Brielle in Europe-May 21

Date: Thursday, May 21

Location: France

"First, we went to a D-Day museum.  We got to watch a film about D-Day.  Over 425,000 people died in the Invasion of Normandy.  Next we went to the beach.  At the beach we went on a hike and it had a really pretty view.  Gavin and I found a hideout underground.  Then, we went to German bunkers.  After, we went to Bayeux.  Bayeux has a beautiful cathedral which we went to.  Inside the stained glass was very colorful.  Finally, we went and got ice cream and then we had dinner.

 We only touched the water with our fingers.  It was warm.  There were pretty pebbles and rocks all over the beach.

We went to the German graveyard.  All of the crosses were for the Christian German Soldiers and the Star of David were for the Jews.

We found a hideout underground that I think was supposed to be a German Bunker that people that go on hikes to find.  Papa took a picture through the window.  It was about 15 feet long and 5 feet wide.

We found a small hike and took a picture because there was a beach and you can see the little islands in the background of the picture.

We went to the German Bunkers.  This is the one that there was a geocache in, but we couldn't find it because it was supposed to be in the big tank that held the gun, but it was really tiny, about the size of a walnut.

We went to the Bayeux Cathedral.  It was really pretty on the outside and the inside.

It had really big stained glass windows and they were really colorful too.

We ate dinner at an italian restaurant where they had games.  Gavin and I played Uno while we were waiting for dinner to come so it wasn't really boring.

Brielle in Europe-May 20

Date: Wednesday, May 20

Location: Paris, Normandy

First, we went to the Eiffel Tower.  We got to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower on an elevator.  We could see an eyeful of Paris from the top.  Next, we went to Notre Dame Cathedral.  We got to see inside and it was very pretty.  We also went to see the small gardens in the back.  After, we went to the Louvre.  We saw the famous painting of Mona Lisa.  We also saw the Raft of the Medusa.

We took a picture of the eiffel tower from the other side of the seine river.

We took a picture from right under the eiffel tower.  It looked like it was only 4 feet tall if you looked at the picture, but it is actually a little over 1000 feet tall.

We took a picture from the 3rd level of the eiffel tower.  You can see a lot of Paris from up there.  

On the 2nd level, we took a picture hanging over the fence while Uncle Evan took the picture from the bottom so it looked like we were climbing up the eiffel tower.

Most Cathedrals only have 1 big cube or a spiral, but Notre Dame is special because it has 2 of them and it has a bunch of flying butlers hanging of the side.

They had really pretty stained glass window like this one and they had a lot of colors.  

We went to the Louvre Museum and the hallway that we are standing in is special because it has a glass top.

We saw Mona Lisa at the Louvre.  The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci.  

There was a glass pyramid outside of the Louvre.  We stood on a glass stool and pretended we were holding the pyramid, because it looked like we were holding it in the picture.

Brielle in Europe-May 19

Date: Tuesday, May 19

Location: Ghent, Versailles

"First, we went to Ghent to see the famous altarpiece.  Then we went to the Palace of Versailles.  We went on a private tour. My favorite part of the tour was the opera.  The seats can move up to stage level to make a banquet hall.  After visiting the rest of the castle we went to the gardens.  At the gardens we saw a double rainbow.  Then we saw an airshow by the French Air force.  They kept going in circles and making the french flag."

We had Brazilian and African pastries for a treat before going in for a tour.

We went to the hall of mirrors with crystal hangers with candles on them and mirrors on the side.  

The Versailles Palace from the gardens just looked like a long straight line with roofs and a bunch of windows.  

While we were in the gardens it started to rain while the sun was shining so we got a rainbow right over the palace and it was very pretty.

We took a picture inside Versailles so the whole background part was the square part in the back. 

We saw the French Air Force do an Air Show in front of the Versailles palace.  They kept going around and around in circles doing the French flag.  It was really cool.

At the end of the French Air Force show we saw them doing a big firework and split up so it was like a smoke firework.  It was really cool.  

Brielle in Europe-May 18

Date: Monday, May 18

Location: Netherlands, Belgium

"First, we went to Bruges.  Bruges has very yummy chocolate.  We saw how they make chocolate.  Next, we got lunch.  We got Belgian fries and we also got Belgian waffles.  Then, we went to a cathedral.  The famous Madonna by Michael Angelo is here.  The Monuments Men from W.W.II found it.  After that, we went to the Delta Works.  At the Delta Works you could learn about the different kind of Djikes.  Gavin and I went on a waterslide while it was raining."

We went to to Bruge and we saw fake cocao beans.  They were about 1 foot long and had tiny seeds inside of them.  

We saw how they made chocolate at a factory.  He spoke English.  He pulled out pans with already made chocolate so he didn't have to make it, but told us about it.

We had yummy Belgium waffles with chocolate, fudge, whipped cream and chocolate stuffed inside. 

We had Belgium Fries with andolaise sauce.  The Belgium fries taste like normal fries, but the andolaise sauce is like fry sauce except spicier and really good.

 

We got two larges which were about 6x6 inches and that filled up everybodys tummy.  We had the Belgium waffles after for dessert, since the andolaise sauce is healthy.  The fries are not healthy.

Then we went to the cathedral and we saw the Madonna by Michael Angelo at the Cathedral.  

We went to the Delta Works where they had a lot of different kinds of dams and a water park.  

There was a waterslide where we sat on a raft and we went down.  It was really fun.  Since the bottom of the raft was wet, we slide on the raft that was there and it looked like we were going to crash into the fence.

We did a leaf race through the squiggly river and then we opened the dam so it could go into the big river that went into the whole deltaworks.

We went quickly through the park because the Deltaworks was about to close.  We had fun going on the rope bridge and then there was a ladder that went up to a really long and twisty twirly slide.

We took a picture through the canal in the Netherlands.  It had a lot of swans and ducks swimming in it.

We ate dinner and I tried a new pizza with tomatoes, tomato sauce, cheese, a little bit of olives, pepperonie and little pieces of chopped up squid.  It was a little bit good but not my favorite.

We slept on the boat again.  

Brielle in Europe-May 17

Date: Sunday, May 17

Location: Netherlands

First, we went to church.  The church building was a house.  There were only 16 people in the church.  Next, we went to a museum.  The museum had a really heavy rock.  They also have a video sort of thing.  Then we went to the beach.  Gavin and I digged a big hole.  We also saved 2 jellyfish.

We went to church in a white apartment building.  Primary was in the kitchen, which was weird.  We had to sit at the dining room table in the kitchen.

We went to a big dijk and we went to the top of a small light house and we saw a really pretty view.

There was this small tank and we sat on it. On the side of the tank there was little air blown farm animals.  There was a horse, a green cow and a white cow.  They weren't life-size.

We took a picture in front of a tank right next to the ocean.  It was a pretty view.  

When Gavin and me saved 2 jelly fish at the beach, me and Gavin both wrote "Brielle and Gavin are sea-animal savers" in the wet sand, even though we had to do it 2 times, because the waves washed it off once.

This is with the family that was hosting us at their Bed and Breakfast in Zeeland.  They are friends of Grandma and Papa.