Tour de Franz

Yesterday, Marie Christine and Franz had the day off work, so Franz planned an outing for us, hence our very own tour de Franz! :-)  So they picked us (Dad, Koos and I) up at 9:30 a.m. and off we went in Franz's car. I will have to get a picture of Franz's car because I think it is very cool. It is a Renault (?) of some type and is the biggest little car I have ever been in! It is kind of cube like to look at and even has some overhead storage compartments in the back like an airplane and has so much headroom. Not sure about the leg room, but I know Lorne (all 6'4") would love the headroom!

So our first destination was Gorinchem, also called Gorkum. I am having a hard time wrapping my lips around the pronunciation of some of these places,but am trying! Gorkum is a small city in the western Netherlands that covers an area of approx 22 km. 3 km of the area covered is water. There is so much water here. Water everywhere! It is said that Gorkum was founded around the year 1000 by fisherman and the farmers that farmed the raised land of the area. As were most of the settlements of the time, the city was fought over by different factions over the centuries and reinforced with city walls to protect against the invaders. By the 16th century, the city walls had to be replaced with new fortifications and eleven bastions (a structure that juts out of the wall to be used in defense againt assaulting troops) which still are almost completely intact. These are also called bulwarks which is a term I have heard before. The new walls were placed farther from the town centre, making the city twice as large and were finished in 1609 and in 1673 Gorinchem officially became part of the old Dutch Water Line which were a series of water based defenses so the Dutch could flood the lowlands as a defense against the enemy yet maintain economic trading within their own Dutch Republic. Rather ingenious if you think about it! The city walls had four city gates: the Arkel Gate in the north, the Dalem Gate in the east, the Water Gate in the south (where the ferry to Woudrichem was), and the Kansel Gate in the west. Of these four gates only the Dalem Gate remains. The others were removed in the 19th century to make way for vehicular traffic. A portion of the Water Gate was preserved in the gardens of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

We left the city via water taxi through after viewing the locks into the main river Linge. I believe this is the location where the Water Gate would have stood. Our first destination was Slot Loevestein, a medieval castle built by the knight Dirc Loef can Horne between 1357 and 1397.  It was built in a strategic location where the Maas and Waal  rivers come together and was originally constructed in order to take tolls from the vessels passing through the rivers for the purposes of trade. The castle changed hands a few times over the centuries and was even used as a prison to house political prisoners at one time. It is said to be haunted but I didn't see any ghosts floating around myself!

From Loevestein we went again by water taxi to Woudrichem, a beautifully preserved medieval town that was granted city right in the early 1300's.  Woudrichem is also one of the eleven official Dutch Fortress Towns: a series of strongholds that for centuries formed the Holland Water Defence. Franz, Dad and I walked the perimeter of the town while Koos and Marie Christine scouted out a pub where we could rest and recoup! There we met some gentlemen playing billiards and generally enjoying life. The harbour in Woudrichem is now considered a National Monument and was modified in 1998 to look again as it had in the 17th century and is intended for historic ships like clipper barges, Dutch Stijlstevens and Frisian Maatkasten. The water taxi came and went from a small dock just beside the little harbour. In the old town centre, there was a church from the 15th century. The heavy square tower used to be higher and much more conical but the spire section was shot down by the Spanish during the town's occupation in 1574. Since then, the tower has been known locally as 'The Mustard Pot' - de Mosterdpot. The entire church burned down at the end of the 16th century but the building was restored and today it belongs to the Dutch Reformed Church.

We ended our day back in Gorinchem where we had left the car. We had dinner at a pancake house called Rosella. Was so so yummy! They offered 43 different kinds of tea. The pancake I had was a dinner pancake and contained onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon and ham! There was a bottle of syrup on the table. Well, they called it syrup but it was not maple syrup. It was actually molasses. Another culinary experience to say the least!  :-)

We ended the Tour de Franz back at Koo's where we drank wine and previews some of my photos from the day on his large screen tv. