Love Love Love Amsterdam!

We had an awesome time in Amsterdam and we are already talking about when we should come back.

One of the first things we noticed is all the bikes. Everyone rides their bikes everywhere, packing everything onto them from groceries to babies (sometimes more than one baby). Below is a picture of a 3 storey bike parkade outside Centraal Station.

Our first day (June 24) Andrew and I stopped into one of Amsterdams' famous coffee shops. It must be a popular spot because there were pictures of both Brad Pitt and George Clooney behind the bar.

Next we went on a canal cruise to learn about Amsterdam.

June 25, we went walking around Amsterdam. It is the most gorgeous city we have ever seen. There are so many beautiful canals (over 100km).

Andrew and I have taken up people watching. We spent some time sitting on this bench watching people go about their daily activities. This is actually a large bridge over a canal. The buildings everywhere are really beautiful.

We also spent part of two afternoons at this bench looking onto a canal watching boat traffic.

This is the canal we were looking onto (our spot was on the left part of the canal where it narrows). Here, we saw a boat collide into the wall, a boat traffic jam and, what made me laugh so hard I cried, 3 girls trying to get down the canal on a paddleboat. They couldn't figure out the steering, so they went swerving from one side of the canal to the other hitting the walls. At one point they thought they had it figured out, and started to clap and cheer, only to find themselves spinning into a wall seconds later. We almost died.

Here is a picture of some of the boat traffic on a bigger canal.

Today we went to the Anne Frank House. It was really interesting to see the house and the memorial. 

We also found the best grocery store of all times called Albert Heijn. We found the best cheese there and baguettes that had just come out of the oven and were still hot. 

Tomorrow we are off to Brussels. We are going to really miss Amsterdam, but we will be back... someday.

F the French!

If it wasn't already official we DETEST the French. The are so miserable. To be clear, we entered France with an open mind and disbelief of the stereotypes. But they made sure that they earnestly reinforced those stereotypes. Anyways, we knew that today wasn't going to be a great day because we were traveling on the train (95% of which was French run, and therefore unreliable) from 6:30am (from Nice) to 5pm (to Amsterdam). At least, that was how it was supposed to go... Our first train (Nice to Paris) ended up being 45 minutes late, which made us miss all our later trains. This was strange to us as the train left on time, and is alleged to be the fastest train in the world... So, Andrew and I waited in line in Paris to sort out tickets for other trains (as our schedule was now shot). The smug fellow that was helping us was rude, true to his culture, and since I have had enough of rude French people I was really rude to him (and I'm glad I was, because he deserved it). So the count goes as follows for French people that Amy has yelled at: 3 (breakfast lady in Paris hostel, receptionist in Nice that kept turning off our AC, and ticket salesperson in Paris). People Andrew has yelled at: 0. I blame this only on the fact that Andrew didn't really communicate with these people since he doesn't speak French. He mostly just stood back and felt awkward... something I normally do.

Anyways, we got the trains sorted out, but it turned out to be a really long day (we didn't get in until 10:30pm). The Dutch are such a breath of fresh air. As we got to Amsterdam there was a really nice and helpful train employee who told us which train to take to get to the station near our hotel. Then, as we got off the train and walked outside the train station looking like lost/stupid tourists, a very nice guy rolls up on his bicycle, takes out his earphones, smiles at us, and asks if we need any help, and then proceeds to point out our hotel... this would NEVER happen in France. Next, the receptionist at the hotel pulls out a map of the city and begins to point out all of the things we should see and do, marking them off and answering all our questions with a friendliness we are now wholly unfamiliar with after a month in France. To make things even better the hotel and room is amazing! We have free, wired internet in our room finally, a fridge and a safe, and, most importantly, a king sized bed.

We are really excited to explore Amsterdam tomorrow... after some much needed sleep!

Victory & Aurevoir Les Miserables

We found SAND!!! We went to Cannes yesterday (June 21) and had an amazing day, mostly because we found sand. We spend the entire day on the beach.

Andrew and I both went in the water to play. The waves really picked up in the afternoon and kicked our asses!

Here is proof that Andrew is not wearing his underwear swimming anymore, although he is a bit sunburned (we went shopping for shorts for him).

After the day at the beach we tried our first espresso. We both agreed that they were nothing special. I don't think we will be coffee drinkers anytime soon, espressos included.

Today (June 22) we went back to Cannes and enjoyed the beach again. We tried our first French crepes and didn't think that they were anything special either. But it was nice to have hot food.

Tomorrow we are off to Amsterdam and we are so excited to be leaving the country of les Miserables. We love the French landscape but the people leave a lot to be desired.

