Friday, April 29 we left early to go to Alkmaar. It’s cheese market day! We arrived by train and found our way to the market, where things were still being set up. Once things began it was very ceremonial, with a woman who spoke Dutch, English, French and German explaining everything. This cheese is being sold to commercial buyers, but there were plenty of stands set up in the area selling cheese and other goods to visitors.

We then went to Zaanse Schans to see the open air museum, highlighting windmills. Old buildings were open to visitors and the windmill museum was good. We ran out of time to see the bigger museum that was a short walk away.

In the evening we met a lovely couple for drinks, James Rhoe and his partner, Nancy. No, this was not a random meeting. Jim discovered a couple of months ago that a James Rhoe lives in Haarlem. He reached out to him and they arranged to meet. His Rhoe is pronounced different, more like Rue with a rolled R. Jim has always wondered about the origins of the name, since it’s so unusual. James’ father is from Indonesia, and since Jim doesn’t have any Indonesian background the mystery continues. They are very nice people and we enjoyed getting to know them a bit.

It’s a good thing we are going home very soon. After walking over 10 miles yesterday my foot is telling me it’s time to stop walking so much.

Wednesday, April 27 was a tale of two activities. It’s King’s Day, or the party to end all parties. More on that later.

We began the day by seeing how Haarlem celebrates King’s Day. We saw people setting up stages for later, heard and saw bands playing, and block after block became a big yard sale. It looked like most people were selling personal possessions, but I saw a few people selling things like jewelry they had made. We saw even more big activities and sales at parks as we were taking the bus out of town.

Where did we go? Somewhere I have been wanting to see for many years, but they are only open for two months, during bulb season. Keukenhof! They plant the bulbs like a lasagna, in layers, so something is always blooming. I thought it would be less crowded on King’s Day, but there were plenty of people there and I don’t have another day to compare it to. The flowers are spectacular. Who would think there are so many varieties of tulips in every size, color and shape imaginable. There were other flowers as well, including other bulbs, azaleas, rhododendrons, flowering trees and more. Then there were water features and plenty of greenery to set off the colorful flowers. The setting is everything I could wish for. It definitely did not disappoint. I took so many pictures and I couldn’t possibly take pictures of everything. Even Jim enjoyed it and he’s not really a flower guy.

I can’t put all my pictures on here, so this is enough. I was hoping to rent bikes to ride through the flower fields, but by the time we got out of there it was too late. We took the bus back to Haarlem. We had to wait about 45 minutes at the bus stop. I think they were operating on a holiday schedule.

Speaking of holidays, let talk about King’s Day. I don’t have anything to compare it to that I’ve ever experienced. The entire country is in party mode. I already mentioned what we observed in the morning. By the time we returned to Haarlem at around 7:00 p.m. everything was in full swing. Parties everywhere. Music, drinking, eating, dancing…you name it, it was happening. There was a huge party just a half block from our house. We should have anticipated how big it would be when we noticed a day or two before that a 4 person pissoir was now at the corner. The party started there on Tuesday night, so it gave us a small hint of what was coming on Wednesday. So many people, loud music (primarily American music from the 80’s – 2010’s), dancing, and a lot of fun. We walked around our area and stood on the sidelines of about 4-5 parties, and the one on our street was the best.

Surprisingly the music stopped just after 10:00, but the people gathered there partied on for a couple of more hours.

Tuesday, April 26 we took the train to Amsterdam. It’s just under a 20 minute trip. We started off by walking to Dam Square, then walked through the flower market, along canals and small side streets, admiring the unique architecture and culture they have. Buildings lean in all different directions. I think they keep standing only because they are holding each other up. There are bikes everywhere!

We met a travel friend for lunch. She lives in a small town just north of Amsterdam. After lunch Jim and I went to the Dutch Resistance Museum. It’s very well done, with audio guides and most of the printed signs were in Dutch and English. The museum in Lyon focused on the resistance fighters, where this one focused on the citizens and what choices they made during the German occupation of Holland between 1940-1945. Did they resist and help the Jews and other people under threat of the German regime? Did they stay and ignore what was happening around them? Did they cooperate and aid the Nazi’s? Did they flee to other countries? What would you have done?

We decided to finish the day with a canal boat cruise. The captain was a real character and very funny. She might have offended some people with her language, but I got a kick out of her outspokenness. When we first talked to her before we got on the boat she asked if we were from England. We told her no, from California. Her reply was “What the f**k are you doing here?” Lol!

It was after 7:00 when we headed back to the train station. The city has become much more crowded as the day went on and now the King’s Day festivities have already begun. Tomorrow should be interesting.

Monday, April 25 was rainy and windy. After 5 weeks of doing a lot of walking every day my foot really hurts. We decided to keep it low key today and explored our more immediate area, so we only walked 5 miles. I needed the break. These are some of the pictures I took.

