Today was our day trip to the Palace of Versailles, about 18 miles southwest of Paris. Our timed tickets for the Chateau were at 1:30 so we had a leisurely morning, leaving for the Metro around 9:00. Between the walks, the metro ride and the train ride, it took a little over an hour to arrive.
In front of the main gate of the Chateau. Nora’s cute beret didn’t last long. It’s wool and it itches.
We rented a golf cart to explore the gardens. I wanted to see the Grand Trianon and knew I’d never make it if we walked as it’s quite a distance from the main chateau.
It wasn’t as nice as my golf cart at home, but it did the job.
The gardens were first built in 1661 by Louis XIV and cover 800 hectares or almost 2,000 acres.
From the overlook behind the Chateau.
We found this grotto tucked away.
And four small pools, one for each season.
This one was for Fall. One of the many statues sprinkled throughout the garden. Many of them come from Greek mythology.
After exploring a little while we stopped for our picnic lunch then headed out to the Grand Trianon, a “small” outbuilding. I think this is where Marie Antoinette lived.
This is only 1 1/2 wings of the U-shaped building. The girls and the fountains of the Grand Trianon gardens. Looking out at the gardens from the portico. This was the antechamber.This is a pretty room. Another beautiful room but I don’t remember what it was used for. Nora loves to twirl.
By the time we finished at Grand Trianon, it was time to head back to the main Chateau for our time entry.
The Chateau from the gardens.
While still very crowded, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it would have been had we had a morning entry time. I learned that when Peter and I visited in 2018. We had a 9:30 entry time and the rooms were so crowded we could barely move.
Inner courtyard of the Chateau. Chapel. The ceilings are gorgeous. As are the chandeliers.One of the gorgeous chests. King’s bedchamber.
The Hall of Mirrors is where the Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI was signed.
It wasn’t too horribly crowded.
We actually didn’t spend that much time in the main Chateau as we just kept walking along with the crowd. It was like being on a people mover without the moving sidewalk. The girls said they liked the garden and the Grand Trianon better than the main house. Those were certainly less crowded.
It took us a little over an hour to get back. It’s now almost 7pm and the girls are waiting for me to stop typing so we can go to the Italian place around the corner for dinner. OK girls, Aunt Lynn is done; let’s go eat!!
It started out quiet enough as it was 8am before any of us got out of bed. We had a leisurely breakfast and then headed out to the metro. Today was about seeing some of the more famous Paris landmarks.
At the Metro.
Our first stop was the Place de la Concorde only to find out we couldn’t get anywhere near it. The entire area was cordoned off as they complete the viewing area for the 2024 Olympics. The skateboarding, 3×3 basketball, BMX freestyle and breakdance (seriously, breakdancing is an Olympic sport??) competitions are being held there.
This was all the girls were able to see of the famous Egyptian obelisk in the Place de la Concorde. But you can also see the Arc de Triomphe far in the distance.
So instead, the girls had a ride on a carousel…
At the Tuileries.
And played in the playground.
Because we couldn’t walk through the Place to get to the Champs Elysee, we had a very long walk around that end of the Tuileries to get to the other side of the Place and the Champs Elysee.
On the way, Nora got her first good look at the main reason she wanted to come to Paris.
Eiffel Tower. She’ll see it up close and personal on Friday. I just hope it’s not also cordoned off. The beach volleyball will be held there. Fingers crossed.
It was only about 11:30 but we’d already walked a ton of steps because of all the detours we had at the Tuileries. So, it was time for a rest and lunch.
Christina and I both had beef bourguignon, a Paris specialty.
It was delicious.
While the girls played it safe with their bacon burgers.
These burgers were gigantic and had melted cheese on the top of the bun. Not the easiest burgers to eat.
We walked off lunch on our 30-minute walk to our Macaron Baking class. This was high on Drew’s list of experiences as she loves to bake. At the beginning of the class I was a little nervous as the baker brought us to the front and showed us how to make the macaron dough. My first thought was that if all I wanted to do was watch someone else make them, I could have watched a YouTube video for free. But once she explained that the dough had to sit for 30-60 minutes, depending on the humidity, I understood why we couldn’t make the dough for our cookies.
Drew dried her hand at forming one of the cookies.
While the dough was resting, we had the chance to make the ganache for the inside of the cookies. We made two kinds, chocolate and pistachio.
Me and Nora mixing the pistachio ganache. Drew mixing the chocolate.
