Europe Trip - the end

We would have stayed at our boutique in Tongeren longer, but they were booked up for the weekend, so we went to a golf course in Genk for a few days. Johnny got a ride into work, so I got to drive the rental car.  It was a lot of fun, actually.  Germans and Belgians are excellent drivers.  I went into a city called Hasselt on my way and spent the day in a fashion museum.  I really enjoy being able to go through museums at my own pace.  And this one came with the added bonus of nostalgia for the Costume Museum in Bath.

While we were in Genk, we drove into Maastricht, which is in the Netherlands, which is where Johnny had been working.  We would have stayed there the whole time, but there was an art festival and all the hotels were booked.  Hence the hotel in Tongeren.  Also the reason why our Tongeren hotel was booked that weekend.  Anyway, this is one of about 75 squares in Maastricht that look pretty similar.  This particular church was hosting an antiquity book sale as part of the art festival.  We were going to go in because me and old books are a match made in heaven, and because it was rather chilly and a little rainy outside, but it was ridiculously expensive just to go inside.  And since we weren't planning on actually buying anything, it seemed like a bit of a waste.

So we walked around the city instead.  It was lovely.  And there were about 200% more bicycles in The Netherlands than Belgium.  They are very good to cyclists there.  They have their own lanes, which means they can go really fast, so you really have to give them the right-of-way, even as a pedestrian.

After our weekend in Genk, we went to Ghent.  It was one of the coolest cities.  But I didn't take my camera out with me because by then I was a little worn out with all the walking.  So I spent some time recovering and relaxing in the hotel.  But I can turn your attention to Facebook to see all the Ghent pictures Johnny tagged me in from his phone.

We did ride the train into Paris one day because Johnny had to meet with a customer and it was a good halfway point.  We didn't have time to see all of Paris, of course, but we did go to the Dali museum.  He's one of Johnny's favorites.  And then we wondered around Montmartre, which is the artistic part of Paris and home to Sacre Coeur.  It's quite hilly, actually, which may have been what wore me out, now that I think about it.  I did get to impress Johnny by ordering pastries in French at a shop, and I'll take that any time I can get it.

Ghent was the end of our Europe trip, so we drove the rental car (a Ford Mondeo, in case Dad's wondering) back to Frankfurt, enjoying the Autobahn, flew to Heathrow, then on to Johannesburg on a mostly empty flight with very amusing flight attendants.

All in all, a great Europe trip.