{"id":616,"date":"2016-07-10T07:02:42","date_gmt":"2016-07-10T06:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bashingtonpost.com\/?p=616"},"modified":"2021-12-30T16:35:52","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T16:35:52","slug":"andre-rieu-road-trip-maastricht","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bashingtonpost.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/10\/andre-rieu-road-trip-maastricht\/","title":{"rendered":"Andre Rieu – Maastricht"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are not entirely sure who\u2019s idea it was to drive to Maastricht when flying seems like the sensible option but it wouldn\u2019t be an Andre Rieu road trip without the roads. We left Eastbourne at around 7am and headed over to Hastings to pick up the grannies and then it was off to the Channel Tunnel for the 10:40 crossing.<\/p>\n

Journey Start : 7am 9th July 2016
\nConcert Location: Maastricht, Netherlands
\nConcert Start: 9pm on 10th July 2016
\nDistance: 309 miles<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Google<\/a>
Google Map of Route to Maastricht<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The route by car said it would take about 6 hours but that was without stops. We would be heading straight past Bruges which was about 1hr 20 mins from the crossing in Calais, so seemed like a sensible place to take a break. We could also pick up plenty of chocolate, which was another good reason for stopping. After the stop at Bruges it was non-stop to Maastricht.<\/p>\n

The weather was favourable for the journey to Bruges and we arrived at about 1pm, just in time for lunch. As soon as you hit the centre of Bruges you are hit with a whiff of waffles and chocolate so, and as time was not on our side we followed our nose and headed straight to the nearest waffle shop. The waffles were delicious; fresh and warm and covered in melted Belgian chocolate. Asking the very helpful girl serving waff where the best chocolate shops were in Bruges, she kindly marked them out on a local map for us and pointed us in the right direction. The places she suggested were the Chocolate Line<\/a> and a place called Dumon<\/a>. Armed with our directions we took a stroll around the corner to find them leaving the grannies to potter round. 40 minutes later and 50 euros lighter we headed back to find the grannies who had been sitting on a bench people watching and enjoying the sun. It was hot in Bruges (28 degrees) so a quick stop at a caf\u00e9 for a drink before making our way back to the car to continue our journey to Maastricht.<\/p>\n