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Brussels Day Trip: Chocolate Tasting & Bargain Shopping
Brussels Day Trip: Chocolate Tasting & Bargain Shopping
Dear Peter,
Call me crazy, but I decided to take a day trip from Paris to Brussels.
Every devoted chocoholic knows Belgian chocolate is the best in the world, and I
was dreaming of pralines, truffles, guianduja, and oh yeah, more factory
outlets!
My hotel concierge said the trip would be “impossible, Madame” but I disagreed
and was up at 6 a.m. for the challenge.
I took an early high-speed Thalys train from
Paris’ Gare to Nord to Brussels, connected to a quick SNCB train to Genk station
in Belgium, and grabbed a taxi for the 15-minute ride to Maasmechelen Outlet Village.
From door to door, the commute was about two and a half hours. Piece of cake.
Offering the crème de la crème of Belgian labels and international premium
brands, Maasmechelen Village is one of the best outlet centers I’ve found
anywhere. Like its sister Chic Shopping villages throughout Europe and the UK,
Maasmechelen focuses on both experience and price. The boutiques are staffed by
helpful fashionistas and the goods are marked down 40 percent to 60 percent,
with further discounts during sale periods.
There is designer clothing by Versace, Olivier Strelli,
Escada, Hugo Boss, Chine, Hackett, and Marithé + François Girbaud; casual
clothing and sportswear by Nike, Pepe Jeans, Puma, and Miss Sixty; underwear by
Marlies Dekkers and Björn Borg and trendy jewelry and accessories by
Dyrberg/Kern and Furla … more than 95 boutiques in all.
Belgian brands include Bellerose, Essentiel, Rhetorique with a stop for those
yummy Leonidas chocolates. Fortified, I headed straight to Nitya, a breezy
French clothing label, where I loaded up on mix-n-match separates from the €19
rack. Each of these travel-friendly stunners would retail for €69 and up.
Loaded down with shopping bags, I hired a taxi to take me back to Brussels. It
was early afternoon and I had important shopping to do in town! My driver
dropped me at the Magritte Museum (I’d
heard the gift shop was fabulous) where I bought Rene Magritte print notebooks
and gifts. Best of all, just a couple of blocks down the hill is chocolate
heaven.
BORN TO CHOC
While most tourists flock to the shops around Grand Place selling boxed
chocolates, locals and in-the-know travelers head to Brussels’ chocolate mecca—Place
du Grand Sablon (Grote
Zavel in Dutch) just up the hill
from the Grand Place.
Dating back to the 14th century, this small cobblestone square is lined with
cafes, bars, restaurants and boutiques—most notably, it houses the best
selection of chocolate shops in Brussels. There’s also a flea market on Saturday
(9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sunday (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.).
Belgians take chocolate making very seriously, just like beer-making—but that’s
another shopping spree for another time.
The chocolates in Belgium are made with 100 percent cocoa
butter, without any vegetable oil or animal fat. Yeah, it’s rich and high in
calories but the ingredients and process make Belgian chocolate arguably the
best in the world and sophisticated palates can easily distinguish Belgian
chocolate from the competition.
I tasted and bought from most of the chocolateries; after all, it’s my job to
give you the full report! From least to most expensive were Leonidas, Cote d’Or, Wittamer,
Neuhaus, Godiva and Pierre Marcolini.
I bought Suzy a box of her favorite Neuhaus “Astrid” bonbons, some decadent
fruit-filled dark chocolates from Pierre Marcolini (their specialty), and
cooking chocolate at Cote d’Or. New to the Belgian chocolate scene is Zaabar, which is winning rave reviews with contemporary
flavors such as lavender and red pepper.
If an afternoon of progressive chocolate shopping isn’t enough, the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate offers exhibits, demonstrations and
samples. I passed on the museum visit to head back to the train station for my
return to Paris. I had a great picnic for the ride—four courses of chocolate,
paired with a nice Bordeaux!
With gooey chocolate hugs,
Sarah
By Sarah Lahey for PeterGreenberg.com. Join Sarah and her shopping BFF, Suzy
Gershman, on a shopping spree with the Born to Shop Japan tour, November 4-10,
2010, with an optional three-day add-on to Hong Kong. Visit www.SuzyGershman.com for
more information.
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