We used cookies previously made to put our cookies together.
Nora with her 6 finished cookies.
Between the 4 of us, we brought home 20 macarons. They are delicious and not terribly hard to make, just a little time consuming. We got the recipes to take home with us so I may have to try my hand at making them.
At the store across the street (where we accidentally went looking for the baking class) we found a market filled with French pastries and bread. The place was incredible. Cynthia, these next pictures are for you.
I have no idea what these are, but they look delicious. I’m not sure if this chocolate is as good as in Belgium, but it’s probably not bad. So many different flavors of macarons. More yummy looking pastries with berries. Nora picked out a chocolate eclair and I chose the lemon next to it. Haven’t tried them yet. Don’t these look incredible. I’ll take one of everything please. Nora and I picked out a chocolate Bobka to take home. We’ll try that tomorrow.
After picking out our sweet treats (a very difficult decision) to take home, we headed back to the Metro for our final stop of the day, Jardin du Luxembourg and sailing boats in the pond.
The boats were larger than I expected.
They sailed their boats for about 45 minutes and had an absolute ball. I sat and watched from the sidelines.
Then it was finally time to go home. To get there though, we had a 10-minute walk to the Metro, a 20-minute ride on the Metro and a 5-minute walk to the flat. The total step count was just over 18,000 or about 8 miles. And, yes, I’m exhausted.
Tomorrow, we’re off to the Palace of Versailles. I’ve already warned the girls that the Palace is likely to be crazy crowded. But our entry time is early afternoon so I’m hoping it will be a little better than early in the morning. We’ll pack sandwiches for lunch and eat them in the gardens before our Palace tour. It should be a fun day.
Our Paris host, Horia, went above and beyond yesterday when I asked her if there was a computer store in Montmartre so I could pick up a new charging cord. She didn’t just tell me where the store is, she actually bought the cord for me, so I’m up and running again. Yeah!!
We left Brussels this morning and had a short, 90-minute ride to Paris.
Nora entertaining herself during the ride.
It took about 20 minutes to get to the flat where Horia was waiting for us to drop off luggage. It was great not to have to mess with storing it in lockers at the train station until we could check in. Horia is a delightful woman who actually lives in Bordeaux, about 3 hours away by train. She only comes to Paris when she has guests in the flat.
Tell me this living room doesn’t look Parisian.
After leaving the flat, we headed up the hill to the Basilica of Sacre Couer.
It’s a little crooked. I guess I was too tired from my walk up the hill to hold the camera straight.
We first did the 30-minute petite train ride to get a look at the Montmartre neighborhood without walking. Then it was time for lunch in Place du Tertre, the artists’ corner.
Christina loved her spaghetti carbonara and it had been way too long since I had a pizza. Drew enjoyed her bacon burger and Nora liked her first European pizza.I especially enjoyed my Porn Star martini made with passion fruit.
After lunch we strolled through the shops until it was time to check in again at the flat.
Paris from the Sacre Couer overlook.
Tonight, we’re doing laundry, having a light dinner and playing a rousing game of Go Fish. It should be a great time.
Our day started at 5:00 as we left for the Central Station before 6:00. The train ride was uneventful. We all dozed a bit, so the trip went quickly.
After leaving our bags at the Hilton Garden Inn, the girls headed to the Royal Palace while I went in search of a new charging cord for my Surface Pro 7. It stopped working last night and unless I find a replacement, I’ll be without a computer in a very short time. Not a gigantic problem except for the blog, which is much more difficult to do on my phone. So unless I get a new power source. The blog will be mostly pics and less “talk” as typing takes a long time when I can’t use all 10 of my fingers.
Girls at the Royal Palace Garden
After my fruitless search for a computer cable (all 3 stores needed to order the cord) I met the girls in the Grand Place, considered the most beautiful town square in Europe.
At the Grand Place
We were all hungry and the girls wanted to try Belgian waffles so I found the place Peter and I ate at in 2022. It was a very difficult decision about which waffle to get but we were all happy with our choices.
Oh, what to choose?
Yes, they were just as good as they looked. But we only had small plastic forks to eat them with and they kept breaking so Drew found a better way.
Messy but effective.
While they liked the Belgian waffles, both girls said they like the Dutch pancakes better as they were easier to eat. Of course, that didn’t stop then from eating their entire waffle.
We walked across the square to the galleria where we picked up some Belgian chocolate. We haven’t tried any of our chocolate yet; maybe later.
