Last days

Tuesday morning we walked to our bus tour. I had booked the tour about a month before, thinking we might need something to do during our extended stay in Amsterdam. We rode on a big double decker bus, with separate morning and afternoon tours. The morning tour guide told us we were going to go to a cheese farm and a clog factory. Sounded a bit familiar, but because we were on a big tour, the destinations were much larger and more touristy than our stop on the bike tour. One of the stops was in an area with lots of wind mills and we were able to go up into one and enjoyed some nice views.

We drove back to Amsterdam and then got on another big double decker for our second tour. This one took us to Delft where we got to see certified Delft ceramics being made. Then we went further into the city and were able to walk around. I discovered that this was the town Vermeer lived in and I would have loved to have had more time to explore the streets where he painted. It is a very quaint town with canals and bridges like Amsterdam, but everything on a smaller, quieter scale. We drove through the Hague and had many important buildings pointed out to us, but we only stopped briefly at the Peace Center. We rushed through all this so that we could get to a miniature city. A rather odd place that would probably go out of business, if not for big tour buses pulling in. It was an interesting day, but we probably won't do many more of these package tours.

On Wednesday, we stayed near our hotel and walked to the van Gogh museum. The museum was very interesting with his works arranged in chronological order. We had lunch in the park and then went to the Rijksmuseum. You could see the roof of the museum out our hotel room window, so after many long walking days, we enjoyed staying nearby. It was great to see all the Rembrandts and Vermeers. We enjoyed the gift shop as well. After that, we walked to Vondelpark and enjoyed some nature. For our final night, we went back to the area we had been to our first night and had dinner in an Irish Pub. I got the Shepard's pie I was hoping for in London. It was an enjoyable final night in Europe.

Amsterdam

On Sunday, Shelly headed home and Mara and I went to Gare du Nord. We had reserved seats in first class and enjoyed a nice snack and then lunch on our way north to Amsterdam. When we arrived, we got on a tram toward our hotel. It wasn't clear how to pay, so after watching several people ask the driver directions, I finally asked her where we should get off and how we should pay. She said we wanted the next stop and not to worry about the fare. We easily found our hotel about a block from the stop and went to check in. Smooth sailing so far, but that was about to end.


I had paid for three nights in Paris that morning and my credit card was turned down when I tried to charge our next 4 nights in Amsterdam. My other card worked so we were in. When we got to our room, it was still dirty, so we headed back down and asked for another one. The second one was also dirty, so the clerk asked if we would like a larger room that he was certain was clean. We said sure! It was nice, but had no towels. The cleaning woman said she would try to find us some.


Then we went out to check out the area and get some cash, we had less than 10 Euro between the two of us. Every card I tried was declined at the ATM. We bought a couple cheap burgers and headed back to the hotel. It seems my two hotel bills had been all the money either card thought I should have in one day, so we would have to try again the next day. It would be a long four days with just a bit of change to live off of.


Monday we walked back to the ATM, my first card was turned down, but with the second, it gave me money! I was so excited, I put my card in again and got some more. We had some breakfast and then walked to Mike's Bikes where we joined a group for a biking tour around the city. Pip, our guide, took us through a nice city park and then through a man made forest on the outskirts of town. We stopped by a windmill often painted by Rembrandt and took some pictures and then we went to a farm where they make clogs and cheese. Very interesting place with nice, friendly cows. We had lots of cheese samples and then rode back through Amsterdam. After our tour, we walked to Ann Frank's house and stood in a very long line, but it moved along quickly. The tour was very interesting and well done. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Sara's for a pancake dinner.

two days, museums galore

Friday morning we went first to the Orangerie where Shelly and I bought two day museum passes. Mara could go anywhere for free. The Orangerie is where many of Monet's waterlily paintings are. Huge paintings that cover an entire wall, quite lovely. On the way to our next stop, we passed by the Canadian Culture Center. They were having an exhibit by diorama artist Diana Thomeycraft, someone none of us had heard of, but we all found very interesting. Next stop, Rodin. It had been renovated quite a bit since my last visit some time in the 80's, but the inside portion was still very old and run down, just the way I like it. All the important, famous sculptures are there. We had a nice lunch in the garden and then left Mara back at the hotel for a much needed rest after the fast paced school tour. Shelly and I went to the Pantheon and then a quick trip to the Cluny Museum which was just a few blocks from our hotel. Both were quite nice. We picked up Mara and went out for another lovely 3 course meal and made an early night of it.


