In Bruges Part . . . What are we up to now?

French national news programs are, on average, twenty minutes longer than their American counterparts. Still, proportionally, there seem to be major differences in how each group allocates its time. American national news programs devote more coverage and time to the following: 1) Political issues; 2) The rich and powerful; 3) Pundits/reporters. French national news programs devote more coverage and time to the following: 1) The lives, issues, and opinions of "ordinary" people; 2) Segments about food production and consumption ; 3) Segments about artisanal/cultural production, in France and à l'étranger (abroad).

One recent segment focused on an old maison de dentelle (lace-making establishment) in Bruges. We saw lots of lace in Bruges, but figured its production was a touristy thing, an artificially-preserved relic of a pre-industrial past. But it turns out some of the best hand-made lace in the world still comes from Bruges. Which we probably should have guessed when Tom (our host/tour guide) showed us this awesome lace map of the city:

And now for something completely different. In (what we hope will be the) conclusion to our Bruges coverage, we'd like to remind everyone that a great way to see the city without actually going is to watch the 2008 film noir, In Bruges, which inspired the oh-so-creative name of this series of posts.

There's a lot of cursing and a fair amount of gore, but we still recommend it.