In the galleria.This was also a difficult decision.
Our next objective was the famous Manniken Pis statue. He’s actually a bit underwhelming as he’s very small.
He’s dressed up like a bike rider. Maybe in honor of the Tour de France. Isn’t that going on now?
Before heading back to the Grand Place for our Uber, it was time for a little liquid refreshment.
On our way back to the Grand Place we saw another window with some amazing looking treats.
The pastry is much lighter and flakier than the waffles. They look so good.
We thought about going to mini Europe, but we were all tired and it was after 2pm, so we went back to the hotel instead. Our room is a beautiful family suite with 2 bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. Nora and I are sharing the king bed while mom and Drew take the twin room.
Dinner will be sandwiches made from the last of the meat and bread we bought in Amsterdam. We wanted to try frites, but I’m not sure if we have the energy to go back out since we have to go all the way back to the city center.
Tomorrow, we have another early day to catch our train for Paris which was Nora’s city pick. She can’t wait to see the Eiffel Tower!
Here’s a picture from Christina’s trip to the Heineken Experience yesterday.
She enjoyed the tour but said she still doesn’t like Heineken beer. She had 3 drink tickets but gave two away. The young guys were happy to take them off her hands.
This morning it was cloudy, windy and damp…. again. So, I decided to blow off the museum and church and just relax at home. I’ve been traveling for 3 1/2 weeks and hadn’t yet taken a rest day, so I thought this was as good a time as any. But then around noon, a miracle occurred… the sun came out! Well, it didn’t come out so much as it tried to come out. But I thought this might be as good as it gets for the next week, so I changed out of my sweatpants and headed the to the metro.
After only a 15-minute ride, I walked a short distance to the Rembrandt House Museum. Rembrandt and his wife, Saskia, moved into this house in 1639. Unlike Vermeer and Van Gogh who only became well known after their deaths, Rembrandt was a very successful painter during this lifetime which allowed him to buy such an expensive home.
Rembrandt’s House with the red shutters.Fireplace in the kitchen.Some of the few pieces of pottery that remain from Rembrandt’s home.
He completed hundreds of drawings. This is one of his most complex.
Only a few of them were on display as they are fragile and deteriorate in the light. His studio.
Their first 3 children died shortly after birth, but in 1641 they had a son, Titus, who survived to adulthood. But Saskia died in 1642 of TB. Several years later, Rembrandt had a daughter with his maid. He stayed until with the maid until her death, but they never married.
One of his other workrooms.
As the years went on, Rembrandt worked less and less but spent a lot of money on his collections.
He was an avid collector. These are just some of the busts he owned.He also collected drawings and documents by other famous artists, including Leonard di Vinci. These he kept in the leather folders on the shelves.
To earn money, he started teaching. Tutoring just 3 pupils a year would bring in half a year’s wages.
This is the cubicle in which his advanced students learned to paint self-portraits. They would use the small mirror on the left to look at their image while they painted.
But teaching wasn’t enough and eventually he had to sell the house and all his belongings.
This book gave a detailed description of all the belongings and how they were arranged in each room.
Because of this book, the museum was able to perfectly recreate the home as it was when Rembrandt owned it. After selling the house, he moved into a rented flat not far away.
He lived in the middle house.
He continued to paint until his death in 1669 at the age of 63.
I really enjoyed the museum and am glad I got out of the house to visit.
Across the street from the house is a restaurant and since the sun was actually out, I decided to stop for a snack.
This used to be a private residence but is now a restaurant. It was built less than 30 years after Rembrandt’s death.
I wasn’t too hungry, so I just had a snack and a beer.
Cheese sticks and a Dutch wheat beer. I prefer a Belgian beer, but this was still okay. View from the restaurant.
That was my day. The girls started their day at the Nemo Science Museum, which had been high on Drew’s list of things to do.
My scientists are discovering what substance X is; whatever that means. But they look like they’re having fun.Drew is trying to pull a bubble around herself. She said it kept breaking.Then she helped little siter pull her bubble.
After the museum they stopped for lunch. The girls decided that they love Dutch pancakes.
This is chocolate with cream and strawberries. It looks pretty good.Today Nora chose strawberries with a drizzle of chocolate. The white is meringue. She never had it before but loved it when she tried it. I’m so proud of the girls for being willing to try new foods. This was just outside the restaurant.
