Brussels

I would just like to thank Stacy (or Lucille, or Wendy, or Judith or whatever) for providing the best ever customer service I have ever experienced.  After we missed our Eurostar train because we drank too much the night before and didn't leave the house quite promptly enough, she not only a) didn't charge us whatever the going rate was for same day tickets (which was going to be rather more than $300 for the two of us) but b) upgraded us to First Class and c) included meal service!  We waited two hours for the next train, but had big, comfortable seats, across a little table from each other, and were promptly offered Champagne.  And because this is Eurostar (and runs through France) this is real Champagne, not "sparkling wine".  A choice of red or white wine with our meal; I had a Ham Hock Shepherds Pie, and Julianna had the Spinach, Leek and Goat Cheese tart. An incredible experience, which reminded me of the way flying used to be "back in the day" when it was still new and exclusive and stewardesses actually cared about customers, and there were little tables and nice chairs to sit in when you weren't standing at the bar drinking a Sidecar or something.

The only down side was that I hadn't slept for the last few days, and was feeling lousy so couldn't revel in luxury in quite the way I usually do.  [Said illness is one of the reasons that this is only getting written now, and I'm not going to go into any more details, other than that Brussels is a bit of a hazy, sleep-deprived blur. BTW, Belgium without frites, moules, or biere = fail.]

However, I did recover such that Julianna and I were invited to dine at La Clef des Champs, Kris and Mark's personal "place". This is an incredible restaurant, the kind of mythical, small, Michelin-starred Michelin "recommended" place with one waiter, one chef, and someone hanging around maybe helping plate food, maybe washing dishes, maybe doing something else. It was a privilege to be one of the 30-or-so people served that night. Julianna's veal was delicious, my lamb knuckle was succulent and tender... the emphasis was certainly on the food, as the wine list extended to about 12 reds and 8 whites, but the Pouilly Fume was quite nice and paired wonderfully. Tres joli.