Rugby World Cup 2023, October 5th to 8th, England v Samoa. A weekend in Brussles!

 Lille was the venue for the last of England's pool  games, this time verses Samoa.  

Lille does not have an airport with any connections to the UK. Flying from Manchester, we would have had to go to CDG Paris then travel to Lille. So I decided to go to Brussels with Brussels Airlines then get the Eurostar to Lille. Also staying in Brussels was a lot cheaper than the (Rugby induced) inflated prices in Lille. And we had been in Lille in 2007 and for the last England pool match so Brussels would be a change.   

The Brussels Airlines flight was a morning flight out of Manchester, so we had time to have a great breakfast at the San Carlo at the airport. 

The flight was on time and a decent experience. Good seat with OK leg room, nice crew. 

We then got the train from the airport into Brussels, this was 10 Euro, and walked from the station to the Citadines Aparthotel Saint Catherine. 

This was perfect accommodation, a very clean studio, comfortable, well located being central with a lot of coffee shops, bars and restaurants next to it. 

I didn't have high expectations of Brussels, but it turned out to be a great 'city break'.

Firstly we visited the Chocolate museum, and learnt about all things chocolate, and tasted lots of it as well! 

Then the fries and waffles were very tempting:

The Grand Place was very impressive;

Lots of things weeing!;

The beer;

And of course Tin Tin;

We were lucky as there was a Tin Tin immersive experience on at the Tour and Taxi venue. 

This was a real bonus and I had truly forgotten how good Tin Tin was and how much I enjoyed his adventures; I am now blaming him for my wanderlust! This experience was the highlight of my weekend. 

After the full, busy day we just went to a local restaurant close to the accommodation and had a great meal; I had Flanders Stew and great bottle of red wine. 

Next day, we walked to the station and joined many other England supporters on the Eurostar journey to Lille. Where again we went to the very busy and packed out V & B bar, then over to the stadium to watch the game. Watching England rugby is not always fun and this game proved that fact! 

After the game, we got a coach to a metro station, joined a very long que that was moving swiftly and got back to Lille main station in plenty of time to get the last Eurostar back to Brussels. 

In Brussels we managed to find a packed Irish bar to watch the Ireland v Scotland game. 

Next day, our flight times had changed since I booked them and the flight back to Manchester was now a late one. So we had an unexpected extra day. We got the Metro out to mini Europe and the Atomium;

Back in Brussels, the Palace Saint Catherine was very lively with people enjoying Oysters and Champagne for Sunday lunch. We chose Restaurant François and enjoyed the set menu, it was excellent. 

This time we made our way to the airport by bus, the flight was on time and was a good flight home landing into Manchester very late.