July 17 and we drive to Den Hague - better known in the west as The Hague. After a nightmare of trying to park and finding out - too late, that the chip card we have is not the same as the one everyone else in the Netherlands has - it doesn't seem to work in simple machines like a parking meter. So, off to a parking house to pay vast amounts of money to park in the city. We walked around a very nice district where we ran into various embassy houses and finally the Queens palace. All the flags are flying half mast to honor the many many Dutch who were killed in the Malaysia flight that was shot down. People here are sad, angry, and demanding something be done - a shrine has ... read more

Jane knew a lovely French bakery that she needed to share with us - I guess I need French food at all times - even in Israel! After a calorie laden breakfast of croissants, apple tunovers, brioche and chocolate rugalah, we set off on the walking trail to burn off a few calories. The trail is flat and is the old railroad tracks and closed to pedestrians. We walked to the windmill and to a very chi-chi row of art galleries. We were introduced to Gidan - a playful character who proceeded to show us pretty much every dreidel he had made in the last 30 years. Very expensive, but he let us spin and chat for over an hour. He also gave Jane a beautiful turquoise dreidel in honor of her becomming an Israeli citizen. ... read more

Even though I'm now back at home, I still felt the need to finish what I'd started in Paris. How could I not tell about the lapins? We found the best market in Paris...and it was right around the corner from our flat. Sunday and Thursday, the Bastille market is my new favorite market in all of the city. Mounds of fruit, vegetables, eggs, cheese, meats, chickens, bread, scarves, hats, trinkets, and crepes stretched out for nearly 3 blocks. Everything delicious and fresh and colorful. My gory favorites though were the fish heads on ice and the poor lapins (rabbits) waiting to be stew. Our old lady yellow cart was filled to the brim with dinner and snacks for the next few days. We met Greg at Angelina's for one final decadent breakfast of croissants, fruit ... read more

We though we might go to Amsterdam for a few days via the train. I've never been before and the train sounded like fun - its only a few hours away, we'll ride the rails and see the countryside. It was a great idea until we looked into the cost. $700 round trip! That can't be right- we tried another website - $700 round trip (and it was the same train...Thalys seems to have the monopoly on trains). after an hour of shaking our heads and trying every which way to deal,including a personal trip down to Gare Lyon and Gare Nord (2 big train stations), we admitted defeat and gave up. If we had planned our spontaneity 30 to 60 days in advance, it would have cost us about $200. So much for the impromptu ... read more

The most enormous chicken sized pigeon has taken up residence on a branch outside our front window. We can hear him cooing and it's loud. We nicknamed him "the pigeon king" and he is now our protector. The day, we (not including the pigeon king) took the metro to the left bank to see the Sorbonne neighborhood. The area is home to the university, many bookstores and cages, and tons of galleries and coffee houses. as we walked, we found a fenced off area where they are excavating the remains of ancient Gallo Roman baths from around 200 CE. Those baths are near the Museum of Middle Age, and I don't mean us... We wandered in the gardens for a while, watched kids play in the shadows of medieval walls, and listened to birds sing. After ... read more