Monday, June 9, 2025 – Château d’ Aviette – Rancennes, France
Just had to have a picture of the entrance to the Colmar Hotel. Such a nice way to be greeted every time we came back from yet another fun adventure.
After another wonderful breakfast, it was time to start heading Northwest from Colmar, France to our one-night stay along the border of France and Belgium before turning in our rental car in Amsterdam.
A lovely drive through farmland and through both Luxembourg (where we had lunch) and Belgium eventually making it back into France.
Along the way. And once again bicycles everywhere.
Luxembourg lookout. Here we come!
And big trucks on every major road.
When we arrived at the castle/château, there seemed to be no one around. We just parked our car and walked in like we owned the place. Finally, the owner found us and took us on a mini tour of the castle. The owner referred to this imposing structure as a castle, but it is titled a château. Whatever you want to call it, it was built in the late 18th century, and it is a large, stately, imposing, fortified (it has a tower), luxurious, and historically significant building. What more could you ask for?
The chateau/castle.
A couple of old Rolls Royce cars just waiting to be driven.
Lovely grounds around the chateau/castle.
After hauling our luggage up a winding wooden staircase to our room, we decided reading while sitting on the patio overlooking the river on this warm and sunny afternoon was absolutely the right thing to do. So, that’s what we did.
There was only one other couple staying at the castle. So, of course we had a delightful conversation with them as we enjoyed a late afternoon libation together. And as often happens, the subject of politics came up. We found we agreed on just about everything that is currently happening to our world.
When it came time for dinner, we drove into the small village while they rode their bikes. We happened to meet at the same restaurant, so we decided to dine together. We thoroughly enjoyed more convivial conversation with this interesting couple as we ate a nice dinner right beside the river Meuse.
All together a very nice way to spend a sunny day in France.
After a leisurely breakfast at the castle, we packed our luggage in the car and said goodbye to the lovely couple from the Netherlands and to our host, hostess, and their baby girl. Then we asked Rhoda Scala (our trusty cell phone directions guide) to plot our course to the Avis car rental-return location at the Amsterdam Schiphol airport.
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 – Hotel Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Badhoevedorp, Netherlands
Well, in all my life I have never seen so many trucks on any highway anywhere! Seriously, there were as many trucks as there were cars. And the backups on our route were atrocious! Especially around Brussels, the Port of Antwerp, and the Port of Rotterdam. And then we came to the exit for the airport. I told Andy the traffic we witnessed today made going to SeaTac look positively tame by comparison! It literally took us 20 minutes to go only a few blocks. But after dropping off our car, which BTW was a breeze, there were very clear signs of where to go to catch a shuttle bus which would take us to our hotel.
When we arrived at the shuttle bus stop, there were masses of people waiting. But after a bit of time, we realized that every hotel had its own shuttle bus and ours came within 15 minutes. But a lot of people were also waiting for our hotel bus. So, all of us trying to get on the bus with our luggage would have made a great comedy routine. But we all found a place for luggage and some of us, me included, found a place to sit.
Then it was about a 7 to 8-minute ride to the hotel. Then, get off the bus, enter the hotel lobby, and get in line to check in. This also took about a 15-minute wait.
But before going up to our room, we made a reservation for dinner in the hotel’s restaurant and learned how to get a taxi for our ride into Amsterdam the next day for our visits to both the Rijks and Van Gogh museums.
Then, up to our room for me to write up today’s trip report and both of us to relax before dinner. And even though rain threatened to dump on us all day, nary a drop was shed.
After a simple dinner in the Bistro (we decided not to choose the “all you can eat buffet”) it was read our books for a while and hit the hay.
We slept OK, but pillows in this part of the world are huge and hard. And they always give you two each. So, why not make them different sizes? Nope. They are always the same size and hard as rocks! We both finally got to sleep, but I must be truthful when I say I am getting anxious to get home to my wonderful pillow. Of course, I miss Miles and Max too. I can’t wait to pet our two critters and tell them all about our travels.
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 – Hotel Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Badhoevedorp, Netherlands
Well, that explains the horrific traffic we experienced while getting from Rancennes, France to our hotel near Schiphol Airport. There was a one-day train strike in the Netherlands yesterday which meant no one could get anywhere by train. And believe me, everyone rides the convenient and reasonably priced trains. So, of course, anyone who had counted on taking a train from Amsterdam to the airport had to be driven. And anyone who wanted to get to work, and then home again the same day, had to take their car instead of the train. What a mess! So, no wonder traffic was crazy bad everywhere yesterday. And based on the terrible traffic we experienced and not knowing that there was a reason for the huge delays at the time, we went so far as to allow an extra 45 minutes for our taxi ride this morning to make certain we were at the Rijks Museum by 10:30 am.
So, at 9:30, we were at the entrance. And because it must have been a slow day at the museum, they allowed us to enter a full hour before our reservation time. (Now, the nice folks at the museum must have seen this as a slow day, but there were still masses of people.) Everything from people even older than me, to pre-school age kidlets. And the clothing/costumes some museum attendees felt were acceptable, I could not possibly adequately describe. One young Asian woman was wearing what looked like a fancy layer cake. Not kidding. Another woman, old enough to know better, had on puffy short bloomers with short puffy sleeves to match. Good God! Have these women no clothing sense?
And tattoos! Almost everyone, young or old, had tattoos of some sort. And believe me, these folks weren’t afraid to show them off. Anyway, it was almost as exciting to watch the people as to view the amazing works of art. But a bit about the Rijks Museum before I share with you a few pictures of our favorite works of art.
