Planes, Trains, and, erm, Boats

Last Monday, the 2nd of May, was an English Bank Holiday. May Day (the 1st) was also a holiday in France, and the 30th of April was Queen's Day in Holland and the 4th was Remembrance Day, the 5th Victory Day. We thought we should take part in the festivities, so last weekend we took an airplane from Newcastle to Paris, a train from Paris to Amsterdam, and a boat from Amsterdam to Newcastle- why stick to just one type of transportation when you can switch things up a bit?


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In Paris, we stayed at friends' apartment while they were away- the 15 minute walk from the city centre was perfect for tourists. We spent most of the weekend walking. And walking. And walking... But at least it's a nice place to walk. Very near their flat was this viaduct with great artsy shops below...
... and a beautiful promenade above. Reminded us of plans for the high line in NYC.
We really enjoyed all the parks and gardens tucked away behind the beautiful buildings in Paris. When I'd visited the city before it was either unbearably hot or cold and rainy, so it was nice to see the city in the spring time. I hate to admit it, but the weather really can affect my opinion of a place...
We wandered around to the typical sites our first day, the Pompidou Center, Notre Dame, Les Invalides, the Eiffel Tower, the Arch de Triomphe... It made for some sore feet and sunburned shoulders, but it was a wonderful day. We were surprised at how disappointed we were by Notre Dame. I guess our hometown cathedral just made it seem surprisingly small!
Since it was a holiday weekend for most surrounding countries and the weather was exactly what one would wish for, the city was packed. That meant that our excursion to the top of the Eiffel Tower took us 2 hours altogether. We waited at the bottom. We waited on level two. We waited to get back down.
But, at least the waiting had nice views!
Since we went out for lunch, and we had a kitchen to ourselves, we (I) decided to buy the most French-y thing at the local grocery. That ended up being this Cassoulet de Castelnaudary, which consisted of white beans, Toulouse sausage, and preserved duck. Interesting. Not bad. But interesting. (And I am sure not quite like the real thing, being in a tin and all.)
Our second day consisted of more wandering and museum-ing. The Louvre is free on the first Sunday of a month. We knew it would be incredibly busy, but since it would be busy on Saturday too, we figured we might as well not pay for the crowds. Here, for example, is the Mona Lisa:
We wandered through a number of galeries, glass-covered arcades I wrote an essay about in grad school, before heading to the artsy (and a 'justified tourist trap' to quote the Lonely Planet entry on Hoi An, Vietnam) Montmartre.
After a lovely evening of cheese and wine with our generous hosts, we headed to Gare du Nord and Amsterdam. Oh, and before we move to Amsterdam, let's just say that French pastries are fantastic. Fantastic.

We had a great surprise in Amsterdam: when we showed up at my cousin Amber's place, my other cousin, Lindsey, was there! So we got to spend our time wandering again, only this time with people we know. We didn't feel up for facing museum crowds again, so we took a canal boat tour and spent a lot of time in canal-side cafes in fantastic sunshine.
From Amsterdam, we headed to the seacoast and our overnight 'ferry' back to Newcastle. We were expecting a good-sized boat, but the cruise ship sitting there at the dock was a bit of a surprise.
We arrived in Tynemouth the next morning, and I headed to work while Josh went back to Durham. I must say, it's fun to be able to go to Paris and Amsterdam for the weekend!