Germany - Switzerland - France

 Once again I'm playing catchup.

We are currently in the UK as I write this, but in order to get there, I need to fill you in on whats been hapening before today.

We left you last in Holland.  

We left the tulips behind and headed to Switzerland to visit our good friends and god daughters.  On the way we stopped for 2 nights in the beautiful and quaint village of Bacharach, Germany

Bacharach, Germany

Located deep in the Rhine Valley on the shore of the Rhine River, it was a beautiful stop.   Our apartment was right in the center of the village.    Being off-season we had the town almost to ourselves.     We also learned that everything in Germany (except restuarants) are pretty much closed on Sunday.   We had intended to cook in Sunday night but were unable to find anywhere to buy groceries so we had to suffer thru another delicious German meal.

Dunklebier Time

Right outside of our apartment

We only had 1 full day here and devoted it to walking around town and along the Rhine.

Ship traffic on the Rhine River

View of Bacharach from the river

On Monday we motored down the A5 Autobahn to Richterswil, Switzerland just south of Zurich on Zurichsee (Lake Zurich)

While there Francesca took us up to the stable to take her horse for a walk.  She said it was about an hour long walk.  In swiss time that means 2 hrs.    In Switzerland there are only two directions:  UP & DOWN.    Now I know its geographically impossible, but I swear that our 5 mile walk was all uphill.

Francesca & La Vita

Looking down towards Richterswil and Zurichsee

As we neared the end of the long loop walk and came in view of the stables, La Vita started to Whinny -  talking to the horses down below in the field and they started talking back.    The loud noises scared Phoebe who sat down and refused to budge until the giant beast was a safe distance ahead.    So from that point onward, we followed along at a distance that Phoebe found acceptable.

We had great weather for the first few days of our week.    Coffee along the lake is always a nice diversion and we were joined by a group of colorful ducks one day.

Anyone know what type of duck this is?

Coffee time

One of our days we drove up to Luzerne to visit the old city.    The weather - until now almost perfect for the whole trip - turned a tad wet. 

View of Luzerne from the old bridge

Not to be deterred, we broke out the new breathable rain gear for the dogs.    Comfortable for them, it did a great job keeping them dry for us.

The latest in Doggy Rainwear

A landmark in Lucerne, the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) was built in the 1300's

As the day drew on, the rain increased in intensity.   After warming up with a coffee...

we continued to walk around a bit and finally surrendered and headed back home.

It's getting wetter...

One afternoon we took a nice walk along the lake to Wädenswil.    From there we took the train up to a station above Richterswil, and then walked down to town.

View looking down into Richterswil

Lots of nice local walking paths

The girls took the dogs for a walk and someone snapped this photo of them.

Soon enough, the sunshine returned and we took a very scenic drive up to Brunnen where we parked the car and took a lovely boat/ferry trip down the lake for a couple of hours to Lucerne.  From there, we took the train back to Brunnen.

Pre-sailing coffee on the lake

Our boat was very new and modern

The boat is both a scenic tour and ferry.   Some passengers use it for transport between villages that would require a long drive around mountain valleys.

We passed many scenic villages.

Finally, we had to make a stop at the Lindt Chocolate factory.   We'd been there our last time here and we did not want to miss out on all the flavors found only here.

Willie Wonka - eat your heart out!

Well, the week flew by and soon we made our sad goodbyes and once again were on the road.    Our destination was one of our favorite hotels, this one in Normandy.    Since it was a 10 hour drive we broke it into two legs.   I planned the route to take us to Reims, France as it was somewhere we'd not visited before and looked like it had a nice downtown for a walkabout.

As usual, my driving was done under the watchful eyes of the dogs who took turns standing watch over me.

Pheobes turn on watch

Annies watch

Throughout of travels, the countryside has been colored by the yellow fields of rapeseed.   It makes a beautiful combination with the deep greens.

We arrived at our hotel by 1pm and it was too early for check in so we headed directly into the city center where we parked and set out to tour the city.

First stop was Notre-Dame de Reims.   A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Cathedral was the traditional location where all of the French Kings were coronated.

