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Published: June 22nd 2010
Note: unfortunately I can't post pics right now because of the connection speed. You can view some pictures I posted on Facebook: Click here
On June 2nd I left Dubai and flew into Frankfurt, Germany. Leaving Afghanistan is somewhat of an Odyssey that can take several days. The 6 hour Lufthansa flight was awful. I had waited too long to check in online and when I did there were very few seats left, none on an aisle or window, so I was sandwiched in the middle row in between 2 American gentleman with absolutely no sense of personal space. Both felt that the armrests were their own personal property and used them as if they were sitting in a lazy boy chair. Both also slept somehow for most of the flight. I spend almost half the flight standing at the back of the plane because I could not stand sitting between these 2 idiots. The plane was packed and hot. Quite a contrast from the Emirates flight I had taken to Dubai a few months earlier. Unfortunately, although the Canadian Government will fly you in business class at the start and end of the mission, they will not do so during your holidays.
I was picked up at the airport by my uncle and driven to his house where I promptly took a nap. My flight had left at 2 AM Dubai time and I hadn’t slept at all that night.
I spent 2 very relaxed days while I waited for Erin’s flight to arrive on the 4th. The day before, I picked up our rental, a “sporty” Hyundai i30 and checked into our room at the B & B.
I met Erin at the Airport at 6:30 AM the following day. We spent a few more days in Germany and visited with my grandmother who turned 90 a few months earlier. Then we hit the road and headed for France. The GPS with European maps I had bought would become a Godsend. I will never travel without a GPS again!
We stopped in the small French town of Ste. Menehould, only because we had seen it in an episode of The Amazing Race, a show that I follow religiously. The show’s contestants had to find a small bakery there and buy a baguette in order to get their next clue. So we set out to find this bakery and purchase a baguette, just because… It actually wasn’t that easy to find the place, even with directions from the locals. But we found it, got our fresh bread and took a picture.
We then headed to the city of Reims, France, a smaller city steeped in history; Kings were crowned in Reims when France was still a Monarchy. They have a magnificent cathedral with a statue of Joan of Arc outside, also a stopover during The Amazing Race! We walked around Reims’ many pedestrian street and sampled some local pub food and beer.
The following day we headed for Paris. I had booked a hotel located a few 100 meters from the famed Arc de Triomphe. We let Garmy (as we have come to call our Garmin GPS navigator) lead us there. Paris is an interesting city to drive in. Sure, it’s not an Istanbul or even Aleppo, Syria, but it is a challenge. There are very few lane markings on the older streets and they do like their traffic circles (picture Chevy Chase in European Vacation if you’ve seen that movie). The streets are overrun with scooters whose drivers operate with impunity. Nonetheless, we made it through, even though we missed a few exits along the way. Garmy got us there. We even made it through the massive traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe right into an underground parking garage where I vowed the Hyundai would remain until we left the city 3 days later.
We found our hotel right by the parking lot exit only to realize that I had booked it for the following night. They had no rooms available for that night but were kind enough to make a few calls and secure a room for us just around the corner. We would check in with them the following night.
In all we spent 3 days in Paris. Visited the Eiffel Tower (in the rain), the Musée du Louvre, took the métro (a lot), walked along the Montmartre district and saw the Moulin Rouge. We also walked through the Catacombs that run below the métro lines and where thousands of human remains (bones) were stored during the 1800s. Really macabre, but for 6 Euros, we couldn’t resist!
We left Paris headed for Brugge, Belgium, a charming city with an intact medieval city centre. I had seen the movie In Bruges a few years earlier and was curious about the place. It turned out to be a really nice one day stop. We walked through the old city, had some Belgian chocolate, climbed 366 steps to the top of a bell tower, and had some good food.
Our next stop was Apeldoorn, Holland. Along the way though, we stopped in Groesbeek, the site of the largest Canadian military cemetery in the Netherlands. The site was immaculate; it is very obvious that the Dutch put a lot of care into maintaining it. If you are not up on your WW2 history, I encourage you to do some reading. The Netherlands were largely liberated by Canadian forces, in 1945, the Nazis surrendered Holland (after 5 years of occupation) to a Canadian General in a small town close to Groesbeek, and there is a monument to commemorate the event.
Apeldoorn was a very peaceful little city, perfect for just relaxing. We were surprised by how popular the bicycle was as a mode of transportation in Holland. Apeldoorn had a very comprehensive network of bike paths complete with signage and bicycle specific traffic lights at intersections. In traffic circles, bikes have the right of way. We saw people in suits, teenagers, seniors, families, mothers and toddlers, all on bikes. And all these bikes are vintage looking bikes, although they are new, they just have that old fashioned look to them. It is truly a legitimate mode of transportation.
We decided to stay an extra day in Apeldoorn and rented bicycles. We spend about 5 hours exploring the city on 2 wheels.
We visited a few more sights in Holland before making our way back to Germany and our final stop in Aachen, a small community known for its hot springs and thermal baths. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the soothing waters.
The remaining days of our holiday were spent back in Bad Soden, where my family lives. We visited with my grandmother a few more times and had some very interesting discussions about what life was like for her during and after WW2.
On the 20th, Erin and I reluctantly made our way back to the airport. Her flight left at 10:45 and mine at 14:30. We waited at her gate together and said goodbye, something that does not get any easier no matter how often you do it.
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luc
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wow
salut Pat j'en reviens pas des belles aventures que tu as ! c'est toujours intéressant tes histoires et visuel ! lache pas soit prudent .je suis bien content pour toi et que tu as pu passé des bons moments avec ta douce . take care .