A warm welcome to author Emy Calirel joining us to talk about her new release “From Brussels with Love”. part of the Dreamspinner World of Love series.
Welcome Emy 🙂
IN JEROME AND TREVOR’S FOOTSTEPS
What a treat to finish the blog tour for From Brussels, With Love on the blog that hosted the cover reveal for it. Thank you for hosting me again.
With Jerome being a tour guide and loving Brussels so much, there’s a couple scenes in the book during which he’s showing his city to Trevor.
If you ever find yourself in Brussels (or on Google Maps), here’s how you can follow in their footsteps.
THE HIGH CITY GUIDED TOUR
The first time Trevor meets Jerome, he’s taking the free walking tour of the High City. It starts at Grand Place, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, where you can marvel at the surrounding buildings’ beauty. The square is surrounded by the Town Hall, the King’s House, and several guild houses. If you have some time, look at the decorations closely and try to guess which house is for which guild.
From there, walk to the Manneken Pis so you can see the tiny peeing statue and breathe in the amazing scent of waffles coming from the nearby shops. Look up as you walk so you can enjoy the comic strips painted on building’s facades on your way to the Rue de la Chaufferette, where you can see the LGBT mural made by Ralf König and Fotini Tikkou. Slowly make your way down the alley and read every illustration of the Out In The Streets project. All the text is in English.
You’ll end up close to the Stock Exchange. If you go in November or December, you’ll have the Holiday Market on the square. See La Monnaie, home of the National Opera of Belgium, and visit the oldest Church in Brussels, St Nicolas’ Church. Inside you’ll find a diorama of what life used to be like in Brussels when the city was still crossed by the river.
End your tour at Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert where you can shop, taste some sweet chocolate, or just look up and gape at the beauty of the glazed arcades.
FROM RUE DU CONGRES TO THE PALACE OF JUSTICE
The second time Jerome guides Trevor around Brussels, he’s giving him a personal tour. They start at Colonne du Congrès, because it’s close to Trevor’s hotel and walk down Rue des Colonies to The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. The gothic building is the preferred pick of the Belgian monarchy for weddings, coronations, and state funerals.
From there, you can follow the same street to Mont des Arts where an amazing view awaits. From the top of the stairs, the garden sprawls before you, leading your eyes to the statue of King Albert I and, in the background, the spire of the City Hall.
Make your way down the stairs, and follow Rue Royale to the Palace (which you can visit) before entering the neighborhood of Les Marolles. Nowhere else in Brussels will you be able to experience the city’s diversity like there. See Notre Dame du Sablon and stroll through the paved streets to the Place du Jeu de Balle for the flea market. It’s there every day, but prices go up on the weekend.
If you still have some energy left, walk up to the Palace of Justice. Or take the glass elevator if you’re too tired (and if it works that day). Admire the view of Brussels spreading before you. If it’s a clear day, you can see all the way to the Atomium sculpture.
BONUS
If you still have a day in Brussels, go visit the Comic Center. It’s fun and interesting, and not just for kids! After a couple hours there, take the bus to the European Quarter to see the striking glass buildings. The museums are good, but if you prefer some fresh air, Leopold Park is waiting for you with its lake and trees in the middle of the city. Close by, the Parc du Cinquantenaire, its fountain, and triumph arc are also worth a look.
Dispirited after a recent breakup, Irish project manager Trevor is guilted into a trip to Brussels with his best friend. A chance meeting with cute and funny tour guide Jerome turns into a weekend of sex and friendship. Forgetting his phone at Jerome’s apartment shifts their fling into a long-distance relationship held together by postcards, texts, and stolen weekends. But distance isn’t the only thing keeping them apart—Trevor is a workaholic who values his success, while artistic Jerome is carefree but insecure.
Starting a life together means facing major challenges, but the loving words they’ve shared build a bridge across the sea—one that might let them meet in the middle.
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Emy Calirel grew up in France, but also spent some time in Africa as a child. When she finally reached adulthood, she jumped on opportunities and moved to California, then Ireland, before coming back to her roots. San Francisco still holds her heart, though, and always will.
After trying a couple different jobs, she settled down and now works in a funeral home/monumental masonry, which she loves. To handle life’s daily stress, she laughs with her coworkers a lot and spends any free time she gets reading or daydreaming about queer folks finding their happily ever after.
She’s a cat owner, a plant killer, and a San Francisco Giants fan. Wanderlust flows in her veins, and her goal is to visit every capital in Europe—if she can ever stop herself from going back to London over and over again.
Emy’s muse is a sassy being who expertly farms plot bunnies in Emy’s overgrown imagination. As a consequence, Emy has more stories and characters living in her head than she’ll ever be able to write in her lifetime. She’s fine with it, though, as, like a child, she loves playing in her sandbox.
A documentary enthusiast and curious to a fault, Emy often loses herself in research and will happily share her discoveries with everyone. Did you know most mammals empty their bladders in twenty-one seconds?
Social media links :
http://emycalirel.com/
https://twitter.com/EmyCalirel