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Paris: Love the Louvre
I have always thought of the Louvre as being a modern building with glass pyramids. I never knew it was actually eight centuries old! It began as a 12th century fortress surrounded by mote, built for protection. Then in 1542, Francois I added to it and made it into a castle. Eventually, matching wings were Read more
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Paris – Notre Dame
Notre Dame, translated Our Lady, is one of the first gothic cathedrals in the world. It revolutionized architecture because for the first time, a building that large could be built without the arches they had used before, making buildings very thick on the bottom and not very tall. The secret was using ribbed vaults that Read more
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Paris: The Eiffel Tower
A wonderful train ride through the Belgian and French countryside, followed by Metro train ride and walk across Paris, brought us La Villa Paris, a small bed and breakfast in District 13, on the south side of inner city Paris. Our room wasn’t yet ready for check in, so we struggled through the language barrier Read more
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Belgium: The Beauty of Bruges
We walked the streets of Bruges, Belgium today. Like Amsterdam, it is a city of canals and bridges. Its beauty really needs no words. Bruges is medieval grandeur and quaint cottages at the same time. It was built by the Vikings in the 9th century as a harbor on the River Zwin. By the 12th Read more
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Belgium: Chocolate in Bruges
Belgium is known for its chocolate, but this decadent treat couldn’t be made without importing the main ingredient from countries around the equator, such as Mexico or Guatemala: Theobroma cacao (Food of gods). It is said that money doesn’t grow on trees, but cacao beans grow on trees, and in these countries, cacao beans were Read more
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Brussels: City of Cathedrals…And…
God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Not artificial light, but beautiful, natural light. Even on a cloudy, dreary day, God’s light shines through and makes pieces of glass look like incredible works of art. Creating them takes the God-given ability of an artist to tell pictures through stories, but without God’s Read more
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Quote of the day
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
– St. Augustine
World of Options Travel club 
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