The next morning, our first destination was Notre Dame for a climb to the top to see the gargoyles. Very exciting to be up close and personal with such famous "beings". St. Chapelle was our next stop. It is a Gothic chapel with two levels, the lower for ordinary people with beautifully painted walls and the upper level with ornate stained glass for the nobility. From there, we went to the Concergerie where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned. On the way to our next stop, we walked along the Seine, where they installed a beach for the Parisians who couldn't get out of town for a vacation.


We went to the Decorative Arts museum next and saw some very cool stuff including some of Ralph Loren's car collection. We had lunch at a carnival that was just down the street and then went in search of the Delacroix museum. It was tucked away and very difficult to find, but worth the trouble. We rushed back to the Cluny museum to see the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries that we missed out on yesterday. Our final museum of the day was the Pompedue Center. It was fun to see some modern art for a change and there were also some great views of the city from the upper floors. Just before sunset, we went to the Arc du Triumph and climbed to the top. The sunset was beautiful and it was fun to see the lights of Paris, especially when the Eiffel tower started to sparkle.

Louvre, Eiffel, more Notre Dame and Shelly

On Wednesday morning, our suburban chain hotel served us day old baguette and croissants. Mon Dieu! By the time we made our long journey into the city, we only had two hours to tour the Louvre. Most of the groups made their way first to see the Mona Lisa. It's worth the effort, but more to see the massive crowd than to actually see the painting. The rest of the museum is more manageable, and I saw quite a few amazing pieces in the short time wandering around. We went next to the Latin Quarter and everyone was on their own for lunch. Afterwards, we toured Notre Dame and its beautiful stained glass windows, exterior carvings and gargoyles. Our next stop was back to the Eiffel Tower, this time we took the elevator to the second level and got some great views of Paris. Our final activity for the day and with the school group was an evening boat ride down the Seine.

The next morning, the school group got on a bus and headed to the airport. Mara and I went into Paris and found our next hotel, back in the Latin Quarter. After a trip to the laundromat, we visited the Institute du Monde Arab. Its exterior is made up of adjustable metal disks that can be opened or closed depending on how bright the sun is and how much light they want to let in. We walked along the Seine back to our hotel and then met up with our friend Shelly. On our way to dinner, we stopped in at Notre Dame. It was evening, so it was dark in side, making it a very different experience than during the day. For dinner, we found a lovely little restaurant and had a traditional Parisian 3 course meal. Tres bien.

Paarrisssss

On Monday morning we hopped on a bus and headed to Chartres. A town with a beautiful cathedral full of stunning stained glass, pillars, flying buttresses and gargoyles galore. After visiting there, we drove on to Paris, stopping first at our suburban hotel. Once we checked in, we walked to the train station to head into the city. The journey took over 45 minutes, so staying out of town is going add quite a bit to our daily travel time. Our first stop was a crepe shop for dinner. Then we walked along the Champs Elyses and watched the sun set near the Arc de Triumph.

The next morning a bus picked us up at the hotel and took us on a tour of Paris with a couple stops for photos. Then, it was on to Versaille. We split into two groups with one going inside first while the other toured the gardens. Both halves of the tour were enjoyable, but the inside was extremely crowded and the outside was full of lovely flowers and nice weather. On the way back into Paris, we drove through the tunnel where Princess Diana died. Adults on the tour found that interesting.

We had French pizza for dinner and then walked up some back streets to Mont Martre. Great views of the city, lots of fun street performers and vendors and another lovely Basillica. We walked down the many steps and then caught the metro back to the hotel.

Normandy and Breton

Our first stop for the day was the D-Day museum in Caen. There were very interesting displays to see and a couple movies to watch. It would be easy to spend much more time here, but we needed to push on. We went for lunch in the town of Arromanches, a nice coastal town with plenty of little dining spots and shops to check out as well as a lovely beach. From there, we went to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. No matter how many images you may have seen of military cemeteries, when you stand in the middle of the white crosses and see straight rows of them going in every direction, it is quite moving. After leaving the cemetery, we went to a small memorial on the beach where many of us walked in the sand and a few of the kids went into the water. Our final stop was the Pointe du Hoc Ranger Memorial where the Germans had built bunkers to fight the allies as they attempted to climb up the cliffs. It's where the beginning scenes of Saving Private Ryan are based upon.
Our hotel for the night was an old abbey called L'Abbey. It was a very nice spot with a sun heated pool and tennis court. Many of the adventurous went swimming.
The next morning, we went to Mont St. Micheal. We walked quickly through the town so that we could tour the church first. It was quite lovely and on the way out, we were able to shop a bit and enjoy the town. Next, we drove on to St. Malo, a walled city that was 80% destroyed during WWII and rebuilt in it's original design afterwards. The very proud residents consider themselves of St. Malo before Breton or France.

