Water, water everywhere! So many canals, and much of the area is below sea level. What I learned about Amsterdam is that these people are great engineers. They have universities devoted to water management; they know what they are doing.

Fortunately, our train was on schedule this time. The signs were much easier to figure out, and we felt comfortable in the city. So many of the buildings are tall.

Bicycles, bicycles everywhere. It was a bit dangerous being a pedestrian in Amsterdam. We had to pay attention to the color of the ground to see if we had the right of way or the bicycles did. Neither of us was run-over, fortunately.

An interesting observation about Amsterdam is that old churches, especially large ones, have been converted to shopping centers or performing arts centers. This makes sense when you realize that most of the dry “land” was reclaimed from the ocean or the many rivers that flow through the city, so buildings are precious.

Another thing to note is how open-minded the populous seems. The Embassy of the Free Mind was along a street we visited, and the condom store showed a colorful display. A cannabis-related store was next door. There are “coffee shops” in Amsterdam for marijuana products but we did not visit any.

Clare thought Brussels seemed tourist, especially English-speaking tourist, unfriendly. But perhaps that is because our “fast” train had to stop for 3.5 hours, the first hour of which was without air conditioning, because of protesters on the track. One of the other trains in front of us on the same track had much more trouble. So, Clare was hungry, tired and grumpy when we arrived in Brussels, just before midnight.

But the city center was quite lively at midnight, although finding a place with food (rather than just drink) was a bit of a problem. So many people enjoying the drizzling weather and the lovely lights. We found a Lebanese place serving “sandwiches” which were hot and delicious. The next day close to the same area, we realized that restaurants represented many different countries along that same street.

The signs in the train and metro stations were not translated into English, and also were not color-coded like in both France and Germany. It seemed some people spoke a little bit of English, but not enough to figure out our questions. So, we took a lot of time to figure out the transportation options.

We wandered around Brussels, through narrow streets with many shopfronts. We found monuments and gardens and fun displays (look at the one with the colorful hats). Brian found an Apple store, of course.

Mussels in Brussels and beer, oh my!

The Delirium Cafe (actually a bunch of small cafes, pubs and such serving over 2,000 different beers) was a fun destination. There we are, with a meter of beers to taste! And later we shared a pot of mussels.

The Musical Instrument Museum was fascinating and really well done. We were given ear phones and devices, and we wandered around looking at old and new musical instruments. Then, enter the number displayed on the instrument and you can hear just how it sounded. Old and new alike, each with its own personality. It was hard to leave that place!

A festival, “In the Streets,” was happening but we did not witness any performances. It was advertised on the streets where people would perform their street art. Or that’s what it seemed.

Other kinds of art decorated the streets as well.

Once we figured out the Metro system, we took a train to the edge of the city to see Atomium, a gigantic atomic crystal structure built for the 1958 world’s fair. You could get a ticket and go inside, but we decided against it (we did not have time). It was just fun to see crystallography on such a huge scale.

Joëlle said that the sky was crying this morning, because we were leaving our friends. It was true. It drizzled all the way from Aurélie’s apartment to our hotel in Paris, where Marc and Joëlle left us for their adventures in Southern France and Italy. It was difficult to part – the time with our friends went too quickly. We are lucky to have such great friends.

Visiting Paris, trying to see as much as possible in a small amount of time is a bit like “Whack-A-Mole”. You go to a Metro station, go underground and come up somewhere else. You look around a bit, then go another Metro station. That’s basically what we did in our short time in Paris.

The Hotel Camille is close to the Gare de Lyon train and metro stations; the next stop on the Metro is the Bastille monument. The elevator in the hotel is tiny, with a door that one has to push open. The final day of the Tour de France bicycle race was the next day; we saw the grandstands and decorations along the Champ-Élysées as we walked toward the Louvre.

We tried to see the famous places that Brian has never visited, although Clare saw them when she was here with her mother in 2007.

The Metro line we rode the most was fully automated and often very crowded. The Paris city hall (Hotel de Ville) is a fancy building; the Olympics are coming to Paris in 2024.

The many pyramids at the Louvre provide an interesting contrast to the older museum buildings.

Of course we walked along the Seine River and saw Norte Dame, which is being reconstructed after the devastating fire a couple of years ago.

We decided to find the very old house (built in 1407) that belonged to Nicolas Flamel, a scribe and alchemist whose work was mentioned in the Harry Potter books. Along the way we found colorful umbrellas at a sidewalk cafe and the colorful pipes on the outside of the Pompidou Center.

Luxembourg Gardens is near the university area where Brian’s father studied in the 1950s.

Brian hiked up Montmarte hill to see the Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Sacré Coeur) while Clare stayed at the cafe where we had lunch. This was close to Gare de Nord, our departure station to Brussels in the evening.

Six adventurers saw this incredible garden together. And what a beautiful place it is. Since we were a bit early relative to our ticket times, we went up the hill to see the cemetary first. Claude lived in this place from 1883 until he died in 1926.

The entire village seems to be devoted to art and tourism. The narrow streets are lined with shops selling sweets and or art lessons.

And the flowers – wow! So many colors and shapes, together in different color combinations that delight. We wandered around the house and garden.

Inside the house are collections of art that Monet acquired in his lifetime as well as art he created.

Of course we visited the famous lily pond, with the bridges that are in many paintings.

At the end of this glorious day we were back at Aurélie’s to play Spoons, a card game we taught both daughters when they visited us in Colorado.