Ken and I are in Europe. Cruise from Amsterdam to Basel (or Trier), then trains to Strasbourg and Paris. First day highlight was a Dutch dining classic, Indonesian rijstaffel. Was delicious, sorry about the century of brutal occupation.
Hell is a series of tourists all crowded around a Vermeer, all trying to get the same crappy camphone snap of the luminescent transcendence.
Some Amsterdam photos.
Also I believe it is traditional to report we are on a boat.
Pretty sure I’m the youngest guest on the cruise. Also we may be the only gay couple who are guests. Some of the staff seem sparkly though.
10 years later, my feet can still find me to the charming touristy liquor store in Amsterdam that sells aged genever out of barrels. oudamsterdam.nl
Motoring up the Rhine, near Düsseldorf.
I'm still on a boat! Almost to Cologne. Easy to follow along thanks to AIS tracking, here's a map: marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:5452043/mmsi:248366000/vessel:CRYSTAL%20DEBUSSY
Some photos from Amsterdam. Ken with metro cat, burgermeisters, storefronts.
Köln pics daytime
Köln pics nighttime.
We ended up at Weinhaus Brungs just next door. weinhaus-brungs.de
@iandees I'm on a Crystal cruise from Amsterdam to Basel. Well, to Koblenz; river is too low for the rest. It's nice! Definitely like being on a boat with fewer passengers (110, which makes it more $$$). Left/right seems to vary, no idea how/why.
“German corner” in Koblenz, where the Rhine and the Mosel rivers come together.
They built a fantastic cable car in Koblenz up to the hilltop fortress. Magnificent weather today.
One more set of photos from the Deutsche Eck in Koblenz. Lovely beer garden there.
In Germany on a cruise. After dinner we had a string quartet play in the ship's one bar. 50 guests for the music.
And in one corner, a TV. Playing the rapey judge hearing. With sound loud enough to be heard. Half a world away, on vacation, no escaping American rapey judge.
The crowd clapped on the 1 and the 3 for the one jazzy number, too.
Hello from Cochem, a charming tourist town on the Mosel. We are currently sitting on our boat drinking Federrotter, a very young sweet juice / wine enjoyed fresh from the harvest. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federweisser
I am here to report every 70+ year old man on this cruise is wearing Allbirds. The wheel of fashion turns quickly.
Bernkastel, another cute little Mosel town. These folks got the smart idea to have a band and weingarten half the year.
More photos from Bernkastel.
Long lazy afternoon watching Mosel vineyards slide by.
Mehring, not Mehling, apologies. It's not easy to find this place you've parked us for two days on a map.
@EricaJoy Awesome! We went past Erden yesterday.
Kabinett; that means dry and not sweet, right?
We heard a story of a wine being called "Doctor" because it was believed wine was a medicine that restored health.
Trierer Dom.
Ken found a shop that sells meat pretzels. Basically a Slim Jim tied into a knot. Germany is truly great. (Photo includes Ken in his snazzy new red pants. Don't they look great?)
Internalized homophobia is still referring to your partner of 20+ years as "my friend" to people 9 days in on a cruise.
Some photos from around Trier.
And details from the archaeology museum in Trier, with significant Roman works.
These Mosel river locks are crazy. The locks are 12m wide and the boat is 11.5m wide. So that's at best 20 inches of clearance. Meanwhile the boat is 450 feet long, so they have to drive it exactly straight in and out. We had a mishap and lost a passenger's cabin window.
Andernach, on the Rhein near Koblenz.
There was a little carnival in town. I love Euro-carny style. #rihanna
Enjoying a little picnic on the EC 9 from Koblenz to Basel.
If this is Wednesday we must be in Switzerland.
At the Cité du Train in Mulhouse.
Crazy building-sized steam electricity generator from 1901. 6 tons of coal a day to generate just over 1 kW. Electropolis of Mulhouse.
People smoke way too much in Europe. Every outdoor cafe is gross.
Generator in action.
Ken and I had a fantastic dinner for his birthday at Cheval Blanc in Basel. Sonetimes this kind of high end dining can be safe and dull cooking. Chef Knogl is doing interesting things with intense flavors, reminded me a bit of Pic.
Beautiful old sign at the Fernet-Branca distillery in Saint Louis, France. (not my photo). tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g608753-d3970209-Reviews-Fondation_Fernet_Branca-Saint_Louis_Haut_Rhin_Grand_Est.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=110543796
You can easily guess where I am from two photos. (Or one geotag).
Strasbourg to Paris by TGV: 490km in 1:48, or just about 170mph door to door. Compare the upcoming SF/LA high speed rail which at best will be about 145mph end to end.
Happiness is ending a long journey with a lovely comfortable hotel room and a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for you. Le Saint in Paris.
French Sunday lunch is best lunch. Feeling so lucky to have friends in Paris to spend a long pleasant day with.
Figured out our Paris museum agenda for this trip. The Musée Jacquemart-André today (Caravaggio exhibit), the Marmottan tomorrow (impressionists), and the Delacroix on Wednesday. Every time I think I've been to all the museums in Paris I find 20 more to go to.
Finally rode a bus in Paris. 20+ years of visits and I could never figure them out but Google transit makes it easy. Buses sometimes go point to point better than the Metro.
Also shout out to the Transit app, which with no effort on my part opened exactly to this relevant view.
Lovely lunch at Le Monceau in Paris near Parc Monceau. Mostly unremarkable, there are 1000 places like this one in Paris, but it was remarkably good and sympa and our lunch was terrific. yelp.fr/biz/le-monceau-paris
Absolutely full of cassoulet at one of our favorite regular places in Paris, Auberge Pyrénées Cévennes. yelp.com/biz/auberge-pyr%C3%A9n%C3%A9es-c%C3%A9vennes-paris-2
Nothing more French than waiting in line 30 minutes to buy tickets for the art museum from the one cashier.
An embarrassment of Monets. At the Musee Marmottan.
More bits from the Marmottan
Started sitting indoors at cafes to avoid the smoke. But it's a nice day so all the window are open. The aging fauxhemian couple outside alternates between chain smoking so the smoke blows inside and swapping tobacco flavored spit. Paris is for lovers and emphysema.
American food, according to the fancy grocery store in Paris.
The best part is when they bring out the second helping of fries, hot and fresh from the kitchen. (Ken is happier than he looks.)
@testastretta I know the story, and it is a good one! We met her last night at a tiny little Mexican grocery here in Paris to share some shopping tips. I bought her Lisa Fain's Tex-Mex cookbook, some mix of sharing the love and a little mischief.
I regret to inform you these are now A Thing in Paris:
Le poke bowl
Le toast avocat
Le vaping
Les scooters citron vert
In good news, le brunching seems less popular.
@chrys is there enough information to answer this question mathematically?
(I'm glued to 538's predictions.)
Ken's Parisian "dry martini cocktail" last night contained sweet vermouth and lemon juice for some damn reason.
Related: a little glad to be flying home today.
@iandees I buy clothes at a men's store that has Fox running continuously and am very conflicted about it.
It's 8:20AM but it feels like mid afternoon to me. I am always wrecked by jet lag when I get back home.
Kimchi is the best thing ever.