August 2011

Martin and Teresa arrived last night, was really great to catch up with them again. Saturday morning we woke up to rain but that did not deter us from doing the touristy thing and after breakfast we made our way to Zaanse Schans, a place where there a few working windmills. We went into 2 of these, amazing how ingenius the people were all those years ago. We had to duck in and out to avoid the rain and after that we made our way to a restaurant for lunch before heading to Goorn for the Slaman reunion. It was really good for Jan and Martin to see their Aunt and Uncles again and to meet up with some of their cousins. Had a BBQ, slightly different from what we are used to. Not wrong, just different.

Sunday morning another rainy day but we went into Amsterdam and met up with Martin and Teresa and had croquettes for lunch and a few drinks. Caught the tram back to Yvonn's place and then met up with Cor and Lida and made our way to Haarlem to the Buisman family get together. Quite a few could not make it but we had a good afternoon with lots of laughter and catching up with those we knew and meeting new family members.

More rain on Monday morning, getting annoying now. After breakfast we made our way into Amsterdam with M and t and went on a bus tour of the city to orientate ourselves. M and T then went on to some museums and finished off with a canal cruise and dinner. (we had done a cruise with our tour). We did some more strolling around and stopped for a beer every now and then. The rain stayed away for most of the afternoon. We made our way back on the tram in the evening and put our feet up for the rest of the evening.

Spent Wednesday monring in the market in St Albans doing a bit of shopping. Went back to Pauline and Stephen's and sorted out our bags for the next day. Had a great BBQ that evening with minted lamb chops from the Bok and Rose, the SA butcher in St Albans. Finished off the evening sitting around the firepit, chilling.

Thursday morning up early and on the train to London with Pauline. Said our sad goodbyes to Pauline and Stephen, really looked after us like royalty. Hope it won't be another 4 years before we see each other. Check in at St Pancras Station for the Eurostar which would take us through the chunnel to Calais and then to Brussels. Good trip on the train and had lunch in Brussels before boarding the high speed train to Amsterdam. Cees met us at Schipol station and took us over to Yvonn for dinner and then we went to Zandamm beach for an evening stroll and an ice cream to finish off the evening. Cees brought us back to his flat where we are spending our nights while here in Amsterdam.

Friday morning we had abit of a lie in and then went to Cees for breakfast which was great. From there we went into the morning market thebiggest market I have ever seen, lots of great stalls. Did a bit of shopping and stopped off for coffee. Martin and Teresa arrive tonight, looking forward to seeing them again.

We left Paris early in the morning to make our way back to London. Got to Calais at 12non only to be told that our reservation for the ferry had been given to someone else and that the earliest ferry they could put us on was at 4pm. So we spent a few hours waiting around in Calais before we could get on the ferry and get back to London. Pauline waited fro us in London till we got back at 7pm and then we got a train back to her place, very tired from a long day of travelling. Saturday morning we drove to New Forest to meet with Stephens's parents and have lunch in lovely village pub. Traffic was a nightmare, took us almost 3 hours to get there. After lunch we drove to Dorset to Stephen's parents and went for a leisurely walk on the beach in the evening before getting an early night. Sunday morning the weather was not too god but we made our way to Poole and then had a lovely breakfast looking out over the sea. From there we travelled through the country all the way down to Portland Bill, stopping for lunch on the way. Made our way to Stephen's parents that evening for a great dinner. Monday morning we went into the village of Christchurch, walked around, had a pub lunch and then caught the ferry along the river to the beach near Stephen's parents. Had sundowners at a beach bar and then walked home. Tuesday we got a late start and made our way back to Pauline and Stephen's after an enormous lunch. Got home at about 4 and spent the evening chilling.

Left Lyon fairly early to make our way up to Paris. Arrived in Paris just after Lunch and went to the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral, Very imposing and beautiful buildings. From there we spent a few hours in the Latin Quarter and had an early dinner. After dinner we boarded our coach to the Eiffel Tower. We went up the tower at 8:30pm so that we could see the views in daylight and by the time we came down at 9:45pm the city skyline was lit and the Eiffel Tower was lit in all it's glory. We then did a tour of the night lights of Paris before making our way back to the hotel. This morning we had a later start than usual and made our way to the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. We spent our few hours in the area visiting some of the shops and having a leisurely lunch. Before making our way back to the hotel for a siesta. We finidshed off our tour with an evening of dinner and cabaret entertainment at the Nouvelle Eve which was awesome. A great end to our European cavalcade and now it's back to the UK

After our awesome evening the night before, we made our way to Cannes on the French Riviera for early morning tea. Beautiful beaches and enormous yachts, lots of money there. From there we made our way to Avignon where we stopped for a stroll through the town and a leisurely lunch. It was great to eat “normal food” after all the pasta of Italy. From there we made our way to Lyon where we checked in for the night, ready for our trip up to Paris.