{"id":22819,"date":"2016-01-13T14:07:09","date_gmt":"2016-01-13T13:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=22819"},"modified":"2017-10-24T15:24:17","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T13:24:17","slug":"travelling-in-french-le-nouvel-an-en-belgique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/travelling-in-french-le-nouvel-an-en-belgique\/","title":{"rendered":"Travelling in French – Le Nouvel An en Belgique !"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over New Year\u2019s I visited Belgium with some friends. Along the way we used nearly every moyen de transport<\/strong> (transportation method) \u00e0 part un avion<\/a> et un bateau<\/strong> (besides a boat and a plane).<\/p>\n

The trip started early and when the day was over we had used un train, un m\u00e9tro, un autocar, et une voiture<\/a><\/strong> (a train, a subway, an intercity bus, and a car). It was a long day filled with lots of sitting and figuring out how to buy the right billets<\/strong> (tickets), and, more importantly, figuring out how to find nos si\u00e8ges<\/strong> (our seats).<\/p>\n

The day started with le premier train \u00e0 Paris <\/strong>(the earliest train to Paris). After getting nos billets<\/strong>, we had to remember to les composter <\/strong>(validate them). Whenever you use la SNCF<\/strong> (the French national train company, la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 nationale des chemins de fer fran\u00e7ais<\/em>), you have to have your ticket stamped by le composteur<\/strong> before you board le train<\/strong>. This assures that you\u2019re not reusing un ancien billet<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Once in Paris, we had to figure out how to get from la gare ferroviaire<\/strong> (the train station) to la gare routi\u00e8re<\/strong> (the bus station), and that meant navigating le m\u00e9tro <\/strong>(with some fun around Paris of course). After we found nos si\u00e8ges<\/strong> it was just a matter of waiting plus de six heures<\/strong> (more than six hours) while l\u2019autocar<\/strong> made its way from Paris to Bruxelles<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fatigu\u00e9s apr\u00e8s une journ\u00e9e sur la route<\/strong> (tired after a day on the road), there was still one last m\u00e9tro<\/strong> to navigate before we were at our temporary home.<\/p>\n

Once we were settled into un appartement \u00e0 Bruxelles<\/strong> (an appartment in Brussels) we had access to une voiture<\/strong> and used it to travel to la ville de Bruges<\/strong> in Northern Belgium. C\u2019est-\u00e0-dire<\/strong> (in other words) more time sur la route<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

During our stay, we had plenty of time to profiter des frites et de la bi\u00e8re belges<\/strong> (enjoy Belgian fries and beer). Bruxelles<\/strong> is also known as le capital d’Europe<\/strong> (the capital of Europe) and spent time visiting many of the famous sites for l’Union europ\u00e9enne<\/strong> all over the city.<\/p>\n

Apr\u00e8s le nouvel an et quelques jours \u00e0 Bruxelles<\/strong> (after New Year’s and a few days in Brussels), it was time to come back to France. We had seen many statues and monuments, including le Manneken-Pis<\/strong> (the peeing boy statue), but were tired and ready to go home.<\/p>\n

We piled into la voiture<\/strong> and got ready for the long trip. Along the way one of the big differences between the two countries was how les autoroutes<\/strong> (highways) are free en Belgique<\/strong>, but not in France! We had to go through many p\u00e9ages<\/strong> (toll booths) while making our way home.<\/p>\n

I made a short video of le voyage<\/strong>! Regardez-la<\/strong> (watch it) to get a taste of our trip to Belgium!<\/p>\n