Montmatre

We had a walking tour of Montmatre. We got there early enough to have breakfast at Cafe Richard's. I had cafe Americano and a croissant sitting on the sidewalk watching the foot traffic, the bike traffic and the vehicle traffic. Later we saw an accident between a bicyclist and a taxi. Both were yelling at each other and the taxi driver started to chase the bicyclist. Our guide said both parties were at fault.

Apartment were once cheap in Montmatre which is why many artists, especially impressionistic artists, lived there. This is where Van Goth lived with his brother. This is a very hilly and unique neighborhood. We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe. The waiters were energetic and entertaining.

This is the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur de Montmatre. We waited in line for 30 minutes before we could get inside.

View from the front of the basilica. Statue of St. Michael on the left and Joan of Arc on the right.

A beautiful basilica.

 

 

 

I Love Paris In The Springtime

 We are staying in a Paris apartment. Out the window of our apartment we can see the very tippy top of the Eiffel tower. Our apartment is on the 5th floor. The bathroom appears to be in a broom closet. To flush the toilet you pull a chain on the overhead water tank. To wash your hands you have to walk to the shower room or the kitchen. We share the bathroom and the kitchen with others. The stairs to our aprtment are curving and have those triangle shaped steps as we ascent 88 steps. We walked to the Eiffel tower where we joined a tour which meant we didn't have long to wait in line. We took an elevator to the second floor and learned some history of the tower. From there we continued to the top without our guide. We saw Eiffel's office where they had a replica of Thomas Edison meeting with Alexander Gustave Eiffel. We walked around the top and ate some pistachio macaroons. We saw the landmarks of the places we wanted to visit. On the third floor is a net bridge that you can walk across the opening but we said  no thanks. After our tour of the Eiffel tour we took a boat trip on the Seine and learned more about Paris. For dinner we ate at a sidewalk cafe watching all the people stroll by. One thing I like about Paris is that some men wear classy leather shoes that really look nice. 

Our view from the top of the Eiffel tower.

Our view from the bottom of the Eiffel tower. That blue diagonal line is the mesh bridge you can pay extra to walk across. We passed on that.

War Museums In Bastogne

We went to a smaller museum first where we saw Patton's coat. Bastogne has cement markers around town showing every spot that Patton gave a speech.

The town was bombed on December 25th, 1944. Here is a diorama showing what it was like to be in a bomb shelter on that Christmas night.

Being in a bomb shelter during a raid must have been so frightening.

After lunch we walked a couple of miles to the larger museum. This museum was full of artifacts (helmets, bullets, grenades, uniforms, boots, etc) . But it also had the stories of four people that followed us throughout our tour. The four people included a young German soldier, an American soldier from Arkansas, a 13 year old boy living is Bastogne, and a 25 year old female teacher from a farm outside Bastogne. These were real people and their stories made this museum a hit in my book.

 

Private Tour

Today we had a private WWII tour given by Bob. Bob picked us up at 8:30 a.m. and we didn't get back until 5 p.m. The tour was personalized regarding my uncle. We started at the railway station in Saint Vith. The American forces protected this railway for three days against the Germans which gave time for American forces to join them.

The railway has been removed so now it is a bike path.

Bob has been studying world war two for 19 years.

He gives a great tour. Part of our tour was spent in Germany.

This is the Our river. Getting troops across was important in world war two because it is too deep to ford without a bridge. We think my uncle may have detonated several bridges. He also might have been involved in fixing up some rubber boats and laying wooden boards on top so American forces could get across.

We stopped at another town to visit a church. There was a woman in there mopping floors. Bob and the woman started talking. She was a young girl when the town was bombed. She and her family hid in the church basement for protection. Her father was taken as a prisoner of war by the Americans. When Christmas came they celebrated together. Only her father knew how to play the organ so he played holiday music on the organ for Americans and prisoners of war.

A beautiful red and gold banner, important to the church, was stolen during world war two. Forty years later, the cloth was returned to the church by the son of the man who stole it. The church goers were happy to see it back.

These are knee high or higher sturdy cement structures called dragon's teeth. Germany installed 5K of dragon's teeth to prevent tanks from entering Germany. The teeth are connected under the grass in both directions. They can be removed with dynamite but that gets expensive. The eventual solution was to pour tons of sand on top of them and drive over the sand.

This is an American tank pointed at the medieval town near Bastogne.

We had a fine day with Bob.

