22 June: Amsterdam, Netherlands
We slept in a little bit and decided to avoid art and do the dichotimous day of dealing with Holland in WW II... and hookers. We start the day in the Jewish History Museum, then the Dutch Resistance Museum. Then we wangle through the Red Light District to the other side of town to Anne Frank's House.
Jewish History Museum
Comprehensive to a fault, this museum is housed in the remains of the major Askenasic Synagoges of Amsterdam (The Portugese/Sephardic synagogue is across the street). By 1940, 80,000 of Netherlands 140,000 Jews lived in Amsterdam. This museum traces the history of Jewry as it relates to Holland, including an amazing collection of Jewish artifacts from Dutch shuls. The most interesting part was the section about the ghettoing of Jews in Amsterdam's Jewish Quarter, their tranfer to a holding camp, and eventual extermination. 100,000 of the Dutch Jews perished in the camps. What was amazing to me was the number of forms the Germans printed for the seemingly minor tasks in the camps, like Washing slips. Crazy.
Then you pass through an exhibit of new-age religious implements built by a fancy Bauhaus-influenced design school in Israel. Then into the main synagogue with it's Marble ark from the 1680s. This room contains artifacts of Jewish businesses in Holland before 1940 and histories of those businesses. A lot of detail (all in both Dutch and English) for not much end. The final room is a childrens section with very cute introductions to Hebrew and Jewish culture. Stacey was interested, and I spent a lot of my time with the Hebrew stencils writing out our names in Hebrew.
It started to sprinkle, but only a few blocks away is the...
Dutch Resistance Museum
This museum is comprehensive to a fault and bilingual. This traces the Dutch Resistance throughout the occupation. Whole sections are devoted to the massive general strikes, home-built radios, fake papers, etc. Very cool, with an amazing amount of background material, propaganda, and history. It was built in the early 90s by survivors of the Nazi regime who were shocked at the rise of neo-facist groups in Europe. Powerful stuff.
At this point we went towards Dam Square. The Damstraat which leads to the main square is lined with coffeeshop after headshop. The stench of cannibis, the narrow streets, and the innumerable pizza and frites shops (for the munchies) reminded Stacey of Berkeley. The generic peace monument was covered with birds. The Royal Palace was fronted by a gigantic ferris wheel. Trams ran by like London cabs. A lot of commotion, and it is ridiculous. Amsterdam is far too cramped to have extraneous crap like this filling their main squares. Up the busy pedestrian road called Damark, we headed towards the...
Red Light District
Ew.
Rows of windows filled with not-that-attractive-dressed-in-bikini women shimmy and shake whilst the Dutch passers-by ignore them. Rows and rows of sex shops line the canal. We headed towards the Erotic Museum, which was surprisingly unerotic. As you enter you see a display of venereal disease and the heeding of condom use. A X-rated cartoon plays on a video screen surrounded by a mural of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in compromising positions. Upstairs a hard-core porn video plays against a miniature reproduction of the sex theatre next door. All forms of sexual implements are on display. The most interesting thing was the collection of Betty Page S&M pictures from the 50s. All in all, it made me want to avoid the whole subject of sex for a while. We walked back to the Damark and hit an easyEverything.
23 June: Three country drive: Amsterdam to Paris
Got up in the morning with a 5 hour drive ahead of us to the Ibis at the Paris Airport (CDG). The drive was relatively straightforward with the exception of a 1 hour traffic jam in Antwerp. If we had been able to read a sign in Dutch in time, we could have cut it down to a 10 minute detour, but I couldn't pull it off. In any case, we got to CDG around 6pm. The Hotel is in the middle of the airport, right by the offices for Air France and the RER station for Terminal 1. Increadibly convenient.
When we got there we parked in the garage underneath and after waiting for a bit behind a British group, we unpacked all of our belongings and brought it up to our relatively cramped room. This is the largest Ibis we've stayed in with about 600 rooms (with Air Conditioning thankfully), but it has some of the smallest rooms. After removing pretty much the entire contents of my car, we stayed upstairs for about 4 hours and arrainged and rearrainged everything.
One of Stacey's many talents in packing. She has an uncanny ability to make a large pile of things fit snugly into a very small bag. After a few hours at it, we found that we had enough room to carry everything back with room to spare. The only problem will be the windscreen. After exhaustion came over us, we went downstairs to the crowded restaurant and picked up some food. Then upstairs to crash.
