants in Paris in the morning and snack on waffles in Brussels by afternoon, and, perhaps most importantly, to savor the small special moments of man-made beauty that cities can serve up. A bright blue beveled door, a neon riot of a Ferris wheel, a storefront window framing fiery red boxes of pristine chocolates. Humans are capable of acts of marvelous creation. I’m grateful, again and again, to witness, then carry, that beauty back within me as a treasure to remember on the days when beauty feels hard to find.

Scroll on to see a sampling of a few memories of Paris, Brussels and Strasbourg.

Paris Sainte-Chapelle (Lower level)

Paris Sainte-Chapelle (Upper level)

Notre Dame resplendent at night

Paris Musee De Cluny, a museum of medieval art

Paris, out and about

Beautiful Brussels

Brussels, light show at La Grand-Place

Brussels Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula 

Brussels, out and about

Strasbourg, Petite France

Strasbourg Cathedral and its 16th-century astronomical clock

Strasbourg, out and about