At the intersection of Fashion and Macarons: Mardi, Janvier, 15

We got up at 5a.m. to get ready to leave for Antwerp at 6:30. After eating our doughnuts we left from school and took the RER over to the train station. We had a mix up while handing out the tickets, Xavier had handed us the tickets for the return trip, but we got that taken care of right away. Our train left at 7:30 and it would be a 2 hour trip. Part way into our trip Xavier looked over our knitting, he gave me some suggestions for my hat. After some time the conductor announced over the speakers that because of the weather (mild flurries) we were running a 1/2 hour late. About an hour and a half into the trip there was another announcement made, this time because of technical difficulties we had to transfer trains in Brussels. After all of the delays, we made it to Antwerp, Belgium at 10a.m. Karin, our guide for the Mme. Gres Exhibit, met us at the train station and then we had a small breakfast. For breakfast I had coffee and a chocolate croissant. The whole group then walked about 20 minutes through the snow and slush to get to the museum. On the way to the museum Karin showed us the best places to get Belgian waffles, fries, and chocolate. She also told us that there are 2 different types of Belgian waffles, one is puffy and the other one has sugar in the middle. We finally got to the museum and the Mme. Gres exhibit was amazing!!! We were allowed to take pictures of the garments. After seeing all of the exhibit, we walked another 10 minutes to a restaurant that was basically a hole in the wall. The restaurant only had one room into which all 29 of us squeezed. Even as we walked in I could smell our lunch cooking. The first course was a broccoli soup, it reminded me of a similar soup that my mom makes. Our second course was a bowl of noodles with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. Both courses were delicious! After lunch we had free time until 5, which gave us about 3 hours. We stopped by the chocolate shop (I bought some to bring home), several boutiques and stopped by one of the waffle restaurants. Kate and I shared a dessert, Kate also bought a Belgian waffle. We went into Comma, Princess, I Am and Desigual on the way back to the train station. We got back to the train station in time for me to buy one of the waffles with sugar in the middle. I got one one that was covered in chocolate and peanuts. It was the best waffle I’ve ever had in my life!!! We left Antwerp at 6:30 and there was another weather delay, so we got back to the train station in Paris at 9. We still had to take the RER back to school so we got back to the apartment at about 9:30. It had been a long day so we all were glad to jump into bed that night.