Wednesday night, April 11, I flew into Amsterdam, took a train from the airport to Amsterdam Centraal Station (yes, there are two As in the station name) and met Bryce, who has returned to the Western world after 6.5 months spent in Africa. Bryce had been active during the day in Amsterdam: he rented a bike (I don’t have the courage – Amsterdam is teeming chaotically with bikes, trams, cars, and pedestrians), and visited the Van Gogh museum, which I saw when backpacking with the girls in 2004. It was rather late at night by the time I arrived since I lost an hour in the time difference, so we stayed in our first night. On Thursday, we started out with the Anne Frank House using the tickets I purchased online weeks before, thereby passing up the significant queue and walking right into the exhibit.
It was a moving experience. I of course read the book The Diary of Anne Frank many years ago in school, but never learned a lot of the background information. The building the family hid in was a canal-side warehouse for manufacturing a gelling product used to make jam. The average visitor would never guess that there were additional rooms in higher floors of the building, and it certainly didn’t seem like a home, as it was really used for manufacturing. We walked past the swinging bookcase and entered the ‘home’ that the 8 hideaways inhabited for their two years in hiding. Without the furniture, it seemed more spacious than it actually must have been. And you have to remember that dark curtains were hung over windows, they didn’t set foot outside once for two years, and no noise could be made during working hours when the factory workers were in the warehouse. This included the sound made from plumbing to run water from the sink or flush the toilet. The family was given away to the Nazis by an anonymous tip, still unknown to this day. The mother died at the camp and the two daughters, Anne and Margot, perished from typhoid at Bergen-Belsen where they had been taken away from their mother. It's believed that Anne and Margot died a few mere weeks from the liberation. Only Anne’s father, Otto Frank, survived; he had been held at Auschwitz until the liberation in 1945, and then recovered his daughter’s diary once he'd lost hope she'd survived, to finally publish it in 1947. It was a sad and moving experience to tour the house.
After lunch in the large Nieuwmarkt square a bit south of the train station, we ventured to the dock area and got onto a canal tour. Amsterdam, as with many cities based around rivers and canals, is best seen by boat. We had another beautiful, breezy and sunny day and the view of the canal houses was fantastic. The audio tour was in 4 different languages, so the information included was limited in light of the amount of time it took to deliver each message 4 times.
We then made our way to the Oude Kerk (Old Church), located in the heart of the red light district, and so in stark contrast with its surroundings. As we approached the church, I realized I was the only ‘non-working’ woman in the streets and the wares being advertised were not the kind to take home with you. Never has a church felt so much like a ‘haven’ when we went inside. The church has a very peaceful interior, and though not on the scale in terms of size or beauty of Notre Dame or St. Paul’s, it contains one of the largest and most elegant organs in the world and has a few other interesting carvings and features.
Bryce and I enjoyed the fading sunlight on a canal-side patio over a Heineken – what else? – before heading back to the B&B to rest before dinner.
Friday began far too early for us both – I had booked us on the first train leaving Amsterdam bound for Paris leaving just before 7 am. It was worth it to arrive at 11 am and have much of the day stretching before us, though. We packed a lot into the afternoon and evening.
We started at Notre Dame after checking into our very ‘basic’ hotel in the 2nd arrondissement.
After walking around the vast and stunning interior, we climbed to the top of the cathedral, which offers one of the best (in my opinion) views of Paris. At the top, we could see beyond the stone gargoyles to Sacre Coeur high on the hill to our right, the Seine running alongside us as it splits around Île de la Cité and Île de St. Louis, and the Eiffel Tower shooting up to the sky straight ahead and to the left. We even went into the south tower and saw Quasi Modo’s bell, then climbed all the way to the top of the right tower for an incredible panoramic view of Paris.
The hundreds of stairs in tight, winding stone passageways both up to the top and down again left me pretty weak, so Bryce and I ponied up for an expensive touristy brasserie right next to the cathedral for a glass of wine and a crepe. Refreshed, we walked west along the river to the Louvre, where it’s free after 6 PM if you’re under 25 and discounted otherwise.
It was nice to see the Louvre on a Friday night; it was a different crowd. The discount certainly appealed to many 18-26 year olds, as well as others who enjoy a similar discount, such as teachers. We caught all the classics: The Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venice d’Île, and of course, the Mona Lisa. We also walked around many galleries with Greek statues and saw the original foundation of the Louvre when it served as a fortress rather than a palace. Even after all the times I’ve visited the museum, the sheer size of the building still amazes me. What must it have been like to call a place like that ‘home’ and to have guests and receptions in the vast halls? Even with its wealth of art attracting visitors from all over the world, many entering on more than one occasion, it is too large to ever view the entire collection.
Tired from our 2.5 hours in the Louvre, Bryce and I enjoyed the warm evening air outside in the courtyard and admired the lit buildings before mustering up the energy to walk up the grand boulevard towards the Opéra, also quite a sight in blazing yellow light, to find a restaurant serving authentic French food in the area. Our choice included a very reasonable prix fixe meal with great French dishes to choose from.
