Europe 2016 - Day 21 - Paris

I have been home over a week, but thought that I needed to add the last day to the trip. We had a tour of the Eiffel Tower. Poor Lori was still gimpy (little did we know she had a broken bone in her foot), but we set off on foot to the Eiffel Tower. We left early so that we could eat some breakfast on our way. Once we were close to the tower, we stopped at a cafe for a croissant and a Coca Cola light. The Euro2016 fan zone is right next to the Eiffel Tower and most of the streets are closed around the area so really walking was our only option. The crowds were amazing and the security was very visible. We had to go through security to get into the area and then again to get on the elevators. Our guide was really good - very knowledgable and very bubbly! Lori and I were very proud of ourselves for going all the way to the top. It is a great view from the top.

 

 

After buying our final souvenirs, we started walking back to the hotel. We had decided we would stop at a cafe for a beer as soon as we found one. We found a great one and spent a couple of hours being Parisians just sitting at a sidewalk cafe watching the people. The weather was great - it had rained while we were in the tower - everything was nice and fresh. Had French fries and a couple of beers. It was really a good ending to the trip.

 

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Europe 2016 - Day 20 - Palace of Versailles

We got to Paris yesterday after the train ride from Amsterdam. Our taxi could not get us to our hotel because a lot of the streets are closed for the football (soccer) matches that are being held in Paris for the European championships! He had to drop us off close and point us in the right direction! Once we settled in we went out to eat an early dinner since we had not had lunch. Then really early to bed - think this trip is finally beating us!

This morning we had to be outside this certain Metro stop at 8:15 for our tour. The hotel told us it was 3 metro stops from ours so we ventured out after crepes for breakfast. We managed to get there and meet up with the tour guides who accompanied us on the train to Versailles and handed us over to other tour guides! Not quite what we were expecting but it worked - at least until later!

The Palace is absolutely mind-boggling! It is so huge and so ornate! Our tour guide was very good - very knowledgeable about LouisXIV and Louis XV. It was of course very crowded and very hot inside but our guide was good - she told us we could not act like Americans, but had to be pushy Parisians for the day! Somehow, we pretty much always had front row views!

 

The chapel where he went to mass everyday.

Bust of King Louis XIV by Bernini. As our guide said, Louis XIV was always "photoshopped"!

 

 

The Hall of Mirrors which was really beyond description. The reason for the mirrors was to show everyone how wealthy King Louis (and France) was. Mirrors were very expensive and in this room there were 357 mirrors - when people came into the room they would really be astounded! Most had never seen a complete image of themselves because if they did have a mirror it was probably very small.

 

Obviously, something that wasn't there in Louis's time.

 

The gardens, except for this batch, had no flowers. Just greenery and fountains. The only run the fountains for short periods on the weekends. Our guide said that even in King Louis's day they would turn on the fountains that were in his sight as he passed and then turn them off again.

After the tour, it was raining. Lori and I stopped to get some lunch - more crepes! Hopefully, something different for dinner. We got back on the train to Paris - can't get the wrong train because there is just one way since Versailles is the end of the line. You can, however, miss your stop in Paris! Suddenly, we were one stop past our stop. We got off, found the Seine, turned left and started walking. Mind you, we were already pooped from walking around Versailles! It seemed to take forever before we got back to where we should have gotten off the train! Then the metro back to our hotel! By that time, we had over 14,000 steps and 13 flights so stairs!!!

Tomorrow - the Eiffel Tower!

 

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Europe 2016 - Day 17 - Amsterdam

Today started with a trip to the Anne Frank house. It was a very well done museum - but it was hot and crowded. The rooms were left empty at Otto Frank's request but there was a model that showed how each room may have looked with furniture. The stairs were really narrow and steep. And during the day they were not allowed to move around at all. For over 2 years! They still do not know who turned them in, but they almost made it to the end of the war. They were captured on August 4, 1944. Otto Frank was liberated from Auschwitz in January 1945. He was the only survivor of the 8 people who hid in the Annex. There are no pictures because we couldn't take any.

Then we took a canal cruise in the rain! Not the best use of our time but at least we weren't getting wet! The guide talked about people swimming in the canals - Lori and I were not too sure about that - didn't look that clean to us! It is really a fascinating city with all the canals. And the number of bicycles is mind boggling! On the cruise we went by a bicycle parking garage! It was 4 stories high!!!

