King Louis XIV, the Sun King, moved his court from the Louvre to Versailles to manage them, protect his reign, and prove to the world that France was the world leader. It took decades to build and cost about half of France’s annual GDP. The result is spectacular. We have visited many castles in Europe but Versailles is the granddaddy…
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Paris: Art Museum Overload
It is easy to go into Paris art museum overload. Paris has long been a magnet for artists. King Louis XIV decided that France was to be the world leader in all things including fashion and art. His dream started with Versailles and the French have never looked back. The palace he abandoned to move his court to Versailles is…
Paris: Eiffel Tower and More
Paris contains so many iconic treasures that it is impossible to see them all in just one week. However, we did hit some of the biggies. Eiffel Tower Number one on the list, the Eiffel Tower lives up to all expectations. It is spectacular! As impressive as it is in daylight, it is absolutely magical at night. We experienced the…
Paris: Some of the Basics
It is raining and we are on our sixth day in Paris. We just returned from the Bastille Sunday market where we picked up some potatoes, carrots, and a bottle of wine. These will go with some shrimp, zucchini, tomatoes, and a lemon for a lovely dinner later this evening. We feel blessed that this is only the fourth day…
Brussels: A City of Neighborhoods
We spent an afternoon in Brussels ten years ago as part of our five countries in ten days extravaganza. This time we gave it four days so we saw much more than just the Grand Place, although it certainly is grand! Brussels is a city of neighborhoods. The Grand Place and surrounding streets are at the center and represent just…
Iconic Brussels
What comes to mind when you think of Brussels? If you said any of the following you would be right: The Grand Place Home of the European Union Mannequin Pis Specialized foods including Chocolate, Waffles, Mussels, and Beer. We experienced them all and more! Here are our highlights. The Grand Place We have seen a lot of squares in Europe…
Bruges: First Stop in Belgium
Some say Bruges is the prettiest town in Europe. I don’t know if I would go that far but it is right up there. We spent our first four nights in Belgium in this beautiful city and enjoyed every moment. Getting from Delft to Bruges was the most complicated leg of our trip. It required a train to Rotterdam where…
The Hague (Den Haag)
The Hague is where the Dutch government sits and is practically a suburb of Delft (or vice versa). It was a ten minute train ride to get there. Our other choice for a day trip was Rotterdam but we chose The Hague because it has the Maritshuis Royal Picture Gallery and we wanted to see more of the Durch masters.…
Delft
We decided to round out our tour of the Netherlands with three nights in Delft. All the guidebooks recommend Delft for its cuteness. It was nice but didn’t live up to our expectations. Our opinion may have been skewed by some issues with where we stayed. First, I made the mistake of choosing a hotel (the only hotel on the…
Amsterdam
The capital of The Netherlands is Amsterdam, and it’s a fascinating place to explore. We took the train from our home base in Haarlem into Amsterdam Central Station twice. It’s an easy 15-20 minute ride depending on whether you catch a Sprinter (oddly the slower ride as it makes all stops) or the Intercity. Trains run every ten minutes or…