Beautiful Lake Lugano as seen from the Italian village of Oria, just across the border from Switzerland. Lake Lugano sits in both countries and served as the backdrop for a weekend reunion with Tim, Chuck, Judy, and Brian.  Brian and I stayed at the Hotel Principe Leopoldo while Tim and his parents stayed elsewhere in Lugano.  Lugano city is actually part of Switzerland and is about an hour north of Milan Malpensa airport, an easy 1 hour 15 minutes flight from Brussels.

Lugano is a posh town with high end shops, amazing hotels, and good restaurant choices.  Nearby Gandria is a town that can only be reached by hiking or boating - definitely worth a visit and a lunch overlooking the lake.  Tim and his buddy Paul rented a boat in Lugano and picked up Brian and I in Oria...just as the only rain of the weekend started to pour.  Gypsy (Tim's dog) was NOT loving the boat ride!

One of the best moments of the trip was dinner at this small family run restaurant (Osteria Nostranello) in the village of Neggio.  Delicious food accompanied by music from the owner and his mates.

Catching up with the guys and hiking along these beautiful trails made for a perfect weekend away.

In expected Swiss fashion, great signage to guide your every step along the trail.  Onward to the top of Monti Bre...

These are edibile...

...but definitely not these

Don't eat the red mushrooms but very cool to find these excellent specimens along the trail.  We met a lady on the trail who had a backpack full of mushrooms.  She showed us some of her prizes of the day.

In the clouds above the town of Bre a breathtaking view of Lake Lugano.

And a post hike lunch at an osteria in Bre.

Cote d'Opale

Within 2.5 hours drive from Brussels there are natural beaches with sand dunes, bike and hiking paths, some cute coastal towns and good seafood.  This is NOT Belgium rather the Opal Coast which is south of Calais on the North coast of France.  Mel and went to this region two weekends in a row during the mini heatwave in August 2012.

Le Cap Blanc Nez and its sister further down the coast Le Cap Gris Nez are key geographic attractions in the area.  These are the equivalent but smaller versions of the White Cliffs of Dover on the other side of the Channel in England, which is visible on a clear day from this area in France.

On weekend #1 we stayed in Dunkerque at the Welcome Hotel and had dinner at Atelier de Steff.  The town was completely deserted due to the August holidays and the nearby beach, Malo les Bains was similar to what we have at the Belgian seaside, ergo miss-able.  Dunkerque is an oil refinery town so very industrial and with a sulphuric odor lurking in the town.  However, we drove down the coast to the Cap Blanc Nez and hiked to the peak for spectacular views.  We spent a day on the beach in Wissant followed by a day of biking in the hills above Wissant.

Cap Blanc Nez, Cote d'Opale, France

Lunch in Wissant...cockles, whelks etc.

Dune-y beach in Wissant but COLD North Sea swimming!

The following weekend, Le Touquet, France which provided a totally different experience.  Again, we drove down after work on Friday evening and went straight to dinner at Le Jardin.  We stayed at a B&B in the woods about 5 minutes out of town.

Le Touquet is also known as Paris-Plage as it's just over an hour from Paris and is still a weekend destination for British tourists given the proximity across the channel - Angelina dropped in for the day from London via chartered helicopter when we were there.  Hence, some nice shopping and restaurants (and chocolate: still dreaming about Au Chat Bleu).

One of the nice finds of this trip was discovering the town of Montreuil-sur-Mer, a town surrounded by a high fortification wall, encompassing some charming streets.  Below the town is a hamlet called Madeleine-sous-Montreuil where we took a nice stroll and a peek in La Grenouillere - a cool hotel and restaurant for 'next time'.

On the beach at Le Touquet

Colorful homes in Le Touquet