After lunch, they headed to the Anne Frank Museum. This was the #1 thing Drew wanted to see while in Amsterdam. She read the book and saw the movie in school. Christina told Nora the story before they left home. She said Nora was interested but got mad at her because the ending was so sad.
There were no pictures allowed in the museum, but Christina took their picture with the statue around the corner.
Anne was 16 when she died of typhus, just weeks before Bergen-Belson was liberated by the British on 15 April 45.
After the museum they headed back to the house where it was time for pasta dinner. That’s when Christina had her first European misadventure. Yesterday she bought the girls a carton of chocolate milk to have with dinner.
Chocolate milk, right?
Except when Drew poured glasses for them, it turns out it wasn’t milk so much as custard. Not exactly what they planned so they had water to drink. They tried the custard for dessert but weren’t crazy about it, so the rest went into the garbage. That’s why Peter and I always called our trips “adventures”. You never know what’s going to happen.
Tomorrow we’re off to Brussels for one night and it will be all about food and drink… Belgian waffles, frites, chocolate and beer for me and mom. It should be a wonderful day!
I’m beginning to think that Amsterdam is the Pacific Northwest of Europe, always cloudy and rainy. This is my fourth time in Amsterdam, and I have yet to have nice weather for longer than a couple of hours. Today was rainy in the morning then cloudy, windy and cold the rest of the day. But that didn’t stop us from having a full and fun day.
Our first stop was the Van Gogh Museum. Much smaller than the Rijksmuseum, we saw it all in only 90 minutes.
It had just stopped raining.The girls with the famous Sunflowers painting.
My favorite is Irises.
Vincent and his brother, Theo, though 5 years apart in age, were very close. Theo supported Vincent as the latter never sold a painting while he was alive. So, in return, Vincent gave all his paintings and drawings to Theo. Since he was a prolific painter (over 800 paintings and drawings in only 10 years) Theo had a lot of Vincent’s work.
Theo kept all of Vincent’s paintings, drawings and letters in this cabinet. It was gorgeous.One of Vincent’s letters to Theo.Nora listening to one of the letters Vincent wrote to Theo. One of the many self-portraits Vincent did as he couldn’t afford models. We saw one yesterday at the Rijksmuseum.
After the museum, we walked to the Pancake Club for our first ever Dutch pancake. They’re more like French crepes than American pancakes and come in either sweet or savory. The restaurant only has 8 tables inside and they were full, so we ate outside. It had stopped raining and wasn’t too cold, so it wasn’t too bad.
Some hot chocolate to warm up a bit. The girls had Nutella sweet pancakes. Mom had strawberries and cream. And I had a savory ham and cheese pancake.
All of them were delicious. After our mid-morning snack, we separated. Christina went to the Heineken Experience while the girls and I went to the zoo. These were the activities we were supposed to do the afternoon they arrived when we would have had a ton of time, but their delayed flight meant we lost half a day. As a result, we only had a little over an hour in the zoo before we had to leave for our afternoon activity.
The Amsterdam Zoo is 150 years old and is very pretty. I have to admit, though, that after seeing these same animals in their natural habitat in Africa, it was hard to see them behind fences. I felt a bit sad for them.
I saw tons of elephants roaming the wide-open spaces. There aren’t any gorillas in South Africa, but I did see this guy’s cousins, the baboons. The proud lion. This peacock was gorgeous.
We caught up with Christina at the meeting point for our final activity, a half-day trip to Zaanse Schans. It is a small, planned neighborhood just north of Amsterdam. From 1961 to 1974, windmills and wooden houses were relocated here from all over the Netherlands as part of a cultural preservation.
As you can see it had gotten quite cloudy. Luckily it didn’t rain but it was very windy. Two of the many windmills we saw. We saw how they made cheese and then did tastings in the store. I bought some delicious red pesto cheese.
Many people in this part of the Netherlands regularly wear wooden shoes. According to our guide, Mikey, they’re very comfortable and practical. She told us that in the olden days (back 1,000 years ago), every region had a particular style and color of shoe. So, when there were large gatherings of people, like on market days, you could tell where everyone was from by their shoes.
There were also special shoes.
These are wedding shoes.
This pair looks like they could be used as weapons.
Yikes!
No way I was climbing into this.
But I did manage these.
When the shoes were made by hand, it took 3 hours to make one pair. Now with two different machines (one to shape the shoes and one to carve out the inside) a pair can be made in 5 minutes. Of course, then there’s the drying and painting of the shoes but the shoes themselves are made in a matter of minutes.
