It’s been a while since we last talked about traveling around here! Since my return from my world tour I have no longer posted articles about traveling… And yet it is not for lack of having continued to travel: Germany, Mexico, London, Bay of Somme, Morocco, Belgium, Andalusia… But I don’t know, maybe the desire to share on this subject was no longer there at the time!
So here I am back with a new article on our first roatrip outside France with Ysé, our daughter born at the end of August and who was 2 1/2 months old during this trip.
This time we decided to discover the Netherlands by trying to go a little outside of the classic Amsterdam, already because we did it in 2015 , but above all also because of the price of accommodation! Madness…
So we decided instead to discover other places: Rotterdam, The Hague and some very characteristic cities in the Netherlands ( #clichés ).
BABY GEAR
A little point about baby gear, it doesn’t eat bread and it could perhaps help parents looking to escape but panicked by the baby suitcase, by the fear of missing something. I assure you, even as minimalists, we didn’t lack for anything and at worst there was everything on site!
Over 5 days and 4 nights this is what we took for Ysé:
– a Yoyo stroller
– a cozy car seat
– a travel cot (which was only useful for the last 2 nights because there was no baby bed available in the second accommodation so we could have done without it if we had found other accommodation)
– 5 bodysuits / 2 pajamas / 5 outfits / 1 pair of slippers / 3 pairs of socks / 1 hat / 1 pilot suit / 1 sleeping bag / 1 bib
– a changing bag with essentials when you are outdoors
– diapers / liniment / physiological serum / washable cotton pads / washing gel
– 2 boxes of milk / 4 bottles
– the baby carrier (which has never been used)
We didn’t take her deckchair or any games because she wasn’t going to lack stimulation with everything we were going to discover.
In the end all his belongings fit into Raphaël’s suitcase and we were able to fit everything into the trunk of the Fiat 500 that we had rented. A life-size tetris!
KINDERDIJK
What a great discovery! We knew that a place full of windmills and classified as a UNESCO world heritage site was not going to be the most peaceful in the Netherlands… And yet! Since the tour of the mills ends at 4 p.m., many people think that the site closes at 4 p.m., when not at all! The site is open permanently!
So we disembarked at 3:30 p.m., we visited the mills directly and there were only 10 of us left on the entire site. We then witnessed an absolutely magnificent sunset over the mills!
Visiting the mills is super cool because everything is preserved inside and you can easily imagine the daily life of the families living there. When I think that this magnificent site, considered obsolete decades ago, was preserved because the Queen of the Netherlands said no way for its destruction. God save the queen!
FYI it’s only 1 hour from Amsterdam.
▶︎ MY ADVICE: disembark at 3:30 p.m., visit the two mills first then stroll along the walking path to the sound of the wind in the reeds.
GOUDA
Ok, that couldn’t be more cliché!
And to really experience it to the fullest you have to go there on Wednesday morning during the market: it’s a gouda fiesta! And I had no idea there were so many kinds!! It’s crazy stuff: tomato, pesto, honey, fig, rum….
We tasted the standard 3 year old one and I must say that it is much better than I imagined.
Beyond the “we come here to eat cheese” aspect, the city is really superb. Lots of little canals everywhere, pretty little houses, everyone on bikes…it’s very reminiscent of a mini Amsterdam.
▶︎ MY ADVICE: go there on Wednesday morning to really experience the local folklore, which is certainly very touristy
▶︎ THE RIGHT ADDRESS: a very cute, quiet vegan restaurant where you eat very well; also offers a small grocery store with vegan products and zero waste utensils/products.
This is not my favorite part of our stay because unfortunately, the city having been almost completely razed during the Second World War, it is very modern and only a very small old district has survived.
However, some things are still worth seeing, notably the Market Hall, a huge hall filled with food stalls from all over the world (of course I liked it); and the port of Rotterdam, the largest in Europe, which we visited by boat. Super impressive and creepy at the same time. It is 45 km long (no, but 45!!) and it is one of the most polluted places in the Netherlands. There were cargo ships in every direction, hangars as far as the eye could see…It made me even more want to consume locally and limit my purchases from globalization.
▶︎ MY ADVICE: even if you’re not a fan of industrial places and if you have a little time, go take a look at the port of Rotterdam: it’s unique and it sets your mind straight!
▶︎ THE RIGHT ADDRESS: as usual we like to stay in apartments rather than hotels and with our baby it allows us to have a certain organization like at home; This is a good address that allows you to go shopping in zero waste mode at the Market Hall located right next door and cook in your apartment while having a splendid view of the city (plus they provide a baby cot for free).