Last Sunday, we have picked up my parents at the airport at Charles de Gaulle, in Paris. They were tired, they didn't even sleep in the plane. They wanted to go at the Asian buffet right after they landed. lol Afterwards, we strolled in the Jardin des Tuilleries, which was near the Louvre.
The Netherlands
After their 7 hours trip on the plane, we headed the next morning to Amsterdam. It was Easter Monday, so it was busy in the city. We have waited 2 hours under the rain to have access to the Van Gogh Museum. It wasn't a good idea. All our time was wasted in the lineup. If you have only one day to visit Amsterdam, do not visit museums. It was pouring rain but my parents were enjoying their visit.
We were starving around 5pm, and lucky for us, Dutch people have their suppers early, normally at 6pm, like in Canada. The restaurant was located in downtown. The menu was 15 euros per person. It was copious and not too expensive. The service is included. The owners were welcoming. If you visit Amsterdam, restaurants are cheap and good.
My parents were amazed by everything in the Netherlands. Their cleaniless and their sense of design, especially their architecture.
Hotels in Amsterdam are rather expensive, from 80 euros to 100 euros. It may be convenient if you don't have car and if you have access to the city easily. Don't expect to have super nice rooms. Amsterdam is a hot destination, so hotels are always booked and expensive.
In the evening, we headed to our hotel near Keukenhof, where all the strips of tulips are. We could smell the flagrance from the parking of the Hotel. The Hotel name was NH Hotel in Noordwijkerhout. It is more affordable than Amsterdam and the rooms were comfortable. It costed 71 euros per room, for 2 people. There was a pool, jaccuzzi, sauna, and workout room.
Keukenhof
My parents insisted in visiting Keukenhof. It was 14 euros per person. I find it expensive and everything was an excuse to make tourists spend more. The parking at Keukenhof was 6 euros. I suggest not to go if you are on a budget or if you are not that into gardening and flowers.
Outside of Keukenhof, in Lisse, the strips are tulips are beautiful and you don't need to pay to take pictures.
London
We didn't have much time on our hands. Right after our little trip in the Netherlands, we were back home. The next morning at 5am, we took the High speed train (aka the TGV) to London, from Lille. We had to show up 30 minutes before departure. For non Europeans, the customs agents asked to fill out a questionnaire, where you will stay and how long. It took 1 hour to reach our destination, from Lille. We arrived at 8am in St.Pancras Station. We were kinda lost for half an hour in the train station. We didn't know where to go. We asked the train information booth and the person sent us to the tickets booth. We only wanted some day pass to visit attractions in London (hop on hop off busses). Looks like it was too difficult for the people in the train Station to inform us. Outside, at a buss stop I have asked a girl who was waiting the bus, where to buy bus tickets. She was nice enough to tell us that we need to go "underground" of the train station to buy tickets for bus and the tube. We got our day pass for 9 pounds. We have seen on the Internet "London pass", for 46 pounds, I'm not sure if it is valid for 1 year, but it would be a waste of money if you are there only a day.
The Gherkin
Around 3 pm, we checked in our hotel. It was located near the St.Pancras station. The European Hotel was expensive, 75 pounds (90 euros), breakfast included. It was located in a square, but people in the square were loud during the night. We could hear drunk people screaming from our room. The breakfast was not really appetizing (the usual English Breakfast, with bangers, beans out of a can). You can't ask too much if you are that close to the train station. To sum up, I would say that some Londoners are not really welcoming, even rude. At restaurant, you need to tip 10% of your bill. The service is lousy, it's like you are bothering them. But I was really unhappy by the way they treated us in the Information booth of St.Pancras. The employee sent away my father, with arm movements, like "go away". I found that insulting. I was curious if we were the only ones who were treated like that, and I googled :
"london rude" and this is what I found:
London is UK's rudest city
Even Parisians are nicer!
I would come back in London, but I won't go see the attractions. I want to go shopping and visit the eccentric Camden neighborhood or shop on Oxford street. If you want to visit London, be prepared, do your research. We were too tired or lazy to read our travel book and we wasted time in the train station. Also, booking your hotel room is highly recommended.
I found that being in Holland, Belgium or Germany, I feel more comfortable within the continent (Europe), but in England, everything seems odd. They drive on the left side, we have to order and pay upfront before eating in the restaurant. I hope this will help if you want to visit Europe.
