Travel Tips by Steve Jobs -- Part One

Several years ago, we took a few trips with Lee's brother and his wife. I assumed my self-appointed role as walking tour coordinator so I always had a guided tour folded up in my pocket that I would read from as we explored various locations. I got these walking tours from printed vacation guidebooks, usually Rick Steves. My brother in law could never remember the name "Rick Steves" so he would often take a stab at the name, often arriving at "Steve Jobs" instead. So, now we just refer to Rick Steves as Steve Jobs. Hopefully neither one of them is offended by the name swap.

I thought that it might be useful to present my recent trip to France, Belgium and Luxembourg as a series of travel tips, just in case you ever want to go there, too. So here you go...

Travel Tips by ~~Rick~~ Steves Jobs

Chapter One: All Things Pertaining to Eating and Staying Hydrated

"Best apple tart in Paris 2017" made for a lovely "dinner"

Be prepared for eating things you didn't think you ordered: You may think you have gestured and pointed to the menu item and maybe even used the correct pronunciation of the menu item you wanted. But alas, you might still end up with the chicken liver salad you really didn't want to eat. Or roasted figs. Or really expensive bottled water. Don't be discouraged. It's all part of the adventure. But, then you can learn a lesson and be more careful to avoid the same mistake next time!

I don't care how carefully prepared it was, I still have psychological scars from liver in my childhood and there's no way I can eat it without initiating the gag reflex.
Tips are optional: In Europe, it isn't expected for you to tip your server in a restaurant. If you receive exceptional service and want to leave something for them, you could round up on your bill or leave your change as a tip.
If you like water, be prepared to go broke or go thirsty: We always ordered "a caraffe of water" in Paris because we're pretty much camels when we eat out. However, we were caught off guard by our first experience in Luxembourg when we thought we were drinking tap water and discovered that we had been charged 9 euros for two bottles of really expensive water. We thought we must have just miscommunicated about what we wanted (which is still a very real possibility), but were told at the next Luxembourg meal that tap water wasn't an option because it was too much work for the employees. It turns out that Belgium shares the same policy about tap water. So, we drank out of our own bottles of water (that we'd fill up before we left our hotel each morning) before a meal to pre-hydrate and then we'd fill up again after the meal. Sometimes we'd order a soda (because it was cheaper than bottled water) to hold us over during the meal, but they were little "shot glass" sized bottles so they were almost as bad as having nothing at all. Plus they charged nearly $4 each for them!

You can tell we're back in Paris for this meal because there is a caraffe of water...FINALLY
Maybe you want to share a plate: after 4 days of fine dining in Paris, we started to feel sick to our stomachs. The food was great, but it was more than we were used to eating. If you hate wasting food, you could order one meal and share it. We did this at a couple of restaurants and it was just the right amount. We never felt like the server was annoyed with us. It's not like their tip went down if we ordered less. (see #2 above)

We loved our cordon bleu schnitzel with salad and frites. Sharing it was the perfect serving size.
Grocery stores make fantastic cultural adventures and excellent alternative restaurants: Once we realized our bellies couldn't keep up with the richness of the meals we were eating, we ended up only eating out once a day. For the other two meals, we dined out of grocery stores. This meant we enjoyed picnics of tasty meats, cheeses, breads, and produce from the local supermarket. These picnics were consumed on train platforms, on trains, in parks, in a laundromat, in our hotel room, on our hotel balcony, or while waiting in line for a museum. The grocery stores there have surprisingly good pastries and breads, machines that distribute freshly squeezed orange juice, and an endless assortment of delicious cheeses and yogurts to choose from.

Lee was in love with the freshly squeezed orange juice available everywhere

BOTH sides of this refrigerated section are filled with every variety of yogurt you could ever imagine. And it was cheaper than in the US.

A picnic breakfast on a bridge over the Seine, with Notre Dame behind us

I call this work of art "quiche on my hotel bed"

This one is called "Salad on a train"

Nothing says ghetto quite like a picnic in a laundromat

Grocery store picnic lunch in the Palais Royale Gardens

Prix fixe is your friend: If your heart isn't set on something in particular from the menu, the fixed price menu (usually listed on a chalk board near the entrance of the restaurant) will never disappoint. We had delicious meals and unexpected culinary experiences (see #1 above) from the prix fixe menu. And it was usually cheaper than just ordering the entree alone.

Beef Bourguignon for Lee and a giant slab of meat with unknown pureed vegetable and roasted figs for me (I'm intentionally not selling it with my verbal description so you can appreciate that even though it wasn't what I normally would have ordered, it was delicious)

Lime cheesecake with raspberry sauce

Chicken with creamy mushroom sauce (and $10 in bottled water) -- our first meal in Luxembourg

Eat your main meal at lunchtime: (See #4, 5, 6 & 8) Because the meal will be so filling and dinner is usually not served until late, you might find it best to eat your big meal at lunchtime. Also cheaper.
Or be prepared to eat a late dinner: Though restaurants in bars tended to be open all day, most restaurants were closed between lunch and dinner. This meant that if you had your heart set on dinner, you might not be able to even get in until 7pm. That is much later than I like to eat, so be forewarned if you feel the same way. There's not a whole lot of time for digesting before sleeping if you don't finish eating until 9:30pm.

Our first dinner in Paris -- dinner at 8pm

One of our favorite dining experiences in Paris. Delicious food, free water, delightful service. All at 8pm.
Guide book dining recommendations are not always your best option: Though guidebooks have led us to some lovely "locals only" places (i.e. Au Bougnat in Paris), more often than not, they lead us to a trendy place with a huge line of tourists. One time I even went in to order something very specific that was recommended by the guidebook and was told it wasn't even a menu item. So, remember that places that get lots of tourist traffic might evolve into something different over time. Thanks to Google, choosing a restaurant isn't as uncertain as it used to be. We'd stand on a street with google maps reviews in hand, and narrow down our options to something that was generally quite nice.

Trying out the "best baguette in Paris 2018" and a raspberry macaron (those things are insanely expensive for how unexciting they are)

Giant vat of soup, shared in a park bench in Ghent, Belgium. This never would have been recommended in a guidebook but was one of our tastiest finds and best deals we stumbled across.

We waited in a super long line for "the best crepes in Paris," according to a guidebook. They were just ok. I could have gotten them anywhere for the same price and have been just as satisfied.
And finally, if you happen to be walking through town and there is a giant tent hosting a FREE cheese tasting event, you should definitely go inside: You should do this even if it smells like body odor, and even if that last sample you taste makes you throw up a little in your mouth. It's cultural. You should also eat a Liege sugar waffle even if your husband says they are too sweet and the line is too long.