Reims Cathedral

My advance planning had found a nearby pedestrian walking area lined with cafes, so I figured that this would be a good place to have dinner.    It was.

Reims, France

The dogs posed in front of the fountain but were not real happy with the sound of the water.

We had a real nice hotel room.   Large and with plenty of room for the girls to burn off any left over energy.  (as if walking all over Reims was not enough)

The next morning  - Tuesday 27 April - we were back on the road headed to Normandy.   Along the way, on the A29,  we crossed the beautiful Pont de Normandie.  The last bridge to cross the Seine before it empties into the ocean.

Finished in 1995, the bridge took 7 years to complete and at its opening was the longest cable stayed bridge in the world.    With its beautiful geometric designs,  I'd love to catch this bridge in the right light with no traffic.

Pont de Normandie - The Bridge over the Seine at La Havre

Soon we were pulling into our home for the next 4 nights - La Ferme de la Rançonnière in the small Norman village of Crepon.

Our back garden

We first visited here in 2008.    At the time the hotel was owned by the original owners and the restaurant had a Michelin Star.    

Dinner here was quite an event:   A starter then a "pallet cleanser" (a small sherbert or brandy etc).  Then something else followed by another pallet cleanser, and so on.    Dinner was 9 courses and matching wines.   It was finished off with Cheeses and Sweets.

Our room (arched door in background)

With the new ownership place, the place has lost much of the sheen since then, but it still is a truly delightful place to spend a few days while visiting Normandy.    Conveniently located near Arromanches, and out in the quiet countryside.    In season it is loaded with flowers and is quite beautiful.

Inner courtyard

Our room

Outer courtyard

While not Michelin standards, dinner was still wonderful.   We had the half-board so we had a 3-course dinner plus a nice breakfast buffet in the am.

Shrimp Spring roll starter

Quack Quack...  Breast of Duck

Dessert

Dog Friendly France...

The dogs can join us everywhere.   Here they join us for dinner each night.

Our visit here took us to many of the D-Day historical sights.   Some we've visited before, and some were new.   It a pretty extensive list so in the interest of doing it justice I will cover them separately in my next post in a day or three.

Till then..  Thanks for riding along.

Holland

Well it's hard to believe it, but we've already been on the ground in Europe for a week.

The time has flown by and we have tonight and tommorow left here in The Netherlands before we pack up and head to Germany on Saturday.

We left Bruges, Belgium last Saturday morning and had a 4 hour drive to our present stop in Zandvoort, Holland.

Our drive from the coast took us down a lot of neat little roads that are typical of this neck of the woods.

Small road in Belgium

We tried to stop at the windmills by Kinderdijk recreate the picture that we took of Gracie & Lucy in the wooden shoe but

1) the shoe was not there, and 

2) parking was a real problem as it was saturday in Tulip season and Kinderdijk is a very scenic spot.

So I pulled off the side of the road to put some new waypoints into our GPS and as we were doing that there was a knock on Kates window...   I looked over and this young boy in a Boy Scout uniform was motioning for me to roll down the window...  which I did.

In almost perfect english he asked: "Are you in need of assistance?"  I told him what I was doing and he offered to show me some free parking places nearby.    We chatted for a bit, and I told him how I used to be a Boy Scout in America.   He found that particularly interesting.    Soon we thanked him for his help and we were on our way.   We departed with an appreciation of some unknown parents who did a fine job in raising their son.

As we neared our next destination, the seaside town of Zandvoort in North Holland, we began to see the tulip fields.    It was our first taste of the colorful fields that would be our scenic backdrop for the week.

Our AirBnb is a very nice place.   An Annex of the main house, it used to be an indoor pool area.   The owner used her imagination to turn it into a light and airy space that is quite comfortable and homey.   We've really felt at home here and will be sad to leave.

The lower level, formally the pool, is now a sitting / TV room.

Our house is one row of houses back from the beach.   The beach is fronted by a paved walk that runs for miles and miles.    We have been up and down that walkway numerous times while here.

The walkway is on top of the large dunes (Dike?) that protects the interior from the sea.

On Monday, it was time for the highlight of our stop here.   

Our visit to the World Famous Keukenhof Gardens.     This stop has been on my list for many years so it was quite special to finally be able to make it here.

