A day in Flanders

Today was amazing!!! Marianne, Pépé(a friend---I don't know if that's spelled right), Julia, Touchtou, Pewt(I have no idea how to spell his name. It rhymes with cute. Touchtou and Pewt are the two dogs allowed inside all the time. Touchtou is a whippet and Pewt is a shih-tzu) and myself drove about an hour to Bruges today. The dogs slept on our laps. Bruges is beautiful. We walked through the town, looking at lace shops, the brick houses, swans in the green canals, the bell fry, and crazy chic clothes in shop windows. We stopped at an old hospital to look at the museum. Marianne had to stay outside with the dogs, and we went in with Pépé. There were ivory carvings, reliquaries, intricate woodwork, and so much more, but my favorite were several portraits by MEMLING and a triptych by BOSCH!!!  The paintings weren't even labeled, I guess because they are so famous! I was so excited! I got to look really closely at them, and try to see the tiny tiny tiny brushstrokes that they used to create so much detail! I couldn't, really.  It was truly incredible. We also went to an outdoor café for something to drink. I had orange fanta, which is basically carbonated orange juice.
   Then we drove to the sea! I can't remember, spell, or even say the name of the town, but we walked along the touristy sidewalk and then along the actual beach. It was super windy and sunny, so now I think I have a little sunburn or windburn or both. Either way, I am already tanner than when I left Alaska! We stopped and ate lunch there. I had croquettes à crevettes, shrimp croquettes.  We also had a side order of frites (french fries, except the Belgian kind don't have salt) It was delicious, of course. The dogs weren't allowed on the actual beach, so we drove a ways out of town to walk along the beach with them. It was so windy that poor little Pewt had so much sand in her eyes that she had to be carried. The rest of us had to squint and lean into the wind. There were a lot of people with kites and windsurfing. We played fetch with Touchtou and threw the stick with the wind so it went twice as far.
       We had a wonderful time and we learned some more French along the way. Marianne and Pépé are very patient. A wonderful day.