Dates – April 30th 2005
While my Mom was in town in April and early May, 2005, we made a day trip out to the Champagne region. We rented a car (another Renault Modus) and drove out to, first, Epernay to visit the Moet + Chandon and Mercier wineries and then on to Reims. We only did one formal wine tour (Moet + Chandon) which was quite nice, but felt very commercialized. The trip was great, but, hopefully next time we’ll be able to spend some more time there and visit some of the smaller, family-run wineries.
April 30, 2005
April 18, 2005
Amsterdam
Dates – April 15th – 17th 2005
We arrived in Amsterdam on Friday afternoon and immediately it felt very different from many of the other cities we’ve visited in Europe. Amsterdam has a very laid-back, almost college-dorm feeling to it. I think this has to do with its compact size, huge numbers of bicycles and a very young and energetic crowd. Our first sight was to visit the Heineken Experience (picture) which is basically a glorified television commercial. It was actually a lot of fun since you get three beers with admission and a couple of interesting rides, but there really wasn’t much “informative” about the museum. For dinner, we went to a small Indonesian restaurant recommended by one of the workers at Heineken Experience. The food was excellent, and spicy.
On Saturday, we walked around town amongst the numerous canals and quaint streets of Amsterdam (picture). We has pancakes for breakfast (picture), and took a canal cruise (picture) in the afternoon. In the evening, we went to a club in Leidsplein and had a great time.
On Sunday, our last day, we spent the morning visiting the Rijksmuseum (picture) and the Van Gogh museum. We also took a tour of a diamond jeweler and visited the flower market and bought some tulips. We then took a late flight back to Paris.
We arrived in Amsterdam on Friday afternoon and immediately it felt very different from many of the other cities we’ve visited in Europe. Amsterdam has a very laid-back, almost college-dorm feeling to it. I think this has to do with its compact size, huge numbers of bicycles and a very young and energetic crowd. Our first sight was to visit the Heineken Experience (picture) which is basically a glorified television commercial. It was actually a lot of fun since you get three beers with admission and a couple of interesting rides, but there really wasn’t much “informative” about the museum. For dinner, we went to a small Indonesian restaurant recommended by one of the workers at Heineken Experience. The food was excellent, and spicy.
On Saturday, we walked around town amongst the numerous canals and quaint streets of Amsterdam (picture). We has pancakes for breakfast (picture), and took a canal cruise (picture) in the afternoon. In the evening, we went to a club in Leidsplein and had a great time.
On Sunday, our last day, we spent the morning visiting the Rijksmuseum (picture) and the Van Gogh museum. We also took a tour of a diamond jeweler and visited the flower market and bought some tulips. We then took a late flight back to Paris.
