Amsterdang

Being in Amsterdam is honestly as strange to me as being on the Moon. I walked off of the train and felt a wave of fear come over me. I have NEVER felt as much in a foreign country as I have here. I am getting a little better now, I guess that you do get used to things. Kath and I walked around last night and just took in how gorgeous it is here. They light up the bridges of the canals, they are so gorgeous.
Kath and I went to The Hague today. It was really cool to see the International Court of Justice. And we went to the Mauritshuis Museum to see Vermeer's most famous work, "Girl With a Pearl Earring" and other works of Rembrandt that blew me away.
I still feel like I am on the moon.
Love, Jeanne

Our room at The Vondelpark Hostel in Amsterdam.



I absolutely love this

This is where they stayed, this is where they were found...




What I cannot believe, is that no one ever talks about this place. No one ever talks about Amsterdam. It has more canals than even Venice. It is GORGEOUS here. Yes...it is crazy, too. Many drugs are legal here and prostitution is a legal profession here as well...with it's own pension plan, health benefits and everything. It is disturbing to think about.


Awesome.

Even more awesome.

Mary's Chocolates

Oh, it was good. It was like going to the White House in Washington D.C. to buy chocolate. The boy who sold the chocolates to us was one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen.

Belgium

I loved Brussels. We got to see THE headquarters of THE European Union. It was so cool that I went around with a smile on my face for hours afterwards for no reason at all.







In one of the beautiful parks. I think she is so gorgeous.

The flower of July, The Waterlily.

Hey, we ARE in Belgium after all.

Dang you, Paris!

Kath and I are gratefully sitting in an Internet cafe that actually HAS Internet, we spent the best part of the morning looking for one. But on the way, I DID enjoy my breakfast which included an actual LAVENDER eclair. =)

We will be going to the Musee D'Orsay today, they have one of the best collections of Impressionist Art in the whole world, if not the best. I will see many van Goghs. I will cry. Then tonight, Kath and I will head to Brussels. She will buy an UNHOLY amount of chocolate, and I will contemplate upon the color yellow.

The Musee D'Orsay


I felt it almost blasphemy to photograph this painting. I...don't even have words.

I considered seeing this painting and the Impressionist section of the museum to be a spiritual experience. I could spend a whole day here on this one floor alone. Just thinking.


We just had to...


Some Final Images of Paris










*Later* (10:36 pm from Brussels)

We are here in Brussels, in the van Gogh youth hostel, wow, it is like staying in a swank club in LA. They are blasting the Rolling Stones from the speakers. This place is nuts. Kath and I BARELY made our train. The subway had a malfunction just one stop BEFORE we needed to get off...I thought I would have an aneurysm. I am glad I did not.
The Musee D'Orsay blew my mind. If there had not been so many people there, I might have fallen on the floor in the impressionist wing, weeping. I got to see so many of my favorite van Goghs. And I fell in love with "Starry Night Over the Rhone." Until you see that painting in person, there is no way that you can understand how amazing it is. The line to get into the D'Orsay was not that bad, and as we were trying to correct the major farmers tan line that we have procured on this trip by rolling up our sleeves the whole way and standing in the sun, I heard an older man whistling "La Vie En Rose"...I looked up and smiled at him. He seemed happy that I did.

The reason that I am angry at Paris is that it made me fall in love with it. Against my will. It is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. I am one of the millions now...those who ever long to return to the city of lights.

TOMORROW:
Brussels, (chocolate) the center of the European Union, (chocolate) I am VERY excited to see the headquarters of the (chocolate) EU.
Goodnight.

Paris, Day #3 The Louvre and the Night

THE LOUVRE





She is so beautiful.

The Venus Di Milo




Man or Woman? You decide.


I love the look on this Mary's face; such intense love.


Ah...we went to Sacre Cour tonight, Paris' highest hill. We saw the city, ALL off it, it was just gorgeous and HUGE. We almost got abducted by a satanic man from some African country who was trying to sell Kath a bracelet, I said the f word and he eventually left us alone. =( The Moulan Rouge is actually in a very scary part of Paris. We were kindly led there by an old opera singer...named Jane. She sang 10 years in Budapest. She thought that the area of Montmarte was "too much about sex!" I agreed with her. I sang in the streets of Paris on the way home.

(Right before we went out...little did we know what was ahead of us...I am so glad we did not get hurt.)


I know, I know, but c'mon! it's Paris!!!