We collapsed after a day that started at 5:45 AM, included a 4-hour train ride with all the sightseeing above, and ended around midnight. We did well on our first day in Paris.
The second day proved no less efficient. We started out by taking a walk from our B&B all the way past the Louvre and down the Champs Elysées. We also detoured slightly to see the Grand Palais,
a beautiful building constructed for the exhibition in 1900, which has been under renovation for years. In my prior trips to Paris, the entire façade has been covered in scaffolding, so it was a new sight for me. We even were allowed a quick peek into the interior, a large open space for exhibition, lit naturally by the glass ceiling, and trimmed throughout with green, arabesque-style steel supports. We continued our walk up the Champs Elysées and I introduced Bryce to the sumptuous pastries of Ladurée. At the top of the street, we purchased tickets to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and enjoyed another beautiful bird’s eye view of Paris, with the Louvre stretching far before us and the Eiffel Tower rising much closer on our right.
At this point, it was time for lunch – I told you we were efficient!
Stomachs satisfied, we walked to the edge of the Seine and crossed over the Pont d’Alma to the other side to walk around the grounds of the Eiffel Tower. Again, the weather was truly cooperating – it wasn’t searing hot, but also not too cool. My only complaint would be that it was slightly hazy all weekend so distant monuments were harder to make out than usual. We relaxed on the grass under the immense tower completed in 1889 until it was time to change for dinner. We had booked a dinner cruise on the Seine and had to be there for boarding by 7:45 PM.
If you have never done one of these dinner cruises on the Seine, I highly recommend them. Bryce generously got us a table next to a window and we once again saw the best of a European city from the river, this time over live music, a 3-course dinner, and wine. It was beyond memorable. Notre Dame in particular is truly breathtaking at night all lit up, and best seen from the river. I will never forget this wonderful and perfect evening.
Sunday, our last day in Paris, we sought to round out the major sights of the city with the Musée D’Orsay in the morning and Sacré Coeur in the afternoon. The D’Orsay is my favorite museum in the world. It really has the best collection of Impressionist art I’ve ever seen, though the Art Institute in Chicago does a really great job as well. After going through the Impressionist gallery on the top floor, we enjoyed yet another great view of Paris from the terrace outside.
Sacré Coeur is in Montmartre, which was a bit too far from the D’Orsay to walk, so we hopped on the Metra and sped to the base of the great hill upon which the cathedral sits. There, we finally found some good ‘street crepes’ and we each got one handed to us over the counter and wrapped in a paper sleeve.
It was a moving experience. I of course read the book The Diary of Anne Frank many years ago in school, but never learned a lot of the background information. The building the family hid in was a canal-side warehouse for manufacturing a gelling product used to make jam. The average visitor would never guess that there were additional rooms in higher floors of the building, and it certainly didn’t seem like a home, as it was really used for manufacturing. We walked past the swinging bookcase and entered the ‘home’ that the 8 hideaways inhabited for their two years in hiding. Without the furniture, it seemed more spacious than it actually must have been. And you have to remember that dark curtains were hung over windows, they didn’t set foot outside once for two years, and no noise could be made during working hours when the factory workers were in the warehouse. This included the sound made from plumbing to run water from the sink or flush the toilet. The family was given away to the Nazis by an anonymous tip, still unknown to this day. The mother died at the camp and the two daughters, Anne and Margot, perished from typhoid at Bergen-Belsen where they had been taken away from their mother. It's believed that Anne and Margot died a few mere weeks from the liberation. Only Anne’s father, Otto Frank, survived; he had been held at Auschwitz until the liberation in 1945, and then recovered his daughter’s diary once he'd lost hope she'd survived, to finally publish it in 1947. It was a sad and moving experience to tour the house.
After lunch in the large Nieuwmarkt square a bit south of the train station, we ventured to the dock area and got onto a canal tour. Amsterdam, as with many cities based around rivers and canals, is best seen by boat. We had another beautiful, breezy and sunny day and the view of the canal houses was fantastic. The audio tour was in 4 different languages, so the information included was limited in light of the amount of time it took to deliver each message 4 times.We then made our way to the Oude Kerk (Old Church), located in the heart of the red light district, and so in stark contrast with its surroundings. As we approached the church, I realized I was the only ‘non-working’ woman in the streets and the wares being advertised were not the kind to take home with you. Never has a church felt so much like a ‘haven’ when we went inside. The church has a very peaceful interior, and though not on the scale in terms of size or beauty of Notre Dame or St. Paul’s, it contains one of the largest and most elegant organs in the world and has a few other interesting carvings and features.
Bryce and I enjoyed the fading sunlight on a canal-side patio over a Heineken – what else? – before heading back to the B&B to rest before dinner.
Friday began far too early for us both – I had booked us on the first train leaving Amsterdam bound for Paris leaving just before 7 am. It was worth it to arrive at 11 am and have much of the day stretching before us, though. We packed a lot into the afternoon and evening.
We started at Notre Dame after checking into our very ‘basic’ hotel in the 2nd arrondissement.
