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Day 4

 Jessica today!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Our day started off bright and early at 6:30am. Thankfully, we had packed the night before, so we quickly got dressed and were out the door by 7am for our journey to the Alsace region of France. We walked to our car and said goodbye to Bruges for now...we'll be back in a little over a week. Our drive took us through morning rush our outside of Brussels. Luke didn't seem to mind as it meant extra snacks and extra Cocomelon sing-a-long show for him. 

After 2.5 hours or so, we arrived at our first stop, Dinant (still in Belgium). This was another location that Adam and I visited on our Europe trip in 2010. When we noticed it was right on our route we decided it would make a good spot to stretch our legs and break up the journey.  I don't think we were prepared for how cold it was (0°C or 32°F, literally freezing!). We hopped out of the car, bundled up, and took a short walk to the citadel. Adam snapped a few pictures, but that was all we could handle, so we headed back to the car for the next leg of our journey. 

After another hour or so of driving we made it to Orval (right on the Belgium border with France). Orval is home to an Abbey and is known for producing extremely tasty beer and cheese. It was a perfect lunch stop. We made our way into a restaurant and had our QR codes scanned. To both Adam and my surprise, it worked! I ordered a classic croque monsieur, Adam got a beef stew (and Orval beer, of course), and Luke had chicken nuggets and french fries. We all chowed down and enjoyed our much needed break from the car.

Once we were done with lunch, it was time for the third and final leg of the journey (the four hour leg...). It was nap time for Luke so we kept our fingers crossed that he would sleep through a good chunk. Adam and I kept busy listening to a podcast about serial killers (very interesting) and Luke was snoozing away, until we had to stop for gas. Unfortunately, our cards weren't working so I had to go in to pay. The non-moving car during this stop was enough to wake him up. Oh well, only 2.5 more hours to go....

Our journey continued through some small towns with very windy roads, high elevations, and foggy skies. It was a little frightening. Adam navigated us safely to town and we were checked into our next B&B in the town of Colmar, France before 5pm. We settled in and relaxed for an hour or so before heading down for dinner. Unfortunately, the restaurants didn't open until 7pm. So we went back to our B&B because it was only slightly above freezing outside. We walked back down again and when we arrived at the restaurant (at 7:01), there was a sign on the door that said full capacity! We tried another spot and it was the same story. Thankfully there was a grocery store nearby so we grabbed a frozen pizza and some snacks to hold us over.

When we arrived at the B&B, the oven refused to turn on. Luke was losing it at this point so we threw some of his favorite snacks on a plate and fed him dinner while I tried to translate the oven manual. No luck. We resorted to using the microwave. Not my finest cooking moment. Once Luke was asleep and the pizza was "cooked," Adam and I ate it from the comfort of the kitchen floor. We're in a studio apartment, so we needed to keep the lights off and sound down for Luke. 

Somehow Adam had the energy to go out and take some pictures. At least the Christmas Markets are open tomorrow! We are very excited :)












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