From Les Gets to Tourrettes

It was pretty chilly in Les Gets during the evenings. The heating in the building was not on yet (it is still a centrally controlled system from the former hotel) and as you can see in this photo I needed a few sweaters, a coat, a blanket and a small electric heater to warm up.... Meanwhile Coen and Wouter braved the cold on mountain bikes racing up one of the local mountains....

With the four of us we drove seven hours further south to Tourrettes, a small historic town in the region near the Meditarenean city of Nice. One of my old university friends and his wife moved permanently to this place after selling their house in Holland a few years ago. They were the hosts of the reunion of our group of students who started our years at the University of Technology in Delft in 1974. A total of 12 of us together with 10 spouses arrived for a first dinner in a few rented houses.

The couples had comfortable bedrooms and I slept in a room with a bunkbed. Back to my travel days at younger ages.... Altogether we had three fun-filled days celebrating our long friendships.

Several hobby chefs in our group did some excellent work with three types of Spanish paella, one with fish, one with chicken and a vegetarian version. That was our first of three dinners together...

An old tradition during some of the meals we had during our years at university was a speech (in Dutch nicknamed as a "lullepot") while walking on the dinner table. Our host Pieter was courageous and did his speech on the table to the amazement of some of the spouses who did not know about this silly Delft student tradition. Lucky for all of us the table was solid enough.... We all got a 50 year celebration sweater (Tempeliers 1974 - 2024) and also a big cake to celebrate. A great opening of our three days together in the south of France....

The mountains and lakes

We visited the French side of Lake Geneva during a bit of a rainy day, but with a small window of sunshine during our walk along the waterfront. Old city, old buildings, steep streets, nice vibe....

The Fall-Autumn weather is here with leaves around the empty squares. Tourism season ended and people getting ready for the coming winter. Today we made a nice walk in a nearby mountain region with a small lake and waterfall. A wedding party on the lakeside during a chilly Tuesday afternoon...

Along the walk several small old settlements with the typical wooden alpine houses. The small waterfall goes 12 months a year. The three musketeers recalled many old memories and also reflected on the current phase of our lives with the aging issues. Tomorrow we will drive about 7 hours further south to join the other 9 old university friends with whom we started our studies in 1974 (now fifty years ago).

Les Gets in France

From Soest with the train to The Hague and then with the streetcar to the coastal town of Scheveningen to get to my friends Anne-Marie and Coen. It was a beautiful sunny September day with lots of people enjoying the life at the beach.

The evening before making our travel by car to Les Gets in France a few last preparations by the hosting couple. During the ten hour trip we picked up another old study friend Wouter and it was nice to arrive in the apartment of Coen & Anne-Marie where we will stay a few days.

Their apartment is one of 13 units in an old hotel. Coen and Anne-Marie bought their unit 14 years ago and have done many renovations over the years. They can sleep 10 people in the apartment; small rooms (in North American eyes) but super cozy. I sleep in a tiny bedroom but very comfortable....

Nice breakfast during the first morning followed by some tennis for the old guys....

Nine hours time difference to the west, Mary is having a nice time in the company of Hilary and Shayd in British Columbia checking out a few cities in the interior where Hilary & Shayd might move to for a while. Coen and Anne-Marie attended our wedding in Canada now 34 years ago.....

Sisters and old friends

During this first week back in the motherland, I caught up again with my sister Ger, her husband Bert and my other sister Han (who lost her husband Lex eight years ago). Ger and Bert live in the eastern part of Holland, while Han lives in central Holland (which for me is much easier as a base during these visits). In Han's apartment building I rent a suite and together we visited our sister last Sunday. With the classic bicycle of a friend of Han (see photo below; I believe that the year of production of that bike precedes even my birthdate...) I bridged a few days this week the 10 kilometers between Soest (where Han lives) and Bilthoven, the small town where I grew up.

In the background of the bike, you can see the apartment building where Han lives and where I rent a suite these weeks again (I did that also in 2022). During one of the bike rides to Bilthoven, I stopped by at the tennis club where I played from when I was 8 to 18. Great memories, but after those ten years I traded in the (then wooden) tennis racket for a (field) hockey stick. That team sport became my favorite for a good next ten years. At the Bilthoven Tennis Club I chatted for a while with one of the four trainers and watched him in action with a group of young kids; takes special personalities to do this... 

One of my Dutch nephews has fun with his wife and three kids at a small field hockey club, where I also played (1984-1986). We found an old photo of me in action during that period, almost 40 years ago. Good times. In the meantime our son Mark put his Mom and the plane to Vancouver, where Mary will be a few days with Hilary and Shayd. 

Back in Holland

Back again for a five week stay in my good old motherland of the Netherlands. Started with a rainy morning in the city center of Amsterdam. Above a photo of one of the canal streets, back in the days called "Bloemenmarkt" (Flower Market), because there were many street vendors of fresh cut flowers. Nowadays mostly tourist souvenir stores. From 1985 to 1988 I lived here on this street at the top floor of a three story very old house (see below).

 

At the ground floor of the house there is now a shop selling Hilary's favorite Dutch treat, the so-called "stroopwafels". They make them fresh and sell them for a whopping 6 Euros each (and decorated like donuts for even 9 Euros!).

The house back in the eighties had three tenants in bachelor apartments. Now it appears to have been converted to office units ("kantoor" is the Dutch word for "office"). The canal calls back many good memories of my years there. And I noticed they found yet another place to find a parking spot for the many bicycles! The downtown area of Amsterdam is now virtually car free, with only public transport and supply trucks (plus people who live along the canals and are willing to pay very high parking fees). But silent electric bikes (especially the so-called "fat bikes") are now the most dangerous going at speeds of around 30 km per hour and totally silent.....