The Rijksmuseum: Vermeer, Rembrandt, and much, much more

I'm starting to believe that museums are designed to create a maze-like, scavenger hunt for visitors who have an agenda. So, if you're just wandering and taking things as they come, it's cool. If you've come to see something specific, you better be resolute and unswerving in your quest to find say, 17th century prints or, for that matter, an elevator.

That said, the Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands, is great. The paintings are just beautiful, in that "boy, those guys could really paint" way. And OK, we did find the elevator eventually. And lunch was really tasty. And we got there by streetcar, our first choice in European mass transit systems.

Tomorrow we go back to Paris by train, stay over one night, and then fly home on Wednesday.

The whole sign reads "I Amsterdam", but here's the clever part, the "I am" is in red, and rest is in white. Yeah, OK. Can find the American tourist?  This is the view looking towards the back of the museum.

Dog detail from a large canvas.

Big canvas, little kids.

Another detail from a large canvas. It looks like a detail from a photo!

I may expand upon my Man in a Cafe photo series of Andy and do a Man in the Museum series.

Detail from a large painting of a swan being chased by a dog. Just lovely.

The streetcar. Things are very tidy here.

Hallelujah!

We Awoke to Sunshine. Hadn't seen any sun since October 12th, in Connecticut.

We bought tickets for the hop on/hop off canal boat. As it turned out, we didn't do much hopping but we did get a general, recorded tour in English. We started and ended at the train station so we decided to scout out the platform from which we'll get the train back to Paris on Tuesday. So glad we did. Nothing looked familiar from when we arrived. People were zooming around as if everyone was late for everything, and suddenly my watch was an hour ahead of the station clocks. Did you guess why? The Netherlands goes off daylight savings today, not November 1st like we do at home.

Amsterdam's Central Station, with blue sky!

Yeah, well, it's a tower. We're not sure which one.

The floating bicycle ramp garage at the station.

Because the ground is actually silt, houses settle and become crooked, like the one in the center.

I guess when you live on a boat, a kayak is a good way to buzz around town.

 

 

Streets, Canals, Walkers, Bikers & Drivers

Wandering around Amsterdam is fun but you have to stay sharp. Something like 40% of all traffic is bicycles and we're not talking about pleasant bike trails through the woods. We're talking streets with narrow sidewalks made of uneven bricks and cobblestones, and bicycles that are moving right along (not to mention the small autos, motorbikes or trucks that share the narrow lanes of the two-way streets).  When you come to an intersection, you must look all four ways, judging speed, distance and estimated time of impact for all of the above, before you cross.  Yet the houses, canals and bridges are charming. We had lunch in a casual cafe that was furnished with huge light fixtures from a former church, something you don't see back in the states.

Circular chandelier from a former church.

Andy and Marlon. American culture pops up everywhere.  Marlon is wondering what this old geezer is doing in his restaurant.

No space is wasted.  This house is about the width of two motorbikes.

Autumn in Amsterdam

Canals are everywhere. You have to know where the bridges are or you'll come to a canal and have to backtrack.

An apartment house near us. Old meets new?

These two were right out of a movie. They're on the roof of a two-story building. They had made it down the steep terracotta tiles and were shimmying down the lamp post. I smiled and asked one boy if his mother knew what he was doing. He looked tough and said "nah".

Our apartment is in the red building. The neighborhood is a formerly commercial area that has been gentrified. The owner is very nice and the 2-floor apartment is immaculate. (Bed and bath downstairs, kitchen and living area upstairs.) The spiral staircase is, well,  a bit of a trip.

Bateaux-Mouches, Matt Damon, and Steak & Frites

Last night we did the dinner cruise on the Seine. It was fun and the food was quite good. Lots of birthdays and anniversaries. Here are a few quick shots. Bateaux-Mouche simply means riverboat.

Looking out the boat window.

That's a bateaux-mouche moored in front of the Tower. It's a reflection of a light on the boat that you see to the left of the Tower.

Today we saw Martian with Matt Damon. For the French market the name is Seul Sur Mars (Alone on Mars). Who knows why. Not a bad movie but a little weird to watch a movie that depicts the Americans as being just so awesome, when you're watching it with the French. Plus it features American disco music.

Tonight, our last night, we had dinner at a place the New York Times had given a very good review. Americans everywhere. It was good. They even brought ketchup for the fries without looking taken aback.

The restaurant has beautiful tile work.

Amsterdam by train tomorrow.

Champs-Élysées

My friend Betsy said she was told to never take a photo if the sky is a blank white canvas. We're breaking that rule on this trip. No rain. No sun. Every day is exactly the same. Maybe that's why Paris is so ornate—to distract you from the weather.

Cloudy, but still impressive.

The obelisk at Place Concorde, where the guilloitine was formerly located.

A lamp post at Place Concorde.  Ornate is their style.

Nothing is too over the top.

Who's the paparazzi now?

Fast shot, taken as the traffic was bearing down on us. If you squint you can see the Arc de Triomphe.

Interesting portrait choice for the exhibition poster. It certainly stands out in a sea of large, ornate buildings.

Gare du Nord & Montmartre

Note: Click on any photo to see larger images. To go back to the small photos with captions, click on the 'X" in the upper right hand corner.

Checked out the Gare du Nord train station to figure things out before we leave on Friday for Amsterdam.  It was easy and cheap to get there by bus. We usually use the bus instead of the Metro because we get to see the city and some of the Metro stations are a confusing maze of walkways, stairs, escalators and even elevators.

Matt Damon. Looks like he landed in the train station.

Who is that photo-journalist?  We decided to go to Montmartre since it was close to Gare du Nord.

Basilica Sacre Cour high on a hill overlooking Paris.

Looking at the Paris rooftops from the steps of Sacre Cour.  Notice the French soldier with his Automatic weapon.  They travel in packs of 3 or 4.  I remember the days when the Nuns provided the church security with their rulers to the knuckles.

We walked down these steps to get to the bus stop.  We were hoping to see Jason Bourne flying down the steps on a motorcycle or driving a small car.  No luck.

Montmartre is a pleasant neighborhood. It feels a bit like Sausalito, just north of San Francisco.

Sacre Cour as seen from the neighborhood.

Back at the River Seine with the Eiffel tower in the distance. 

The Seine.  The blue barge is our dinner destination on Wednesday. Supposed to be tres romantic!

Along the Seine, Shots by Andy

This morning we went back to our old neighborhood near the Sorbonne, where we stayed for a month in 2009. It was nice to be back. We knew our way around, no map required.

This afternoon Andy walked around in our current neighborhood and got some really good shots. –E.

I wanted to see what all the fuss was about the famous bridge that couples put locks on and then throw the key into the Seine, thus ensuring their undying devotion to each other.  Here is the photo.  There are locks hooked onto locks hooked onto locks.  The bridge, pont des Arts, is pedestrian only, partially made out of wood, and was suffering from the weight of the locks.  In the photo, the pink in the background is the bridge.  The locks are now only allowed on the fence leading to the bridge.  In case you forgot to bring one, there are guys there selling locks and pens so you can write your names on the locks.

Autumn in Paris.  Beautiful but not quite New England.  View from Pont des Arts looking at the western tip of Isle le Cite.  The spire in the background is Notre Dame.

Looking east towards the Right Bank.

Houseboat/barges complete with their own mini-forest.

The glass pyramid by I.M. Pei at the Louvre, as seen through an arch.

Street scene along Rue de Rivoli, leaving courtyard at the Louvre.

Detail of Louvre from inside the courtyard.