Team Cujo: If this is Wednesday, it must be Belgium

We had planned to get an early start but we must have been a little tired from all the walking the day before. When I rolled over and looked at my watch it was already 9:30. I don't think I've slept in that late for years!

We packed our bags and then walked down to the local Starbucks to get our morning fix before heading out. A short walk and we were back on the RER Train headed back to Charles de Gaulle airport to pick up our rental car. There are plenty of car rental places right in Paris but trust me, you don't want to drive in downtown Paris! Sometimes it's scary enough just walking across the road!

We eventually got to the airport and had a little wait to get our car. It turned out that we got a significant upgrade for no extra charge. We are going to be dropping the car in Switzerland at the end of the trip and it turned out that they had a nice car that needed to go back there....it even had the 2015 Swiss Highway Pass on it so we won't have to buy one when we cross the Swiss border....score!

After going in a few circles trying to get out of the airport we were finally on the road. One stop to stretch our legs and grab a bite to eat on the way, and a mere 3 hours later we arrived in Ghent, Belgium. Jo had wanted to visit this town as her mom grew up here. We decided to stay in the old part of the city. The hotel is amazing, and we are right beside a castle!
This is Castle Gravensteen which is right outside our front door

The first thing we did after checking in was to go for a walk around the old town. There are canals and very old buildings everywhere.

This is a VERY old beer hall

Many of the buildings are from the 1700s, some of them much older.

But every once in a while a little bit of modern sneaks in

Massive churches everywhere you look

And more canals

Here is an old hospital from 1363

And you find little memorials like this in every town

A few shots of the hotel we are staying in.....it was originally built as a mansion in the 1600s. It was later a school and it's been all updated as a very nice place to stay, yet it retains the old charm. It is named after the castle next door