May 18th, 2014
Yesterday we went back to the Notre Dame to climb to the top of the tower. We had great views of Paris from there.
View from Notre Dame
Next we had a coffee on another boat cafe before finding some gelato recommended by Jeremy.
Relaxing on beautiful day
Since it was our last day we walked along the Champs Élysées to look at the shops and climb the Arc de Triomphe. Afterwards we celebrated our trip at a restaurant close to our apartment. It has been a great trip.
May 17th, 2014
We had a very warm and sunny day. We started with a tour of the Notre Dame church. There was a mass going on (10:00) and the pews were full with worshipers. The pipe organ music and singing was impressive. Due to the line up we did not go to the top of the church.
Notre Dame
For lunch we found a cafe on a boat on the Seine. It was very nice to sit outside in the sun enjoying our meal and our friends company. After lunch we toured the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa along with some other great art.
Lunch on the boat
Louvre
We walked back to our apartment which was about 5 km. away. It was a nice walk with tree lined streets and many interesting sites.
May 16th, 2014
On Thursday we took the Metro to the Montmarte area and toured the Sacre Coeur and walked up the 300 steps to the dome where we had a great view of Paris.
Sacre Coeur
Toured the artist area and continued shopping for scarves and souvenirs. After dinner we took a night cruise on the Seine. The Eiffel Tower was lit up when we returned.
The Seine at sunset
Eiffel Tower at night
On Friday we took the metro to Versailles. It was a beautiful sunny day but there were also a lot of people. The palace is very large with beautiful art. The garden (800 hectares or 2000 acres) is also very large. Fortunately it was not crowded in the garden.
A painting of Versailles
Part of the garden at Versailles
May 14th, 2014
On Tuesday we walked around Amsterdam some more including Vondalepark. We now probably know all the streets in central Amsterdam. For lunch, since we are in the Netherlands, we had pannekoeken. We picked up our bags at the hotel (we used a winch to lower bags from the 3rd floor rather than carry them down). A tram took us to Central Station to catch the Thalys train to Paris.
Arriving in Paris, we eventually found our way to our apartment and settled in. Don and Karen caught up with us as we were finishing our dinner.
Today we walked to the Eiffel Tower just as it was about to open. Riding to the top, we had a great 360 degree view of Paris.
Yvonne at the Eiffel Tower
Back on the ground we walked to the Place de Chaillot and the Trocadero gardens.
Another view of the Eiffel Tower
After lunch we continued walking, this time to the Arc de Triomphe. We wanted to go up to the top but a one day strike had it closed.
Arc de Triomphe from the middle of the Champs Élysées
On the Champs Élysées we found a double-decker bus and took a 2 hour tour of Paris that showed us all the highlights. Due to a road being closed we had the bus driver drop us off 1 block from our apartment. The weather was better than forecasted and we had a great day.
May 13th, 2014
On Monday we started the day with shopping at the Flower Market and continued with various shops on the way to tour the Anne Frank House. It was good that we had pre purchased our tickets since the line up went down the street and around the corner. The house was interesting especially the videos of people who knew her. Afterwards we continued to explore Amsterdam and even enjoyed a drink sitting outside watching people.
Laura & Glen at the Anne Frank House
Gargoyles
May 12th, 2014
On Sunday we set out in the rain and wind to explore Amsterdam. We started with a canal cruise followed by lunch at the library by the Central Station. At the bottom of the library was a sculpture titled “The Mouse Mansion, A World of Encounters”. This mouse mansion which is tied to 3 children’s books has over 100 rooms done in lots of detail. Afterwards we walked to the Verzetsmuseum (Resistance Museum). This is an excellent museum about the Dutch people from 1940 to 1945. The museum described those who collaborated, adapted or resisted. Resistance included hiding people, aiding them or fighting against the Germans. It was very sobering to read about what happened to the Netherlands during the war.
Amsterdam canals
May 11th, 2014
Saturday morning was overcast with a forecast to rain starting at noon. It started at breakfast. We rode our bikes to the monument near Haarlam to recognize the youth and the ongoing a battle with the sea (no he did not have his finger in the dike). It continued to rain all the way to Amsterdam, a total of 35 km. Arriving in Amsterdam we had lunch at a film and food festival before continuing on to the Elodie. We relaxed on the barge before going out to an Argentinian restaurant for dinner. Wamme, our skipper, took some of us for a walking tour around Amsterdam to end the evening.
It was still raining on Sunday morning. We had our final breakfast before heading out to find our hotel in Amsterdam.
Laura, Glen, Karen, and Don ready to ride in the rain
Nina telling us the “story” about the monument
May 9th, 2014
The rain ended in the night and the morning was overcast and very windy. Our captain of the Elodie told us to expect wind gusts up to Force 7 (50-60 km./hr.). Fortunately most of the riding had the wind either from the side or behind us. We left Leiden for the Keukenhof Gardens which were about 20 km. away. The Gardens were very good but the tulip fields before the gardens had no flowers left.
Many colours
Tulips
Some of our group
The ride to Haarlam was through many quiet bike paths including a narrow path between houses which tested our riding skills. A stop at a cafe gave us a refreshing break before we met up with the barge. The total for today was 40 km. Just after we got back we had a small thunderstorm with some hail. We were very pleased that we were inside dry and warm.
May 8th, 2014
Yesterday we first toured a Delft Blue factory where all the pieces are hand painted. From there we rode from Delft to Den Haag. While riding past the king’s residence we were able to witness the official welcome of the Ghana ambassador. This was especially significant for our tour guide, Nina, who has lived in Ghana and her husband was from Ghana.
Official Welcome
We then toured a panoramic museum which had a 14 meter by 120 meter painting from the late 1800’s. Lunch was outside the International Court, an impressive location to eat our lunch.
International Court
We then rode up the along the coast in a park of sand dunes. Here the road was hilly with lots of curves. Fortunately we had a tail wind. At Katwijk we stopped for a break on the sea side and a taste of pickled herring. By the time we got to the Elodie in Leiden we had gone 39 km., a very good day. After dinner we took a canal tour of Leiden. Today (Thursday), we had a short ride to a farm that makes it’s own Gouda cheese (6 km. away). We were back to the barge at 11:30 and had the rest of the day to ourselves. We ended up walking downtown to do some shopping. When it started to rain we found a coffee shop in the library to catch up on email and post this blog.
Sand dunes at Katwijk
May 6th, 2014
Group picture. Charlie is the one with the pointed head.
Our tour guide Nina.
In Gouda we toured the longest church in the Netherlands. From Gouda we rode to Kinderdijk through an area with many canals. From Kinderdijk we took the fast ferry to Rotterdam and the barge brought us to Delft. A bit of rain but nothing too bad. A walk around Delft after supper was very interesting with some amazing architecture.
Kinderdijk