The Rijksmuseum is huge and considered one of the finest art museums in the world. It functions as the national museum of the Netherlands with the mission being to honor Dutch cultural heritage. Through the beautiful neo-Gothic design, the museum showcases eight hundred years of Dutch artistic and historical achievements which define pivotal moments in art development. Since 1885 “The Night Watch” by Rembrandt continues to guard the museum halls in a position of pride while attracting millions of viewers to the pictures luring interplay of lighting effects and darkness.
Another picture of the museum. Please note that bicycles have their own lanes right through the museum. And as always, walkers beware. In some ways, bicycles are more hazardous than cars.
A few examples of the works of art we viewed.
Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”. Notice the scaffolding in front of the picture. An art restoration expert is working on the bottom right of the picture as you will see in the next picture.
The building itself is a work of art.
Now, this is what I call a library. And yes, those books are all real and people on the bottom floor were studying from them.
I want a fireplace like this one in our home. Andy is studying the detail so he can replace our current fireplace with one just like this. Not!
I’d like this piece of furniture too.
A Van Gogh self portrait.
After a light lunch in the Rijks Museum Cafe, it was time to walk the couple of blocks to the Van Gogh Museum. What a way to spend a day. My idea of heaven, that’s for sure!
But before I show you a few pictures from the Van Gogh Museum, a bit of information about this incredible facility and about the painter himself.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam houses the world’s largest collection of works by Vincent Van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 700 letters. It also features exhibitions on 19th-century art history.
Vincent van Gogh, born in 1853, was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work, though not widely appreciated during his lifetime, became highly influential in the 20th century. He is renowned for his bold colors and dramatic brushwork, contributing to the rise of Expressionism. Van Gogh created approximately 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, in a little over a decade. His life was marked by periods of mental instability and intense artistic activity. He died in 1890 at the age of 37, likely from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It is believed that only one of his paintings was sold while he was still alive.
Another Van Gogh self-portrait. We were told by our guide that Van Gogh painted himself a lot because he had no money to hire a model.
Van Gogh, in his later years, tried to replicate Japanese works of art he admired.
Another self-image.
And my personal favorite. It would look so wonderful in our living room.
As you can imagine, we thoroughly enjoyed both the Rijks and Van Gogh museums. But by the time we were done with both museums and on our way back to our hotel, my feet had pretty much stopped working. Actually, I did much better on this trip than I thought I would. We did a lot of walking and standing. Much more than at home. And somehow, we both were able to keep going even if at times, the going got kind of tough. Hurray for us.
Back at the hotel we had a nice dinner at the Bistro again. Then it was time to go up to our room and for me to check in for our flight home the next day.
So, now, after typing up today’s adventure and checking in with the airlines, I read until I can no longer tell an “a” from an “o”.
I had asked the front desk people at the hotel to print our boarding passes, but I have yet to get any kind of reply. I am keeping my fingers crossed. It’s not really necessary to print your boarding passes ahead of time. But for people like me who have anxiety issues when in a foreign country and don’t know what the heck they are doing, it can cause concern.
The morning of our flight, Andy went down to the front desk and sure enough, he came back to our room with boarding passes in hand.
One thing this trip proved once again, was that most people are considerate. I had younger people give up their seats on buses for me. I had people help me with my luggage. Everyone seemed eager to help. It’s simply refreshing to experience. No one seems to assume that you are out to get them. Or in some way take advantage of them. Their readiness and openness to offer assistance is remarkable and something I would like to see happening more often in America.
Thursday, June 12, 2025 – Chez Carr
After a reasonably good night’s sleep, hard pillows and all, we both woke up ready to pack and go find us an airplane to take us home.
Our flight was scheduled to take off on June 12th at 3:20 pm and land in Vancouver at 3:55 pm on June 12th. Wonderful when a flight only takes 35 minutes (right!). But due to issues with the airplane’s toilets not flushing properly, the flight was delayed by about 1½ hours. But even on a 35-minute flight, it really is necessary to have toilets available.
But once on board, and in our comfy business class seats, we were in the air for only 9 hours.
One thing I must mention is that KLM got us to Europe and back to Vancouver BC with no problems. However, whoever fixes the food for KLM both in Vancouver and Amsterdam should be fired. In my estimation, at least 80% of the food was inedible. They were trying too hard. Too many ingredients they felt would impress even the most sophisticated gourmet, just didn’t work well together. So, needless to say, I was not less than impressed.
But the flight attendants were marvelous. And being able to stretch out and try to sleep was lovely. But I was getting a cold, so I couldn’t sleep on the return flight.
After we landed and collected our luggage, we caught the shuttle bus back to collect our car. In all our trips, we have never experienced an easier long term car rental experience. Jetset made it so we could not go wrong.
Then on to the border crossing which took us about 90 seconds. And home by 8:45 pm and in bed by 8:47 pm. Well, not quite, but almost.
All in all, a wonderful European getaway. Even though at times during our overseas travels I have wondered if we would make it out alive (not really, but close), I would not trade even the worst of times for just staying safety at home. Because our planet has so much to offer. And the main thing you learn when you travel, is that everyone, no matter their color, ethnicity, religious beliefs, etc. all want the same thing. People everywhere want to be able to provide for themselves and their family. They want to be treated with respect. And they want to live in peace and harmony. There are no real differences in people no matter where they happen to live or how they choose to live their lives. It’s only people’s perceptions of someone who appears different that causes all the turmoil. That’s where travel comes in.
So, do yourself a favor. Travel. Go places and see things. Learn about our fabulous world.
And on that happy note, as always, peace and love to all.