Beach Bums

Since we've been in Nice we've done pretty much nothing other than work on our tans and learning how to properly apply sunscreen (Andrew slightly burned a part of his stomach and I slightly burned one of my shoulders). We haven't been bringing our camera to the beach for fear that it might get stolen while we are swimming but the beach is beautiful. The beaches are covered in what tourists books call pebbles, but they are really just fist sized (the biggest of them at least) rocks. They aren't the most comfortable to lay on, but we are too cheap to buy chairs or cushions or to pay to get onto a private beach for the use of their lounging chairs.

After our days on the beach we have been enjoying the World Cup. We quickly realized that soccer players are no UFC fighters with the amount of crying they do and dives they "perform" (which drives us CRAZY!!). Right now Andrew and I are cheering for Mexico because the game that we saw the Mexican players weren't diving and because they just recently beat France. Right now Italy is annoying us.

Yesterday (June 19) was a little on the cold side (around 20) and a bit cloudy, so after spending some time on the beach we went for a walk to Parc de la Colline du Chateau. It was a really good lookout point and we got some good pictures.

Today (June 20) we went to Monaco for a quick day trip. We read in our book that when we go to Monaco we should not miss the changing of the guards at the Palais du Prince. Andrew and I almost killed ourselves laughing when we saw it for ourselves. The procedure took maybe 20 seconds and the guy walked out of the little hut and someone came to replace him. I guess Red Deer tourism should start advertising changing of the security guards at some of the buildings downtown, because the changing of the guards in Monaco got a lot of attention.

After this we went walking through one of the harbours and looked at all the boats. I wish we could do this every Sunday. These boats were some of the biggest I have ever seen. They had at least 4 different levels, motorboats and jetskis attached and a boat crew cleaning every spot on the deck. We are also pretty sure they loaded their BMWs, Aston Martins, Rolls Royces, etc into them, because each boat had one or two of these sitting beside them on the pier.

Then we went to the famous Monte Carlo casino. We were lucky enough to get there when it opened (we were surprised they ever closed - they open at 2pm). Once we got in we had to check our bags at the door, no cameras allowed and then we got to the casino and saw a sign that to get inside it was 10 euros each. So we picked up our bags and left. Why even bother!? As Andrew said when we were leaving: "They've got it all wrong. You don't charge to take people's money." But I guess in Monaco they do. We think they could learn from Vegas: never close, and never charge admission.

Monaco was a really nice country/city. It was really clean, which nowadays impresses me and Andrew. It was built right into the mountain and there were public elevators everywhere in order to get to the streets below.

Tomorrow we are on a mission to find sandy beaches, so we are going to go to Cannes. Hopefully there will be some there. Andrew and I have vowed to try an espresso and a crepe while we are in France, so tomorrow might be the day for that too. As for now we have big plans: New Zealand and Italy are playing right now and Brazil and Ivory Coast are playing tonight. We are keeping our supper cold until we are ready to eat (Andrew has created a fridge out of duct tape and our AC unit to keep our Camembert cold for a couple of hours).

Bye, Bye Avignon and Err the French!

So a couple days ago (June 14) we went to Nimes to see some Roman stuff.

Here is the Tour Magne which we were able to climb. It is an old Roman tower (built over an even older Celtic tower) that used to be part of the city wall. It gave us a good view of the city.

This was a beautiful park right below the tower. It is the best park we have seen so far in France. It has 'Augustinian' springs running through it.

A water fountain at the entrance of the park. This was a big deal because this is one of the first fountains that was actually running in France. In the background, on the hill, you can see the Tour Magne.

More of the spring outside the garden.

When we went to the Maison Carree (another Roman structure that was the center of the Roman forum) there was a 3-D video that we were able to watch. God, I can anything look good.

Here is the best preserved amphitheater in the world. 

They still hold bullfighting and other events here.

This is what Andrew and I do once we get back to our hotel most days... eat dinner and drink wine. Since we have no fridge in the hotels we have been staying in we go to the grocery store usually once a day, but sometimes 2 (sound like anyone you know Dad or Papa???). Although the grocery stores don't compare to a Buy-Lo, they have fresh bread, cheap cheese (we are eating a lot of Camembert right now) and of course because we are in France cheap wine (Andrew convinced me to get the 5 litre in the picture because we were in Avignon for 5 nights. The real selling point was that it was cheaper per litre than any bottles). We also try to have a vegetable of some sort, usually carrots or tomatoes. Thank god we are creatures of habit because we haven't gotten sick of this yet.