And real talent to ride your bike and carry your umbrella!

And can you imagine trying to park your car here?

It was a good way to see the city from the water.

Lots of house boats along the canals.

Then this afternoon we walked down to the flower market. I was going to buy Kathe some tulip bulbs - but sorry, Kathe - too big a hassle to bring them back. Of course, not as much a hassle as this

M

or this would have been!

And here are some pics of the Dam square which is basically the center of town.

Tomorrow, Paris. Wish us an easier travel day than we had yesterday.

 

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Europe 2016 - Day 16 - from ship to Amsterdam

We got up early. Went down to eat doughnuts before getting our bus to Central London. The traffic was awful so the 2 hour trip took about 2 3/4 hours. Then we had to get a cab to go over to our train station. We got there wit about 20 minutes to spare - found our train - so all was good. We spent so much time in tunnels we really weren't sure when we went through the Chunnel. Somehow, there should have been signs or announcements or something. Next thing we knew we were stopping in Calais! We were very late getting into Brussels and signage was not good. But, we huffed and puffed and found our train platform with maybe 5 minutes to spare. Then the platform lady told us that the platform had changed and we had to hoof it down and up to another platform. Poor Lori has a gimpy ankle so this was not fun for her! The train was about half an hour late leaving Brussels so we won't get into Amsterdam until about 7:30 - a really long day! Well, it was a really long day - but we did get here eventually.

 

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Day 15 - Brugge, Belgium

Well, today was the day that we were supposed to be in Normandy, but the dock workers strike in France put the end to that idea. Hopefully, Lori and I will be able to figure out how to get there from Paris.

So instead, we docked in Belgium and had a tour to the town of Brugge. It was a wonderful town. The bell tower was built in the 1100s at the center of the city. We walked and walked and walked - and then took a short boat ride on the canals. It was all wonderful. Here are the pics which is the best way the describe the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we get off of the ship. Head back into London to catch the train to Amsterdam.

 

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Europe 2016 Day 13 - Edinburgh

Today was cold and blustery and wet, but Edinburgh is a really neat place. If I were coming across the pond again, I would definitely put Edinburgh on the list of places to spend a few days. Today was the 95th birthday of the Duke of Edinburgh, so there was a changing of the guard ceremony at the entrance to the castle. Held us up - standing in the rain - unable to even see - for about 25 minutes! But the castle was worth the wait. There was also a 21 gun salute for the Duke, but it was after we left.

 

 

Before going to the castle we stopped by the Palace for a photo shoot.

Edinburgh is divided into the old city and the new city. The old city is all the buildings that were inside the walls around the castle. The new city is everything built across what was once a ditch filled with all the sewage and trash from the castle and the old city. From the castle you can really look out over the city and see old as opposed to new.

There was a very beautiful war memorial dedicated to WWI. No pictures were allowed. There were 2 soldiers standing guard outside.

There was also a very small chapel that was built in the 1100s in honor of Queen Margaret by her son. She had already become Saint Margaret. It was a beautiful but VERY small building.

Our guide was really great today. Very interesting. Told us a lot of interesting tidbits. Too much to write about and too many pictures - it was hard to choose today!

Tomorrow is a sea day. And disaster has struck because of the striking dock workers in France. We are not going to La Harve and therefore no trip to Normany. We are going to Brugge, Belgium instead. Lori and I are trying to figure out a way to go to Normandy from Paris.

 

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Europe 2016 - Day 12 Inverness, Scotland

 

Did you see her? Oops, I must have missed her - Nessie just went by! Wink, wink!

Today we went up to Loch Ness and saw the ruins of the Urquhart Castle. It was a castle from the 1200s when it had been built on top of an old fort that had probably been around since the 500s. It had been destroyed by its last occupants in the 1692 so that their enemies could not use it against them. It changed hands many times because of many wars between different Scottish clans and between the Scots and the English. It was really all quite confusing! But the castle ruins were really great.

The picture above is the latrine in the guards quarters - see the drain in the floor. There were pipes that you could see in various walls - seems they had a reasonable plumbing system.

The circular staircase that went up into the tower. It was fine going up but down was a little difficult if someone else was coming up.

There was a moat around this castle - well the loch on one side and the moat around the other with a draw bridge.

 

It was a very pretty spot - right above Nessie's home, Loch Ness! The loch itself is 27 miles long and 800 ft deep in spots - so, she could be hiding somewhere!

 

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