Local and charming toy shop: A VOS SOUHAITS

This little shop carries lots of wooden and charming toys...some arts and crafts stuff, and just a lot of very cute things for kids. We love to go there, even though if we all go it usually turns into a nightmare, because the shop is small and packed with exciting stuff, and it's hard to control everybody, especially a 2 year old going crazy with the BRIO trains... I like to go alone or with one kid, hunting for a special birth present or birthday present.

MOBY DICK for mussels Belgian style

A restaurant again, more conventionnal, but very friendly and easy, again just around the corner from us...and it's also our favorite place to have mussels, a Belgian specialty...we like them simply "marinière" (with white wine) and try to stay away from the creamier versions they seem to favor...too much cream for us! They also serve lobster and fish in general if you don't like mussels.

Have lunch or take away at OLIVE

This fabulous little place opened a little over a year ago and it's my favorite place to have lunch in the neighbourhood..

Just two minutes away and the food is simple and delicious...you help yourself to a buffet of fresh salads and pasta and vegetables and then they weigh your plate (it usually costs around 10/12 euros for a full plate) ....You can take away or eat there, but our kids love to go, it's a treat for them! And for me!!

A day in Brugges

We love Brugges and I wish we would go more often every time we go...we usually end up going to the beach in DE HAAN ( 15 km away) for half the day, so I'm always frustrated that we're not spending more time in Brugges! We've done the horse carriages ride (a pretty long wait though, in the sun, in the center of the Grand Place in Brugges...go early, at least you won't be standing in the blazing sun...that is of course, if the weather is nice!), and have yet to go for a canal cruise...Maxime is usually just happy to watch the boats go by from one of the little terraces on the canal while sipping some apple juice...

We are not too keen on the waffles they sell there ( very sweet and sticky), but we love to munch on the "dentelles de Brugges" very thin waffle cookies like the ones in "Juliette's cookies". It's a little treat after our picnic on the lawn of the church as you come out of the ZILVERPLATZ (there's a car park where we usually park our car, some quieter restaurants and great shops, and even a few structures for the kids to climb on) You exit the little shopping area through the little passage with the glass ceiling in the first photograph.

great little cheese and vegetable shop

This is where we like to buy our cheese and sometimes some veggies... a little expensive, but I'm usually happy with what I buy from there. Be sure to taste some "HERVE doux" with some lettuce and a bit of "Sirop de Liege"...it's Belgian, sweet and sour, and what a wonderful cheese ! Even better with a flûte aux noix de chez Pain Quotidien!

This place is 5 min away from our place, at 803 down Chaussée d'Alsemberg.

The Ceramic Art café

This is a cute little place where I like to go with the kids to paint on a cup or a plate and have a drink...then they cook the ceramic and you can pick it up the following week...the owner is very lively and welcoming and her place has a homely, cosy feel to it...she does freshsly squeezed fruit juices and a chocolate cake that is very hard to resist! I also go sometimes with a girlfriend for an evening out..

http://www.opt.be/informations/evenements_ixelles__c_ramic_art_cafe/fr/E/47826.html

Cool playground at Wolvendael

This playground is not too far from our house, you can walk there (10 min) although we tend to drive there because it's a bit of a hike, and the kids are usually a little tired on the way back. When it's nice we take a picnic or have lunch at the terrace in the park on the week ends: it's a lovely Louis XV pavillion in the woods, I love this place! My art is also in the park, it's a beautiful setting!

Le Pain Quotidien

Le pain quotidien is a bakery and a café where we get our bread (it's big loaf of brown or white bread, you can purchase the whole loaf, half or a quarter) We usually get a quarter, and have it sliced. There are lots of different kinds, we get the brown organic one " Un quart de seigle tranché". On the week end we get a "brioche", some croissants, and a baguette (bio, ie organic).

It's also a great place to have a light lunch (sandwiches called "tartines" or salads) and sometimes we get it to take away. It's easy with kids, my kids like it a lot because they can eat with their hands... it's a bit like the Belgian version of fast food!! There is always a big common table, and lots of smaller tables for two or four. People might strike up a conversation at the big table, it's very informal.

There are several Pain Quotidien all over Brussels, one is close to our house. You can check out their website at http://www.painquotidien.com/

Oh my! I just found out there's a pain quotidien in Los Angeles!

Natural history museum on a rainy day...

Well if you love dinosaures, this is the place to go on a rainy day...the dinosaure gallery has just been renovated, it's beautiful. I thought it was really good for younger kids like ours, simple and fun yet interesting. They have an "excavation area" where you can play at being a paleontologist, but I think you might have to book in advance. It was closed when we went, but I know some people who didn't book and had access to it when they visited the museum.

Here's the link to their webiste: http://www.sciencesnaturelles.be/

La Cambre on Sunday

One of the things we love to do on sunday (saturday and sunday in the summer) is to walk around or cycle and roller blade around La Cambre, the woods in the middle of the city. They are closed to traffic on the wk end, we load our car with our bikes and park nearby, it's great fun!!
Afterwards we always stop to picnic or have on the ice cream by the lake!







Voici un petit aperçu d'un week end ensoleillé à BXL ..le bois de la Cambre, en pleine ville, est fermé à la circulation et nous allons faire du vélo et du roller blade en famille...Maxime à un nouveau petit vélo sans pédale, et Thomas commence à faire du vélo sans petites roues, comme un grand! Camille est une pro, elle essaie de lacher son guidons, toujours aussi acrobatique!! Après l'effort, le réconfort..nous faisons un petit picnic ou mangeons une glace au bord de l'étang!