Violet Walks

Christie's Travel Blog -- It's time to go

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Thinking about doing the “Camino de Santiago”? Here are the main routes!

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🙌🏽-Salty

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All true

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True

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Tahoe Heavenly Mountain September 2, 2017

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I believe in the good things coming.

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Amsterdam

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Nice

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Time for another adventurous trip….

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The mountain finally came out today! March 16, 2017

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March 1, 2017 Paris, France Flower Shop

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March 1, 2017

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February 26, 2017 Cathedral Notre Dame Paris, France at Night

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February 24, 2017

Frederic Blondeel is easily one of Belgium’s finest chocolatiers. He starts from scratch in that they roast their own cocoa beans. His factory uses a roaster from his grandfather that dates back to the 1950s. His Tea shop and his ice cream and chocolate factory were less than 50 meters from my Brussels hotel so I visited both.

The staff at the factory was very kind, warm and welcoming though the factory staff were limited English. At the factory I tried the champagne truffle. It was simply heavenly.

At the tea shop, after waiting 15 minutes at a table before being noticed, I had the single origin hot chocolate from Madagascar with vanilla from Madagascar. This was labeled two star in chocolate density and like drinking lovely warm chocolate pudding. Mmm.

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February 24, 2017 My first chocolate of the day came from Boulangerie Charli. This is rated as the number 2 bakery in Brussels on TripAdvisor. I can see why. It is a working bakery. I spent an hour here watching the baker. The staff is professional and courteous. As I stated to bus my first coffee cup a team member stopped me and said it was their job to do that and my job to relax and enjoy the smell of the bakery. I sure did. For my pastry I had the Brioche Choc. It was very fresh and tasty. A perfect moment. I also liked the cups they use for in house coffee as they each have a little inspirational saying. I highly recommend you spend some time here watching the bakers. 💙

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February 23, 2017 La Belgique Gourmande I visited two of these shops today.

Like its name suggests, La Belgique Gourmande is a gourmet shoppe dedicated to hedonistic Belgian gourmet specialities, mainly candy and beer. These shops are only about 10 years old. I bought some gumdrop like things but expected them to be more rubbery. I also was given a sample of some almonds covered with a chocolate that was flavored like Tiramisu. It was awesome so I got some more of them. (Samples work!) The staff here is kind and welcoming, not snooty like some of the fancier chocolate shops. I highly recommend it.

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February 23, 2017 Neuhaus Chocolatier 1857 Neuhaus founder, Jean Neuhaus originally owned a busy pharmacy in Brussels. This year is the 160th anniversary of the opening of his chocolate company. And they are celebrating with their history collection which features chocolates famous over the last 160 years. The founder's grandson Jean Neuhaus Jr. is the inventor of the Belgian Praline. I tried the Tentation, one of the 2 star pralines created in 1958 for Expo 58, the Brussels World's Fair. This was the first major World's fair after World War II. It was very fun to see and taste part of 160 years of chocolate history.