I'm at Terminal 1 of Charles De Gaulle, waiting to board my flight to Stockholm. Nicolas is at Terminal 2, waiting to board his flight to Manila via Hong Kong.
My attempts at fitness in France were pretty pathetic. Well, I managed to work out everyday last week, except on Wednesday. But then, this week, from Monday onwards, I didn't do squat. Literally and figuratively. Oh, Nicolas and I went for a short run/walk around Bois de Boulogne yesterday, dodging the attendees of the French Open along the way, but that was pretty much it.
(Nicolas' mom's place is walking distance from Roland Garros, Parc des Princes, and a few other stadiums. Every time there's an event going on, there are coppers everywhere, streets are closed and traffic rerouted.)
I don't think I'll get much exercise during the week that I'm in Stockholm either. Unless lifting beer bottles from the table to the lips is considered exercise.
I weighed myself this morning and I'm the heaviest I've been in a long time. But I'm not stressing about it. It's easy not to care when my body is hidden under layers of clothing. I'm sure it will be different once I get back to Manila. I'll deal with it then.
In the meantime, I'm indulging. We were in Brussels the other day where I discovered, of all things, chocolate chip muffins. They were so good, I had two. Oh, and the macaroons at Pierre Marcolini are divine!
Yesterday, a friend introduced me to what Nicolas says is one of the best cheeses in the world, the Brillat-Savarin, named after a French politician who was also a gourmand and wrote the book, "The Physiology of Taste". Nicolas bought a lot of other cheeses for us to try, which wouldn't have been so bad had we not just come from lunch, and had I not had two kinds of apple pie, a chocolate mousse and everybody else's leftover desserts. Gaah!
Oh, I did manage to try four of the five Magnum Kisses. Several times. (The best is still Kiss #2: Meringue et Fruits Rouges.) I never did find that fifth Kiss. Hopefully, it will be available in Stockholm.
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Brussels travel advice: If traveling by train from Paris to Brussels or vice versa (travel time is 1:20), book your train tickets in advance through the Thalys website. Discounts are often available for advanced bookings and it is best to reserve seats (a free service), especially if traveling with someone and would like to be seated together. There is free WIFI for certain tickets (although the connection is rather slow) and there are electric outlets by your seat.
When dining at Cafe Belga, choose the sandwiches over the salads. They're cheaper and offer larger portions. My friend, Vera, got an avocado and shrimp sandwich, while I got an avocado and shrimp salad. She got a half tub full of avocado and shrimp and another half tub of greens. I got one slightly bigger tub that was mostly greens. She got a whole baguette; I got a bread roll. She paid €4; I paid €7.
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Update: 8 June 2013
I found the Magnum Kisses in Stockholm but only #s 1, 3 and 4 were available, so I didn't have any. I am now wondering if they ever released #5. I haven't seen it anywhere.