24 June: Airport CDG
Today we needed to find internet access and vacuum and possibly wash the car. We got a bite to eat at the RER station that connects with the Ibis. We had some great pizza, more of a chicago style. Mmmmm.... Turns out that the Internet Access at the adjacent hotel was busted. So we took the free shuttle to Terminal 2 at CDG. We only found one place with working internet access and the first time it didn't access mail correctly and the next time there was a guy doing a chat session for an hour (inconsiderate...) So back to the Ibis and over to the Hilton, who's access was down also. We both were quite frustrated and finally have in and rode the RER to the city to hit the easyEverything. Good idea. 35 minutes in; 2 minute walk and pleantiful, fast internet. Ahhh. Somehow Paris feels familiar and right. Back to the hotel on the express RER train (well worth the wait since it runs every 15 minutes). Stacey finished packing whilst I vacuum and clean out the car.
25 June: Paris (Car Dropoff Day)
Get up a little late because the room is stiflingly hot. Although in the book it lists it as air conditioned, its more of a forced fresh air system. And it wasn't working. Ugh. After a while, we just get up because we can't bear it anymore. Plus, every sound made in the hall seems to echo and carry into our room, so at around 5:45 Stacey woke up never able to get back to full sleep again. Quite unfortunate.
So after getting up and making sure everything in the room is cared for, we got in the car and headed for the Arc de Triomphe. The E.H. Harms dropoff place is inside the Foch garage which is a stone's throw from the Arc. With a shockingly baren car, we drove on the autoroute and took a traffic-related detour to go through La Defense again. Since the Grand Arch at La Defense is in a straight line with the Arc and the Louvre, with a big road to match, it's actually easier for me to figure out. After figuring out which lanes to be in, we ended up on the Avenue of the Great Army headed straight for the Arc. The Arc has the most harrowing roundabout I've seen since England, and thankfully it was avoided. Right before the Arc a street sign carried me down a road onto Avenue Foch (which was just one spoke to the right). Did a relatively lowsy parking job whilst marveling at the cars in the spaces of the Luxury car rental place.
After missing a sign for the office and asking the cashier, we found the place. I gave the woman all the forms I received four months ago, and she prepared a beavy of documents. One attesting to the state of the vehicle and any damage (only one scratch). A power of attorney to deal with customs. An EPA document saying I'm importing a US spec car. Eventually I get everything back except for the export declaration. I had previously removed the Hazard Triangle and the first aid kit, so I asked if I had to remove the floor mats. Of course not (Whew). Then I asked about the Munich/International Plates. They had to remain on the car until it left Europe (so I have to try and get them back over here). After moving my car into the marked E.H. Harms spaces and saying a quick goodbye, she directed us towards the RER station right underneath the Arc.
I was giddy as a little schoolgirl, and it wasn't even noon. I needed to calm down a bit. We walked down the Champs-Elysees to a fnac and bought some CDs, mailed some postcards, and waited for the Planet Hollywood next door to open. Since Planet Hollywood was Stacey's first meal in Europe (all the way back in Munich across from the Hofbrauhaus), we thought this would make a perfect bookend. And the food was good, american, and not too expensive. Paris costs about 2/3 of what it costs to live in London or New York, only a 1/5 more than Toronto. With a little more french under our belts, either of us would work there. Back to the hotel to finish packing everything and get to bed early for our quite early day.
26 June: Final Day! Airport CDG
This is it. The final day of the trip. Wow. Stacey's been here for 81 days and I've been here for 105 days (only 91 days straight). We get up in the morning not really thinking of that, since we have to get to the airport. We wake up at 5:15 AM CET and shower and get ready. The air was working last night and we had them open the window so we actually slept straight through, thankfully. At around 7:15 we headed out of the room and the last European hotel either of us will see for quite a while. Stacey's flight leaves at 11:50, my flight leaves at 13:20, but I wanted to get there early to ensure a business class seat. We got on the shuttle bus with my two pieces of luggage, the wind deflector, my courier bag, Stacey's two pieces of luggage and her carry on. Stacey's luggage weighed about 50 pounds and mine were only slightly more, but the wind deflector's bulky.