Travel To Bastonge

 This morning we got up early to leave our houseboat in Amsterdam. As we hauled our luggage out of the house the coot was there sitting on a nest built on a floating tire. We said goodby to the coot and headed for the train. We took the Eurostar train into Brussels. This was a fast and smooth riding train. From Brussels we took a slower train into Belgium. From there we took a bus that wove through winding, curvy roads to our final destination of Bastonge, Belgium. We walked toward downtown not knowing exactly where to go. A woman on the sidewalk pointed us in the right direction. We found a tourist building where we got a map of the building and exact directions. Now here we are in Bastonge, ready to start learning about the battle of the bulge. We can tell some things are different already. Cash is preferred in Bastonge. Credit cards were preferred in the Netherlands. French is the predominant language in Bastonge. English was predominant in the Netherlands. We will get the hang of this eventually. 

Annelies Frank

This houseboat comes with a pet coot. Here the coot is next to the dock between the house and the road.

We visited the Rek Museum to see the art work on display. The place was crowded with tourists and school groups. After that we had lunch at a cafe in the subway system.

At 2 p.m. we had an Anne Frank walking tour. We walked around the Jewish Quarter. Anne's read name was Annelies. This is at the memorial for the Jews and Roma who died in World War II.

This memorial is for the deaf people murdered by the Nazis. The location is outside the deaf school. The deaf school is now an art school.

As the Nazis took away more and more civil liberties the dock workers had enough and had a strike. All those involved in the strike were killed. More civil liberties were taken away. And the Dutch resistance grew.

There is a part of town called Dam Square. This was the original center of town and where they first dam was built. This is a war memorial. The chained people in the center of the statue represent the downtrodden. The men with barking dogs on the sides represents the fight against oppression. The woman above holding a child represents a peaceful future. Then we toured the Anne Frank house. Getting a ticket to tour the house is very difficult. When I was here ten years ago we couldn't get a ticket so I was happy to have one now. When we got to the part of the building where the family was actually hiding, people got very quiet and respectful. This was a moving experience that not everyone gets to enjoy.

We got home and our houseboat was warm from all the sunshine today. I left the door open so the hot air could escape. Our coot came by for a look see.

 

Zaanse Schans

Today we left to visit the Zaanse Schans area. Unfortunately I left my phone on the house boat so I have no pictures. The Zaanse Schans area has about 8 large windmills with other smaller ones. One cuts wood. One pulverizes materials for paint pigment. One is a mill. We walked around this large site for hours. Our first stop was the museum which explained what life was like there in the 1800's. This was very interesting. Part of this museum has a chocolate factory. We visited the chocolate factory and learned the process from grinding cocoa beans to making chocolate covered cookies. And we got a free cookie! After the museum I walked up the stairs of a tall observation deck. I saw a horned grebe swimming. I tried to get a picture with my cousin's phone but that bird was camera shy. We walked on to a weaver's house. The weavers in this house weaved sail cloth for ocean voyages out of hemp. After that we walked on to a windmill that ground pigment for paint. As we climbed up the ladder and out the door I was frightened as a large windmill blade swung through the air right in front of me. Most of the other windmills were not open yet but we walked down the length of them. At the other end the windmills looked better because they were facing us. Back near the museum we stopped at a famous restaurant that served pancakes as big as your plate. I had a pancake with apricot preserves and whipped cream. All those carbs but I have to say it was good. The pancake was more crepe than pancake. After that we stopped at a wooden shoe demonstration where a guy showed the audience how the shores are made with the help of machines. They had a great supply of wooden shoes to sell but I know better. I used to wear Dr. Scholl sandals so I know what walking on wood feels like. We took the bus back into town and got off at the Centraal Center. Outside the Centraal Center are ferry boats that will take you across the bay at no charge. We took the ferry boat that was crowded with pedestrians and bicyclists with their bikes. We walked to a tall building that we saw yesterday with swings at the top. This is the love tower. When we arrived in Amsterdam we bought the I Amsterdam city card which pays for many museums and buses and trams and subways (but not trains). We got to go up the tower in the A'Dam lookout. As the elevator rises 100 meters high a light show is at the top ceiling which we can see through a glass roof on the elevator car. We walked around the balcony on top of the building but chose not to pay extra to ride on the swings. Food and drinks are also available up there. As we left we saw an eye museum across the street. Our I Amsterdam city card paid for our admission here too. An exhibit showed the history of how movies are made. We got to watch a couple old movies as well. We had another great day in Amsterdam.