Today was our travel day from Avignon to Nice. It should have been a smooth 3 hour train ride on a high speed train but... because of poor French planning, engineering, infrastructure, lack of motivation and heavy rain, our train was "supprime", which we learned today means canceled. When we went to check which platform to get onto in Avignon we noticed that it said our train was going to Marseille, not Nice. I spoke to an information person at the train station who informed us that no trains were running past Toulon, so we would have to find a train from Marseille to Toulon and then a bus MIGHT bring us from Toulon to Nice. Of course, this information was only given to those people who stood in line and asked. There were no postings or announcements or any other information made available. So Andrew and I took a train to Marseille and then I went to ask again if there was any other way to get to Nice (I figure that if I don't like the first answer I get, I'll ask again and again until I get a better response). Luckily it worked, we found out there was a bus or buses (the guy didn't know) leaving from Marseille to Nice (the guy didn't know when either...). So Andrew and I rushed to the spot the information man said they would be. When we got there, there was a crowd of people waiting for a few buses, or bus (nobody knew how many buses there would be or when they would be coming). We happened to be standing next to some Brits. We talked about how if we were back in Canada or if they were in England, there would have been an orderly line (or 'queue'). But not in France. When the crowd started to move I pushed my way to the front and we managed to get on a bus.

Thank goodness we got to Nice... and it wasn't all that painful, but now Andrew and I have more to add to our list of things we don't like about France (which currently includes the fact that it is full of French people, among other things).

When we got here we fell in love with our room, and with Nice, of course, which is absolutely beautiful.

We can't wait to spend a day on the beach lathered in sunscreen!

Look Familiar?

Ok I'll give you a hint:

Yep, Andrew is a James Bond look a like... but he is a much younger version. 

We went to Marseille yesterday (June 12) to check out a beach and it was blazing hot. Luckily we had our bathing suits on... except Andrew's bathing suit are shorts that are made up mostly of cotton (we disagree on this point) and they look like they would take a long time to dry. Because we are in France I guess, some women decide that bathing suit tops are optional. So when Andrew was teasing me saying that he was going to wear his underwear into the ocean (which usually I wouldn't approve of because I wouldn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable because there is a weirdo in his underwear) I told him to go for it because some people didn't even bother wearing tops to the beach. By wearing underwear he was actually going above and beyond the women on the beach. So he wore his underwear swimming, and now you all saw Andrew in his underwear... and now it might be uncomfortable when we get back.

The beach really was beautiful. When we were there, we were told that the temperature was 28 and the temperature of the water was 21. Andrew said the water was colder (I didn't go in the water... mostly cause I didn't want to be seen with someone swimming in their underwear).

Today (June 13), we went to the Pont-du-Gard. It was really beautiful. We took a bus out to the site and once we got there we walked around a bit and then found a spot in the shade to read (me) and nap (Andrew).

We got back in a reasonable time today so we got to explore Avignon (where we are staying). It is a neat little town. It is a walled city and when the Pope lived in France, his residence was here. 

A couple more day trips, one to Nimes and another possibly to Carcassonne and then off to Nice!

The Last of Paris and Beginning of Wine Tasting

Sunday (June 6), after Nadal WON Roland Garros Andrew and I went for a walk to the Moulin Rouge. We were both expecting it to be kind of a big deal, but it was really just this:

 

Monday (June 7), Andrew and I left Paris for Bordeaux. We put off wine tasting until yesterday (June 9) because I have been recovering from a cold and I wanted to wait until I got my taste back. We did some wine tasting in a small town called Saint Emilion, just east of Bordeaux. As soon as we got into this town, I fell in love with it. It was so quite, clean and beautiful. There were vineyards everywhere, it was like Alberta in that respect, but instead of the fields being yellow they were green.

This town was filled with vagabond cats that were really cute and some were really friendly. We saw that a lot of houses had left milk out for the cats, like this one shop.

We went on a tour of one vineyard... "chateau" as the French call it. It was really neat because this town had underground caves linking the vineyards together.

They had SOOOO much wine in these caves.

We learned that there were many different sizes of wine bottles. The regular 750ml bottle is the second from the left, although I have seen the Saints each polish off a bottle the size one of the right, almost every Sunday.

After our wine tasting and tours I still don't think that we know a "good" bottle of wine from a "bad" bottle of wine. Oh well, we will have to keep experimenting.

Tomorrow (June 11) we are off to Avignon.

Night Pictures

Friday night, we grabbed a bottled of wine and went down to the Eiffel Tower to watch the light show. Here are some of the pics we (ok Andrew) took.

The lights you see in this picture turned on and off very quickly, making the whole tower sparkle.

(We spent about 10 minutes trying to get one decent picture of the two of us.)

We thought we saw Jenna there, but it was somebody else with plumbers bum.

Yesterday, we went for a walk in Montmartre (the area we are staying in) and there were street performers. The guy in the red is juggling a soccer ball on this little platform and he climbed the lamp beside it, while juggling. It was really neat. This is a famous spot and it is beautiful, if you look really hard you can see Notre Dame Cathedral, Pantheon, etc.

The last couple of days we have been busy watching tennis and trying to book our next couple of weeks. It looks like we will be in Bordeaux for some wine tours, then Avignon for some Roman sites, and then Nice for some beaches.