Crossing the Channel

On Friday, we got up extra early (5:30a.m.) so that we could get an early start for Canterbury. We walked through the Cathedral with our small groups. It is huge and quite beautiful, there was construction going on that only added to the interest. When we had enough of the vaulted ceilings, flying buttresses and gargoyles, we wandered the city and had lunch.


We got on a bus headed for Dover next. There was a delay of some kind, so the bus was treated to a poor rendition of "The White Cliffs of Dover", sorry Mara. The boat ride was great. A very nice ferry and fun birds that would dive down to eat food out of the hands of the brave. After landing in Calais, we bussed on to Rouen.


After checking in to our hotel and a lovely dinner of savory and sweet crepes, we walked to the Rouen Cathedral, another building with construction and gargoyles a plenty, and painted many times by Monet. We also walked to the site of where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. On the way back to our hotel, we happened by a candy store and everyone got an assortment.

School group arrives!

On Wednesday, we packed up and headed out to meet our group at a hotel near the airport. After lunch in the little town with them, we headed back into London where we saw the London Eye and walked around Bond Street.

The next morning we got on a bus heading to Windsor Castle. We had an enjoyable tour guide who liked to dramatically roll his R's whenever possible. Then, we bussed back to London and stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral. We had planned to have a walking tour after that, but we were rained out. We visited the British Museum instead. The day was topped off with a ride on a double decker bus.

Rainy days in London

'Ello everyone. We are having a lovely time wandering the streets of London. Leaving MN proved to be the most challenging part of the trip so far. We were delayed about 3 hours, so we missed our connecting flight in Chicago. We only had a 45 minute layover, so that wasn't much of a shock. We left Chicago at about 9:30 and got to London at noon on Saturday. We found our hotel easily, checked in and then headed off. We first went to the area Greg and I stayed in on our honeymoon so many moons ago. It was fun to see all the same sights, streets and pubs. We walked along the Thames and saw lots of boats and crew teams. We went to the William Morris house and museum and saw many of his fabrics and designs. It was very small and interesting and I had no idea it was so near where we had been before. From there, we headed to the nearest theater and enjoyed the final Harry Potter movie in 3D. I was afraid we would fall asleep, but the action kept us wide awake!

On Sunday, we did our walking tour of Harry Potter's London. We saw where they filmed Platform 9 3/4, the specific telephone booth they used as the entrance to the Ministry of Magic (in the Prisoner of Azkaban), and a lot of locations for Diagon Alley. We also climbed 311 steps to the top of The Monument and had lovely views of London. My feet were quite sore by the end of the day.

Monday was Museum day and we visited the National Gallery, the Portrait Gallery and Tate Britain, as well as a few more Potter sites we had missed the day before. We walked by Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. There was a huge line to get into Westminister Abby, so we went into St. Margaret's Chapel. It had beautiful stained glass windows and these super lovely embroidered kneeling pads in the pews.

Today, we are going to the Globe Theater to see a Shakespeare play and one final Potter site. Tomorrow we will meet up with our tour group and spend the next 9 days with them. It has rained off and on every day. Yesterday we avoided rain until 6pm, but it was only a drizzle, so maybe it's clearing up. We've had interesting English breakfasts each day at our hotel and enjoyed Fish and Chips from a street vendor on Sunday. So far British food is living up to it's reputation. Cheerio!

Beyond the U.S.A.

We hope to continue the blog this summer, but we are traveling outside of our home land, so we'll see how it goes connecting with the internet. This is the itinerary: July 15 - 21 London. The school group arrives on the 20th and we will take a side trip to Windsor on the 21st. Next, we will cross the English Channel and visit Normandy, St. Malo, Mont St. Michel. On the 25th we will visit Chartres Cathedral and then it's on to Paris! The school group will depart on the 28th and then our friend Shelly will join us until the 31st. After Paris we will train up to Amsterdam and then head back home on the 4th. It should be a great trip, check back for all the details.