last week i had the honor to host a delightful bloggertour around brussels for ELISABETH CHOCOLATIER. you guys might remember i hosted another workshop for them earlier this year – which was such a blast, i had been looking forward to the sequel ever since we made plans for it. the wonderful joyce from JUST LIKE SUSHI, carrie from WISHWISHWISH, céline from MILUCCIA and oliva from WHAT OLIVIA DID joined us for two days filled with fun and sweets.

our tour started at the beautiful HAPPY GUESTHOUSE, where we had some time for tea, coffee and chocolates. we then explored the four different elisabeth shops around the grand place in the center of brussels. i’ve mentioned this before, but i just can’t get over how stylish and modern these shops look compared to the other stores in the neighborhood. there’s none of that tourist-trap vibe, just great design and amazing sweets made by local artisans. every shop has its specialty, so if you’re ever around the area, make sure you visit all four to get a good idea of what elisabeth is all about.

afterwards, we had a fun chat with the lovely owner of THE GAME design store, a glass of pink champagne in the pop-up boutique of DE GREEF, which used elisabeth sweets in their fall campaign. then it was time to head over to LES FILLES. we had lunch at one of their cozy communal tables, and later headed upstairs for dessert. we were challenged to create our own creative versions of three desserts using elisabeth products and we didn’t leave the premises until we were positively stuffed.

after lunch we made the trek out to the gorgeous HELLO JAMES shop, where te owners gave us a little tour of their basement workshop and sent us home with some beautiful handmade leather accessories. a quick touch-up of our make-up was added to the program when we passed by COSMETICARY, where jean used the bobbi brown magic on us. we left all ready for our dinner plans at COMPTOIR DES GALERIES – the beautiful restaurant of the hotel des galeries (more on that later!)

the next day we headed uptown to spend some time in my favorite neighborhood around the place brugmann, and i finally got to have lunch at ICI – i’ve only been waiting for that moment ever since it opened. it was such a fun experience meeting these amazing bloggers from france, the netherlands and the uk and showing them around some true gems in brussels. it reminded me i don’t spend nearly enough time in the capital of belgium, and i need to change that, stat. hopefully this little tour will have inspired you to do the same (and definitely say hi to the great team of elisabeth for me!)

photos by stephanie duval