Tomorrow we go to Amsterdam for the day. It will be interesting to see how it is the day before King’s Day.

On Sunday, April 24 it was time to say goodbye to my beloved Paris. This trip is about new experiences and although we have been to Amsterdam twice it has been a very long time, and we were there so briefly we didn’t see much. Haarlem is very close to Amsterdam and I wanted the smaller town experience after the larger cities on this trip. We had to take 3 trains to get to Amsterdam, changing (and changing stations, though close to each other) in Lille, France and again in Brussels. We got to Amsterdam and after spending too much time trying to buy a transportation card that we ended up not getting, we bought single one way tickets to Haarlem. It’s about a 15 minute train ride. Then we found out trains weren’t going to Haarlem today because of track work. We had to take a train to another station, then it took at least 20 minutes to find the bus to Haarlem. After it dropped us off at the train station we began walking to the house where we will be staying for the next week. We arrived about 1 1/2 hours later than expected and our Airbnb host was waiting for us. She’s a lovely lady and we really lucked out with this rental. It’s a 3 story house. She lives on the ground floor and we have the top two floors with a separate entrance. It’s very roomy and comfortable. Thankfully there’s a bathroom on both levels because the stairs are so steep I’d sure hate to have to use them in the middle of the night. After starting a load of laundry we went to the grocery store for some provisions.

This is flower season in the Netherlands and after two years of being locked down because of the coronavirus they are ready to make up for lost time. Today was the flower parade. I can’t remember where it started, but it took two hours to reach Haarlem, the ending point. I took a couple of pictures of floats on our way to the store, but I didn’t get a very good one because it was so crowded.

There is a fantastic square lined with restaurants and plenty of outdoor dining just around the corner from us. After getting fully settled in we set off to get a drink and a bite to eat. It was packed with people, but we finally found a table and enjoyed people watching and just being there. I took this photo as we were leaving. A number of people had left by then. I’m really looking forward to this week.

Saturday, April 23 is our last day in Paris. We decided to go back to the Carnavalet Museum to see what we had missed yesterday. This museum covers Paris history from prehistoric times until now. It’s really fascinating,

From there we went to Galleries Lafayette, the most beautiful department store I’ve ever seen. They have a rooftop deck with a great view.

We had to go to the Eiffel Tower area to pick up a couple of books I bought, so we had to cross the river. We found ourselves back at the Tuileries, where we took advantage of a couple of empty chairs and the opportunity for me to rest my poor aching foot.

As soon as we left the Tuileries it started to rain. We picked up the books and decided to have an early dinner since we have to get going so early tomorrow. The place we wanted didn’t work out, and we found ourselves at Cafe du Marche on Rue Cler, next to the hotel where we stayed on our first trip to Paris in 2006. We walked to the Eiffel Tower and FaceTimed with Jamie so she could make the walk with us. After a frustrating time getting back to the apartment (2 buses we wanted turned out to be out of service and we ended up walking in a huge circle) we got ready for our early departure tomorrow.

This has been a wonderful week in my favorite city. We’ve seen enough without rushing around and were able to just soak in being here. We’ve spent time with enjoyable people, which has been a treat since we’ve been so isolated at home because of Covid. Sure, there have been some frustrations, but that’s part of life and part of traveling. Sunday is the Presidential election here in France and there is potential for some political unrest. I’d say we unintentionally timed our trip perfectly. By the time the election results are in we will be settled in to our apartment in Haarlem. I hate to say goodbye to Paris, but I’m looking forward to our week in the Netherlands. I can’t believe we left home 5 weeks ago. It seems like yesterday.

Friday, April 22 we finally got to spend time with our son, Philippe. Our time with him started a little later than we had planned because he got tied up with a work problem, but we will take any time we can get. We met him at the Porte de Pantin metro station and we went to the Parc de la Villette. He had bought tickets for us to see an exposition at the park that was all about balloons and inflatables. It was very unique and interesting. We were a little early for our timed entry, to we walked around this huge park a bit first.

After we left the exposition we took the metro to Châtelet. This is a very busy metro stop with a lot of trains. It’s crazy and I usually avoid it at all costs. Being with Philippe he knew exactly which train car to be on for the best position to get out by the escalator and get the heck out of there. There is a big Westfield Mall there that we cut through to get to the bar where he works. He’s a very busy guy, going to school and interning for a degree in IT, bartending and he’s a DJ. He made us drinks at the bar and then he made himself a special concoction that he made up. He poured us each a shot glass full of his drink and it was delicious, and potentially dangerous. It went down way too easy.

We went to a restaurant called Florida for dinner. We sat outside and watched the busy Friday night crowd in the area. Too soon it was time to walk back to the bar to pick up Jim’s bag because Philippe had to work.