After walking around the vast and stunning interior, we climbed to the top of the cathedral, which offers one of the best (in my opinion) views of Paris. At the top, we could see beyond the stone gargoyles to Sacre Coeur high on the hill to our right, the Seine running alongside us as it splits around Île de la Cité and Île de St. Louis, and the Eiffel Tower shooting up to the sky straight ahead and to the left. We even went into the south tower and saw Quasi Modo’s bell, then climbed all the way to the top of the right tower for an incredible panoramic view of Paris.The hundreds of stairs in tight, winding stone passageways both up to the top and down again left me pretty weak, so Bryce and I ponied up for an expensive touristy brasserie right next to the cathedral for a glass of wine and a crepe. Refreshed, we walked west along the river to the Louvre, where it’s free after 6 PM if you’re under 25 and discounted otherwise.
It was nice to see the Louvre on a Friday night; it was a different crowd. The discount certainly appealed to many 18-26 year olds, as well as others who enjoy a similar discount, such as teachers. We caught all the classics: The Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venice d’Île, and of course, the Mona Lisa. We also walked around many galleries with Greek statues and saw the original foundation of the Louvre when it served as a fortress rather than a palace. Even after all the times I’ve visited the museum, the sheer size of the building still amazes me. What must it have been like to call a place like that ‘home’ and to have guests and receptions in the vast halls? Even with its wealth of art attracting visitors from all over the world, many entering on more than one occasion, it is too large to ever view the entire collection.
Tired from our 2.5 hours in the Louvre, Bryce and I enjoyed the warm evening air outside in the courtyard and admired the lit buildings before mustering up the energy to walk up the grand boulevard towards the Opéra, also quite a sight in blazing yellow light, to find a restaurant serving authentic French food in the area. Our choice included a very reasonable prix fixe meal with great French dishes to choose from.
We collapsed after a day that started at 5:45 AM, included a 4-hour train ride with all the sightseeing above, and ended around midnight. We did well on our first day in Paris.
The second day proved no less efficient. We started out by taking a walk from our B&B all the way past the Louvre and down the Champs Elysées. We also detoured slightly to see the Grand Palais,
a beautiful building constructed for the exhibition in 1900, which has been under renovation for years. In my prior trips to Paris, the entire façade has been covered in scaffolding, so it was a new sight for me. We even were allowed a quick peek into the interior, a large open space for exhibition, lit naturally by the glass ceiling, and trimmed throughout with green, arabesque-style steel supports. We continued our walk up the Champs Elysées and I introduced Bryce to the sumptuous pastries of Ladurée. At the top of the street, we purchased tickets to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and enjoyed another beautiful bird’s eye view of Paris, with the Louvre stretching far before us and the Eiffel Tower rising much closer on our right.At this point, it was time for lunch – I told you we were efficient!
Stomachs satisfied, we walked to the edge of the Seine and crossed over the Pont d’Alma to the other side to walk around the grounds of the Eiffel Tower. Again, the weather was truly cooperating – it wasn’t searing hot, but also not too cool. My only complaint would be that it was slightly hazy all weekend so distant monuments were harder to make out than usual. We relaxed on the grass under the immense tower completed in 1889 until it was time to change for dinner. We had booked a dinner cruise on the Seine and had to be there for boarding by 7:45 PM.
If you have never done one of these dinner cruises on the Seine, I highly recommend them. Bryce generously got us a table next to a window and we once again saw the best of a European city from the river, this time over live music, a 3-course dinner, and wine. It was beyond memorable. Notre Dame in particular is truly breathtaking at night all lit up, and best seen from the river. I will never forget this wonderful and perfect evening.
Sunday, our last day in Paris, we sought to round out the major sights of the city with the Musée D’Orsay in the morning and Sacré Coeur in the afternoon. The D’Orsay is my favorite museum in the world. It really has the best collection of Impressionist art I’ve ever seen, though the Art Institute in Chicago does a really great job as well. After going through the Impressionist gallery on the top floor, we enjoyed yet another great view of Paris from the terrace outside.
Sacré Coeur is in Montmartre, which was a bit too far from the D’Orsay to walk, so we hopped on the Metra and sped to the base of the great hill upon which the cathedral sits. There, we finally found some good ‘street crepes’ and we each got one handed to us over the counter and wrapped in a paper sleeve.
We picked the perfect time to visit the cathedral of Sacré Coeur – Sunday in the early evening. We sat along the side and listened to the choir singing for the 4 PM mass; it was incredible. We also witnessed the effect of the colorful and abundant stained glass windows as the light faded through them and onto the white stone walls of the interior. It was a visit to Sacré Coeur like I’ve never experienced before. It was getting close to time for me to make my way to the airport, so Bryce and I parted ways – a difficult task even though it was only going to be 3 days before we met up again. I was flying EasyJet back to London and Bryce was taking a train to a train in order to get all the way south to Madrid to visit his cousin there.
1 comment:
Yuck!
Heineken. That's not even worth mentioned in the same sentence with the divine golden drink called beer.
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