Vielsalm, Belgium

We had a random long weekend and decided to drive up to Belgium. We have visited Belgium once before, but it was quite awhile ago. On our previous trip we stayed in Bruges which would be great to visit again, but we did not want to drive quite as far on this trip. 

Originally we were looking at visiting Liege, Belgium. Have you heard of liege waffles? Yup... same liege. After searching the map on Airbnb, though, I found this converted military bunker and thought it would be a neat place to stay. 

And now Suzie has visited six different countries!

We're not sure what the metal piece on the top means, but we joked that the place is owned by the Illuminati. 

The location of the Airbnb was so idyllic! We were surrounded by fields. It was exactly the peaceful and quiet location I was looking for. 

This general area of Belgium is significant in WWII history, specifically because of the Battle of the Bulge. There are museums dedicated to this history in the area, but we did not visit any. On our hike, though, I felt like I was in scenes from Band of Brothers. 

Adjacent to the town center was a lovely promenade around the lake. It was the perfect spot for an evening stroll!

Vielsalm is also known for its folklore, especially their witch history. The town has a museum and annual festival dedicated to it. We did not visit the museum since I could not tell from the website if the displays were in English, but we found this broom on our stroll. 

Vielsalm ended up being surprising. I was expecting a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere, but the town had quite a lot going for it! You could tell that it is a popular place for hikers and the town had a variety of restaurants. It was perfect for a weekend getaway!

Airbnb in Provence

Visiting Provence during lavender season has been on my wish list after seeing the amazing pictures of the area. When researching where to stay in the region, it was hard to choose! The area is pretty expansive with a lot of cute small towns, but as soon as I saw the listing for this Airbnb I was sold. 

The pod is located on a farm in Rians, France. There did not seem to be much to the town (but to be honest we did not explore it that much). But immediately upon arrival to the farm, the air was scented with lavender. It was just what I imagined and hoped for! 

We visited a little late in the season for lavender. Most blogs and travel websites say to visit a couple weeks earlier. So I was preparing myself to see zero lavender blooms. I was beyond happy to see our Airbnb location still had several rows that had not been harvested. Our host (who was very welcoming) encouraged us to walk around. Our first evening we walked amongst the flowers and the buzzing bees to snap some pictures. 

This is the view of the lavender from the patio of the pod. We sat here every night enjoying the peaceful location. Can I just move here?

Rose is popular in Provence. Normally I am not a huge fan of rose, but when in Rome (eh...Provence)! The town had a small grocery store where we purchased wine, cheese, bread and some other snacks. We had laid back dinners at the Airbnb and did not stress about finding a restaurant. Can I just say that we'll miss European grocery stores when we move back to the States? Wine is sooooo much cheaper in Europe. 

Our Airbnb host also delivered breakfast in the morning so we feasted on croissants, jam, coffee, juice and seasonal fruit while enjoying the lavender scented morning.