Earlier in the day we went to the Carnavalet Museum, which is about the history of Paris. It’s a large museum and we didn’t get through the entire thing. We hope to return Saturday. We briefly went back to the apartment and then went down to the water nearby. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow so this was the last opportunity.

One more day to go in Paris. Even though I’ve been here 7 times for a total of about 50 days this has still not been enough time to see everything we wanted. Hopefully we will be back again some day.

Thursday, April 21 we wanted to hit up places we hadn’t managed to get to yet. We started the morning with a little splurge, breakfast at Carette in Place des Vosges. It’s probably the most beautiful and the most famous Place (square) in Paris. It’s only about a 3 minute walk from our apartment.

After a quick trip to the store afterwards for some necessities we dropped them off and headed for the Left Bank to look for books at Shakespeare & Co., a bookstore that has English language books. Too bad they didn’t have what I wanted.

We headed back for the Right Bank in search of a pet store I have gone into on every other trip to Paris. I couldn’t let trip #7 go by without seeing the cute puppies. Unfortunately the store no longer appears to be there. We continued to walk and eventually reached the Louvre. We didn’t go in and have no plans to on this trip.

We walked on to the Tuileries. On this beautiful, sunny day it was perfect for soaking up some rays and appreciating the beauty of it.

It was time to move on to something else we had neglected to see in our first 4 days in Paris…the Eiffel Tower. We went to the Trocadero first for the best view from across the river.

We then crossed the river for a close up. I’m sorry we did. It’s all blockaded off with clear glass panels. Presumably for security reasons. I understand it, but don’t like it. Unless you have a ticket to go up you can no longer get too close. I’m happy I was able to see it in the before times.

On we went to see more on our way to a late lunch. We know we weren’t having dinner tonight. We saw these while walking to lunch.

Time for lunch on I’lle Saint-Louie. We enjoyed dining under the trees at Le Flore en I’lle, just opposite from Notre Dame. As we approached we saw there were satellite trucks and a heavy law enforcement presence, so we weren’t sure what was happening. After we were seated at the table we could hear drums in the distance. Soon we saw the beginnings of a parade that was being filmed, presumably by news stations. Men of all ages in military uniforms marched across the bridge and over to the rear of Notre Dame. Unfortunately I took a video which I can’t post here and didn’t get any pictures.

It was time to get to yet another evening gathering. I’ve never met up with so many people in Paris before. This should be the last group event of the trip. It was a good time. The restaurant was closed for this private party. I think everyone enjoyed it.

On Wednesday, April 20 we had a food tour scheduled in Montmartre with Chef PJ, a local chef and food tour guide. He took us to a boulangerie (bread), fromagèrie (cheese), the meat shop, wine shop and the fruit & vegetable market, teaching is how to determine the best shops and finest foods and that it best to buy seasonally for the highest quality and best prices.

We then went to Chef PJ’s restaurant, where we had 4 wines, escargot, breads, cheeses and Beef Bourguignon.

After all that food he took us to a chocolate shop, where we were each given 2 macarons and 2 pieces of chocolate of our choice, then we went to a crêperie, where we each got a crepe and champagne. This tour that started at 11:00 and was supposed to be finished at 3:00 didn’t actually finish until 5:00. We had a great time. Chef PJ was knowledgeable, personable and funny.

After we left there we met up with a bunch of people that are members of a group I belong to. I’ve seen some of them on Zoom, but the only one I know in real life is Sharyn. It was fun chatting with them and our common love of Paris. There’s another meetup tomorrow of a different group I belong to. We will see if there’s time for that. It depends on what we do tomorrow.

On Tuesday, April 19 we went to Vaux-le-Vicomte with Sharyn. It’s about a 45 minute train ride and then 10 minute or so taxi ride from Paris. When we arrived at the château we noticed a man was having a medical emergency by the roadside. A woman was with him and another man was trying to help. Jim went to see what he could do and even with the language barrier he tried to make him comfortable until the fire department came. A few other people joined in as well to help. It took about 20 minutes for them to show up. The man was diabetic and seemed to be going into shock. When the firefighters arrived we left them to do their job and went in to the château. I later noticed the firefighters leaving and the man was still there. I suppose he was stabilized and refused further treatment.

Vaux-le-Vicomte is the château that inspired Louis XIV to build Versailles. This château is smaller and more livable. The grounds are expansive and there was no way to see it all.

After returning to Paris we went to dinner at Bullion Racine to remember our friend Kitty, who passed away last month. She loved to travel and enjoyed the finer things in life. Our friend, David, suggested we have a nice meal in her memory and we did just that. She would have approved of the decor, the food and the wine. We toasted to her and reminisced, telling stories of time spent with her. She will be missed by many people.