This is the machine that carves out the inside of the shoe. The machine was moving so the pic is a little blurry…sorry. The sizing is 2 sizes up from your normal shoe size.
The wooden houses were adorable.
This is the backdoor which is the only door that is used regularly. The front door is only used for weddings and bringing out the body when someone dies in the house.
We went into an active windmill that grinds limestone down to powder that is then used to make paint.
These gigantic stone wheels are used to grind the stone.
During the afternoon it had gotten windy and cold, so by the time we were back in the van, I was freezing. But in spite of the weather, we all enjoyed the tour.
After another Uber ride home, we tried to go to an Italian restaurant not far from the flat for dinner. But neither Christina nor I remembered that it was Saturday evening and without reservations, we weren’t able to be seated. We tried a second restaurant but weren’t successful there either. So, we ended up at home for sandwiches. Christina and Drew picked up some frites from the place on the corner, so it was actually a nice dinner.
Tomorrow the girls are doing Anne Frank and the Nemo Science Museum while I visit the Rembrandt House Museum and the Church in the Attic. It will give the girls a chance to have family time and me a chance for a quiet morning.
After an uneventful, on-time departure from St. Louis, the girls’ trip from Newark to Amsterdam was anything but. When they got to their gate, they discovered that the flight was already 2 hours late due to a delayed arriving aircraft. That time extended to 2 1/2 hours. Once they finally pushed back and started to taxi, they had to go back to the gate due to a malfunctioning backup generator. I don’t know much about airplanes, but that sounds like something you would want for a 7-hour flight.
Bottom line is that when they were finally wheels up, they were 5 hours late; and the flight was only 7 hours long. They picked up about 30 minutes and touched down at AMS at 11:35 (instead of 7:15). Within an hour they were giving me hugs in the arrival hall.
We’re finally here!
In about 30 minutes, we walked into our flat just outside of city center. After showers and a change of clothes, we were on our way to the Rijksmuseum.
Christina found a scavenger hunt for Nora to complete as the museum. It was a great way to keep her engaged in her first art museum. She actually found a few of them on her own. The only painting she didn’t find was Lady in White Kimono, which is not on display right now. Christina thinks Nora can get a Girl Scout badge for her work…. very cool.
Finishing the Scavenger Hunt.
This was Christina’s favorite painting.
Flower Still Life with a Crown Imperial by Jacob Woutersz Vosmaer.
They moved the Nightwatch to a different spot in the Gallery of Honour.
You can’t get any closer than this anymore. In the past you could walk right up to it. It’s understandable, though, given the idiots that are defacing priceless works of art. Enjoying the Feast of St. Nicholas by Jan Steen, also in the Gallery of Honour.
After about 2 hours at the museum, we went on a canal cruise. I was trying to think of things to do that would help them stay awake but didn’t expend a lot of energy and a canal cruise seemed to fit the bill. The day was partly cloudy and a bit windy, so the ride was chilly, but we still enjoyed it.
They look a bit tired. Before the ride was over, Nora was stretched out covered in a blanket and sound asleep. The Anne Frank museum is the building with the white facade. The house is immediately to its left.
After the cruise, we took a taxi home. It was twice the price of Uber, but the taxi was there, and we were all tired and cold. It was worth the extra $10 to get home quickly.
They called Daddy while I made pasta for dinner. Right now, we’re watching Hamilton on Disney+. They should be in bed within the hour, so we’ll have to finish watching it tomorrow night.
After a bumpy start, we had a great time on the first half day of their first European Adventure. We’re looking forward to more of the same tomorrow.
My pre-paid airport transportation didn’t pick me up this morning, so I took Uber to the airport. I’ll deal with the credit card company when I get home to get a refund. What a pain in my butt!!
The 6-hour flight to Amsterdam was uneventful. The extra 6″ of leg room in the premium seat was well worth the $40 I paid to upgrade. It also helped that the middle seat was empty, so it felt like I had tons of space.
I’m settled into my Airbnb flat just outside of the city center. The host, Frank, just left. He was very helpful getting me oriented to the flat and the area.
The girls are on the plane and just about to take off for Newark. They’ll have 4 hours on the ground before their non-stop flight to Amsterdam. I’ll meet them at Schiphol, and they’ll be ready to start their first ever European adventure!
Drew (13 y/o) and Nora (8 y/o) ready to take off from St. Louis.
