Go With Me: The Chocolate Experience
October/November 2020
Price: $1600
Did someone say chocolate? And Belgium? And chocolate? And Paris? And chocolate?
Yep … I’m giving this edition of ‘Go With Me’ a twist. You’ll meet some of my friends and ministry colleagues in Brussels and Paris, participate in a ministry ‘serve’ project, and the bulk of our cultural tour will focus on chocolate!
Is your mouth watering? Read on ….
On the ministry side this ‘Go With Me Experience’ includes:
- An evening with our Iranian friends, Hamed and Laila, who will serve you an authentic Persian meal and share their powerful testimony of escape and redemption. You’ll also learn what they’re doing now to reach out to others who have had to leave their home countries and find a new life.
- Dinner in the Grand Place with one of our ministry colleagues.
- Lunch with church planters in Brussels and learn about the challenges of planting a church in Belgium.
- Attend The Bridge International Church in Paris, where I served as worship pastor.
- Participate in a ministry ‘serve’ event (to be determined).
On the chocolate side, this ‘Go With Me’ includes:
- Visiting ‘Choco Story’, a new chocolate museum in Brussels.
- Participating in a Belgian chocolate workshop.
- Shopping at the Neuhaus Chocolate outlet store which offers unlimited tasting.
Plus, we’ll take a Saturday-Sunday trip to Paris where we will enjoy:
- A Parisian Chocolate Tour which includes:
- A visit to the oldest chocolate shop in Paris that was chocolatier to the Emperor Napoleon and French Kings and has operated at its original location since 1800.
- Hot chocolate at Angelina’s, a famed Parisian tearoom that offers luxurious cups of hot chocolate and French pastries.
- A walk down ‘chocolate lane’ in Saint Germain des Pres, a neighborhood full of chocolate shops
Here are some details about the trip:
Schedule
The heart of this ‘Go With Me’ experience is to mix touring and getting to know Brussels and Paris with learning about our mission and what God is doing in Europe.
Lodging:
To keep costs down and to let you experience Europe the way I do, our lodging accommodations will be modest. I’m still working on the lodging arrangements for our time in Brussels and Paris so stay tuned for more information.
Transportation:
We will travel together in a large car or small van. I’m asking everyone to bring one medium-size suitcase and one carry-on. I encourage you to travel as lightly as possible so that you can take souvenirs and chocolate home! On the trip to Paris, there will only be room for our carry-ons so we will repack before leaving for Paris 🙂
Meals:
When we’re in Belgium, I’ll keep eggs, cereal and yogurt in the fridge and will also go out most mornings for fresh bread, croissants and pastries. That’s the way we do it in Belgium!
For lunch, we’ll either pack sandwiches for the day or eat out. For dinner, we will prepare a meal together or eat out.
While in Belgium, I’ll take you to some of my favorite food spots such as:
* A small Chinese restaurant we’ve been going to for 18 years.
* An Italian ‘Trattoria’ that has wonderful oven-baked pizzas.
* A Greek restaurant that makes great pitas and frites (french fries).
* A place where you can get an authentic Belgian waffle – hot off the press.
* An authentic Belgian restaurant in the heart of Waterloo.
* (And we’ll visit an amazing bakery where you can pick out your own breads and pastries for the day (we affectionately call this place, ‘The Farm’, because it’s located out in the country south of Waterloo and has all the charm of Grandma’s farm.)
While in Paris, we’ll have most of our meals out.
Snacks:
I will provide water, juice, coffee, tea, milk, snacks and fruit. We will make trips to the grocery store every day or two, so there will be ample opportunities for you to purchase anything else you want or need.
Shopping: I’ll make sure you have some time to do some shopping for souvenirs
and gifts. The Grand Place is a great place for that as well as a local grocery store called, ‘Carrefour’.
Clothes:
Belgian weather is full of unknowns. Brussels is known for rain and while it might slow us down, we won’t let it deter us from our daily excursions! So also bring a light raincoat or parka, as well as a portable umbrella.
Costs:
This ‘Go With Me’ Experience is $1600. The price will include lodging, transportation, all snacks and meals, entrance fees to the historic sites and honorariums for a couple of the folks we’ll spend time with.
Note: You will be responsible for your flight to Belgium and spending money for things such as souvenirs, snacks and coffee when we’re on the road.
Important Note:
This tour requires at least three participants to make it feasible. If you are the first to register, please don’t buy your ticket to Brussels until I have a confirmed second and third participant!
If you want to ‘Go With Me’, please let me know and I’ll tell you how you can submit a $500 deposit. This deposit is refundable if we do not achieve the minimum viable number of three participants.
Interested? Please complete the form below and I’ll send more information as the trip develops. In the meantime, if you’re a member of our ‘Elevate Europe’ private Facebook group, watch for updates there as well. And if you’re not a member of that private group, complete the form below and I’ll add you!
[gravityform id=”3″ title=”true” description=”true”]
I hope you can go with me!