Flower field along the way to KG.   The red tulips are electric!

Entrance to Keukenhof Gardens

79 Acres planted with over 7 million bulbs, which bloom at different times thru the spring.  It was a feast for the eyes as well as the nose!

We did not get to duplicate the dog in the shoe photo at Kinderdijk, but Keukenhof will do just fine.

In all we spent about 5 hours waking thru the gardens.   

On Tuesday we made the short 20 minute drive to the nearby city of Haarlem.

Like most of Holland, the city is criss crossed by a seemingly endless series of canals, which gives it that special flavor found only in The Netherlands.

Haarlem, Netherlands.

If the shoe fits....

Now that I've found a prop - I see a trend developing.   Let's see how far I can take it this summer.

The Big Market Square in Haarlem.

Kate and I stopped at one of the outdoor cafes for a nice salad for lunch.

The cities here are very walkable and we just strolled about for a few hours after lunch before calling it a day.

On weds we stayed closer to home and explored Zandvoort.   We walked to the town center and was pleasantly surprised to find it was market day.

The street gets closed off and vendors set up stands selling all sorts of stuff but the best are the food items.

They love their cheese in Holland, and the line for the cheese vendor was consistently about 10 deep all morning.

We picked up a spit roasted chicken for tonights dinner.

Like most cities, there is a large pedestrian only area.

We've been walking about 4 miles or so each day so when we get home the dogs are ready for a good nap.

Today (Thursday) we made the hour drive to Gouda.   The city from which the cheese gets its name.

Thursday is the cheese auction that runs till about 1230 so we planned to make it here to see all the action.

The Cheese auction has been going on for hundreds of years.   Its been moved and modernized now, but they still hold a small one in Gouda to keep the tradition alive.   Farmers would bring their cheese wheels to town in horse drawn wagons, and the cheese would be weighed on the ancient scale 

Cheese Weighing Scale

Then on the main square in the shadow of City Hall (in background) the buyers and sellers would discuss the products and agree on quantities and price.

You would need to keep a sharp eye out watching the cheese wheels because you never could tell when a Cheese Wench might try to run off with one.

The Cheese Wench strikes again

Caught in the act, the wheel is repatriated to its rightful owner.

We did leave town with a bit of cheese - but thru legal means.

Edam & Gouda

The cheese delivery wagon.

Gouda, like so many other towns here has the beautiful canals.

Bikes, bikes, everywhere

An interesting feature in these cities are the crooked or leaning buildings.   We first saw them in Amsterdam a few years back and it seems to be a mainstay in all the towns with the canals.   It certainly must be due to the soft wet base upon which the cities are built.

I wonder how much it has to lean before it's condemned?

Leaning building

Another leaning building (center)

Even more bikes

Back at the market square, the action has calmed down and the crowds have thinned out.

Yep...  a definite trend is developing.

Another pedestrian-only zone in Gouda.

Walking one of the larger canals, there was an assortment of pleasure and house boats docked along the shores.

With all of the bikes here there needs to be a way of incorporating them into the traffic flow.

The road below is typical.  The colored sides are the bike lanes.   The main (black) road is not wide enough for 2 cars, so you must use some of the bike lane when passing other traffic.   If a bike is in the bike lane then you must slow down and wait to pass the bike until there is room and it is safe to do so.

Not all bike lanes are colored - the dashed lines however indicate the lanes.

Typical road with bike lanes in the Netherlands

It gets pretty confusing at times...  especially in congested areas.   The bikes seem to come from every direction.... whether or not they have right of way.    They sure seem to act like they have ROW at all times.

It really can get pretty wild at the roundabouts.   We saw a lady in an electric stroller clip a bike today in Gouda.   They both yelled something at each other and kept going.   No doubt they were not exchanging pleasantries.

Tomorrow we are going to stay local and enjoy Zandvoort and the sea for our last day here.

On Saturday we'll head to Bacharach, Germany for 2 nights and then Monday we are in Switzerland to visit our second family...  our Swiss buddies for a week.

Here is a stock photo of Bacharach to give you a teaser of our next destination.

Bacharach Germany

See you down the road.