Day 14

The Carmargue wetlands are a natural reserve in the southeast part of France, not far from Arles (largest river delta in all Western Europe). Wild horses and bulls run free there and so jumped at the chance to ride horses in this preserve.

From there headed to Marseilles and stared at the Vieux Port and the rest of the city on the terrace enjoying a Pastis! Great views of the two Forts at the entrance to the harbour, Fort Saint-Jean and and Saint-Nikolaas (buit in 1660) and the Marseilles Cathedral built in 1896).

Day 13

After spending some time at Musee Granet in Aix , droppped by Les Deux Garcons (where Cezanne hung out) on Le Cours Mirabeau for a last cappucino before heading northwest to Arles.

First a stop in Les Baux-de-Provence, remains of an ancient castle, Chateau des Baux, built in the 10th century and one of the most visited sites in all of France.

In Arles, the Ampitheatre with a capacity 20,000 is the 2nd oldest Roman amphitheatre in the world (oldest is in Pompeii) and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Then it was used for chariot racing and bloody hand-to-hand batttles, now bull fighting, plays and concerts.

Ended up at Le Cafe La Nuit where Van Gogh painted his second most famous painting, Cafe Terrace at Night (1888) on the Place du Forum (his most famous is Starry Night).

Day 12

Spent the day bumbering around Aix-en-Provence looking in shops, markets, bookshops and cafes. From Cours Mirabeau (beautiful tree-lined street with shops) to Hotel de Ville to Cathedral Saint-Sauveur in the medieval part of Aix and the many plazas and fountains in between.

Aix is often referred to as the city of a thousand fountains. Ended up at a restaurant at Aix's most famous fountain, La Fonatine de La Rotonde, for dinner.

Day 11

Heading to Aix-en-Provence in the South of France today by TGV. Amazing scenery.

The TGV now runs fast trains from Brussels to Paris in 1 hour 20 min and a 3 hour train from Paris to Aix-en-Provence, home of Paul Cezanne, the famous French impressionist painter.

These trains operate at 300km per hour, similar to the bullet trains in Japan. California will be soon be undertaking its most expensive public works ever by linking San Francisco with Los Angeles by fast train, travel time will be 2 hours. Estimated cost, $45Billion.

Day 10

Spent a relaxing Sunday in and around Sint-Martens-Latem, a rather exclusive suburb of Gent, Belgium famous for its painters (Gustave de Smet and others), beautiful walking trails and magnificent homes. The area is unique, as it has forested sanded dunes formed in the last Ice Age.

Down a cobblestone path or 'weg' from where we stayed is the village of Deurle where we enjoyed beers and waffles and watched roosters, geese and horses go by. The area has changed very little since 1774 as shown on a map of that time.

Day 9

En route to Gent, in the Flemish speaking area of Belgium. We're here to sample Belgium beer.

From the 11th to 13th centuries, there was only one other city in Europe larger than Gent, Paris. Much of the Gent's medieval's archicture has remained intact, the top sites being the Three Towers of Ghent (Sint Niklaas church, Sint Baafs cathedral, and Belfort belfry tower). Also in town is an amazing castle (Gravensteen, castle of the counts) built in the 1100s and a super modern restaurant called Belga Queen.

Day 8

In Den Haag today, site of the Dutch government and royalty. Drove by the Dutch royal residence (Huis ten Bosch or House in the Woods) and then stopped into the Gemeente Musuem built in Art Deco style in the 1930s where we saw a Jeff Wall photo of Concord Pacific Place!

Then to one of Den Haag's suburbs, Wateringen, an area of Holland known for its tomatoes, cucumbers and 'kassen' or glass houses, greenhouses.

Day 7

Spent the day in Leiden today, site of the oldest university in the Netherlands (Universiteit Leiden, founded in 1575 by William Prince of Orange) and known as the birthplace of Dutch masters, Vermeer, Rembrandt and van Goyen. In the 17th century, the first settlers of New Amsterdam (now New York) lived in Leiden before they left by ship to the 'New World.'

Ended up visiting a traditional Dutch windwill (De Valk, built in 1743), Horticus Botanicus (one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, founded 1590) and Museum Volkenkunde (ethnology museum).

Day 6

Woke up to a traditional Dutch breakfast, buns with chocolate sprinkles ('hagelslag'), cheese and coldcuts. Spent the day at Noordwijk, enjoying the dunes and beach life on the North Sea.

The view from the dunes is the entire Dutch coastline from Scheveningen, the beach town near Den Haag to Zandvoort, near Amsterdam. Dunes are common along the Dutch coast, a natural protection of the land from flooding.

Day 5

Went to Bergijnhof in Amsterdam today, an historic collection of traditional Dutch houses dating from the 15th century.

In Sassenheim and Noordwijk now, on Holland's Bloemen Route. Noordwijk is a typical Dutch beach resort on the North Sea. The Bloemen Route stretches from Leiden to Haarlem, about 25km, consisting primarily of tulips, hyacinths and daffodils.

Day 4

Off to Dugerdam, a traditional 'dijkdorp' (dike village) about an hour by bike. This village used to be on the Zuiderzee (South Sea) but in the 1920s, the 'Afsluitdijk' was built the water is now a freshwater lake. Enjoyed a lovely view at De Oude Taveerne and sample Dutch delicacies, such as kroketten, bitterballen, bamiballen, frikandel, and Gouda cheese.

Ended up back at Cafe de Jaren, with terrace on the Amstel river watching Dutch sloepen (boats).

Day 3

What else do you really want to do in Holland? Ride a bike, a 'fiets', so that's what we did. Followed the crazy Dutchman race around the city heading to De Pijp, the student, bohemian part of Amsterdam.

My favourite street today was Haarlemmer Straat where they have cool shops, bookshops and cafes. We visited the West Indisch Huis on Haarlemmerstraat where in 1625, the West Indian Company decided to set up New Amsterdam, now known as New York. Interestingly, Harlem in NYC is the same distance from downtown NY as the city of Haarlem in Holland is to Amsterdam. That's why they called it Harlem. At the end of Haarlemmerstraat is a big gate called HaarlemmerPoort that marks the road west to Haarlem.

Day 2

Arrived in Amsterdam and headed to Silodam, a former wheat storage facility overlooking 't IJ, the river. When the storage facility was no longer in use, squatters moved in and during the 70s developed it into an artist community and cultural hub. These same people saved it from demolition and it was converted to a luxury condo development just before the turn of the millenium.

Headed to the College Hotel, a former school built in 1894 that is now a luxury hotel run as a training school for those in the hospitality industry, and then checked out the nightlife at hip Reguliersdwarsstraat behind Amsterdam's famous Flower Market.

Day 1

At airport, on my way to Holland, how much Dutch will I remember from class? I suspect very little, a shame since it was 2 nights a week for a month. Lazy me.

Hoe gaat het met jou (how are you?), Kom is ever hier lekker ding (come over here good looking), Neuken en de keuken (don't ask!). I suspect ordering a meal is going to be a challenge. A drink I got- Heineken alstublieft!

If you get a chance, check out my presentation from Dutch class, proof I did learn something. Ik ben Gerrit, mijn Canadese naam is Gary. It's all coming back.

I've posted this pic of Ruud van Nilsterooy, famous Dutch voetballer, just because. If you're wondering, no, he didn't play in the recent 2010 FIFA World Cup (knee injury). Tot ziens vrienden and lekker wijf!