Brussels Day 1

We went with the Belgian Journeys company and our guide was owner Marie. She is a fabulous guide and had appointing she is very willing to share. Neuhaus? Not in her chocolate tour. #1 she doesn't like it; #2 they use palm oil in their chocolate.
Pralines in Belgium are all chocolate - not mixed with almonds
Started in Chocopolis -- looks tacky/touristy but is local and they are the only company to ship anywhere in the world
There we got to taste a dark chocolate ganache (dairy free in Belgian) with chili -- nice and smooth and then, POW!
The. We walked over to the next stop and saw some history along the way.
Picture of the "Royal" area, palace, library, etc.
Museum of Music -- art nouveau
Brick building closeup is of an art nouveau building (ransom, just a neat building)
Confiseer - buys chocolate that is already made, melt it down and create from there
Chocolatier - buys cocoa beans and creates their own chocolate
At the second shop, Frederic Blondeel, Marie had us stop and smell. It was a fabulous: all fresh chocolate.
Marie told us she likes to start with single origin, then have an old favorite and then end with something experimental (flowers, etc.)
So we got a 73% chocolate from Papua New Guinea and then we got to choose between bay leaves/basil/peppercorn, black pepper, and citronella and THEN a choice between a milk praline hazelnut, a raspberry caramel, passion fruit caramel, and sea salt caramel) and THEN a ganache with Christmas spices and run
We went to the next stop, Pierre Marcolini, which was very busy but our guide took us up to the second (third) floor which had a thick carpet but it was fake grass which was interesting to sit on.
Marcolini was a pastry chef until he developed a gluten intolerance and then turned to chocolate
First chocolate was 75% chocolate from Madagascar. He makes tea with chocolate but also makes chocolate with tea -- we tried the Earl Grey Tea. Not Dad's favorite
And third we tried a chocolate that had a paste inside with cardamom. Interesting. That's all I've got for that one. Interesting.
On the way to the last chocolatier, we passed the medieval wall of Brussels. It is in Flemish territory but it is different.
Then we passed the Mannekin Piss, the official symbol of Brussels. The first one was put in in the 14th Century. Then it was replaced in the 17th Century when it was stolen. The last time it was stolen was the 1970s and it washouts in the river with its legs cut off.
We stopped in Grand Place which has existed as a square since the 12th century. It was mostly razed by Louis XIV's troops in the 1500s (except for the tower.
We went through the Royal Galleries (picture of the open air arch). Very Fancy Shops (Shoppes?)
Our last sweet shop was Meert which originally opened in 1761 (but only opened at this location in the last 5 years). We got to choose two and I got the Yuzu (lime from Japan) and the sea salt the Marie recommended.
The first beer stop was a puppet theatre. There are low fermentation beers (quick to make, most of the well-known beers e.g. Corona, Heineken, Budweiser). High fermentation is for the more complex beers (ales). Spontaneous fermentation (lambic beers from Brussels). We tried a cherry lambic, not sweet.
11 Trappist beers in the world, 6 in Belgium (only one in the States).
Duvel - like beer and champagne had a baby
The fries in Belgium are deep-fried in beef fat
We tried a stout which was good
Double and Triple beers -- beer used to be 3%, 6%, and 9% alcohol (so three, two times three, and three times three).
We had a round with Manchego and bread and then some salami and Serrano.
Apparently fresh hops and fresh weed smell very, very similar since they are in the same family.
The last beer was an IPA on the sweet side, not as citrus-y.
Then it was on to the oldest bar in town with traces into the 17th Century. I got a "girly" beer (another Kriek) while the "male" beer was the Trappistes Rochefort 8. Mortsubite.