My flight is in Terminal 2A and Stacey's is in Terminal 2B, which are across the road from each other and separated by an underground passage. I head for my gate, and she heads for hers. The check in for her gate was behind passport control so she waited for about 30 minutes while I took care of my stuff. I got into the Business Class checkin line as soon as it opened at 7:30. Turns out I have to go to ticketing. When I get there they change the ticket and confirm my seat in business class. Only 2 seats left and I was at the top of the waiting list (for 2 weeks now), and since it is first-come-first-served, I got it. The business class section on the plane was full by 9 am, so I'm glad we got up so early.
I meet Stacey in front of the gigantic passport control line and we head to McDonalds to get some food and talk. Then we went to the grocery store/book shop with internet access in the underground between the terminals. We tried to buy some things but since we were down to 20F between us and the credit cards didn't work, we had to leave. It was now 9:30 and Stacey wanted to check in, so we said a terse goodbye in the passport control line and I headed back to my gate.
The Admirals club is in an extension terminal, and it doesn't even compare to the SwissAir club at SFO. Only food was croissants at first, and then cookies. Only one kind of beer. Only scotch was Glenfiddich. Now I'm not complaining, since I have free booze and TV and the like, but SwissAir was much better. I have Stacey's DVD player because she didn't want to lug it back to Columbus, so I get a beer and plug it in. I watch This is Spinal Tap with the commentary by the band members. It's well worth it.
My plane starts boarding around 12:30, so I make the trek to the main part of the terminal and out onto stairs leading to a bus. CDG must not have enough gates because a large number of planes are waiting on the tarmack with large buses connecting them. On the way, we saw this really cool buses that had hydraulic jacks to raise them to plane level so you didn't need stairs. Of course, I was on a backed regular bus with some really loud american's next to me talking about how glad they'd be to be able to overhear conversations in English. I wanted to shove them out of the bus.
Once on the plane I stowed the deflector and settle into 10J. The seats go back to almost vertical, but some of the features of the seat are broken and the headrest is jutted out too forward for my neck. In the upright position, the chair is actually quite uncomfortable, more so than a coach seat. So I was reclined most of the time. The movies they played on the screen were Miss Congeniality, Chocolat, and the Wedding Planner. I ended up seeing Chocolat. It was OK. They also handed out DVD players. I was finishing watching Spinal Tap when the woman came by and asked if I wanted a DVD player and said, "Oh, you've already got one." I said no, but her confusion was justified. The DVD player they hand out is the same model as Stacey's, but modified to play only Region 8 movies (i.e. Airplane Movies). I got to use their DC adapter to save batteries, and use the unbelievably helpful Bose Noise-Cancellation Headsets. They make a HUGE difference, and if you fly enough it is probably worth the $300. I ended up seeing Vertigo (awesome), What Women Want (liked the first half), Austin Powers 2 (again), and a couple other movies that escape me. 11 hours and 30 minutes in the air. I spent most of it watching a DVD and drinking alcohol and water.
As we approached touch-down, I wan't very nostalgic at all. Too many details to take care of. When you land at San Jose on an international flight they put you through a lot of hassle. You get off the plane on the stairs at the Customs place which is very far south. You go through passport control to baggage claim to pick up your stuff. Then you pass through customs. Then you put your stuff on a different carousel to go to the baggage claim in the main terminal. Then you get on a bus. You are dropped off by the parking garage and walk over to baggage claim where you wait for your baggage again. Whole process takes about an hour. Which is 30 minutes too long and involves far too many stairs. But beggars can't be choosers... Chris was there with my car and after my baggage got in we drove off to Sunnyvale and to an In and Out Burger to get some real American food (although I had similar meals all over Europe). Picked up the keys to Stacey's apartment and drove north. Unloaded my stuff at her apartment, got my cell phone, and went over to the airport to meet Stacey again.
Each of Stacey's flights were delayed by an hour, and she was in the very last row of each full flight. She called me on my phone and we met in front of the American baggage claim. She looked exhausted and wasn't comforted in the knowledge that she had another 6 hours of flying to go. I took one of her stuffed animals and I brought her a book from her house and a hat. She had another half hour to kill and I was planning on playing poker this night, so we said a real goodbye as she headed off to Columbus to see her parents. As I headed south, I realized now at 10 pm, I had been up for 26 hours and it started to hit me. I headed back to Stacey's apartment, got on the bed and slept on a large, American bed, for the first time in ages. My big-ass european vacation was at an end.
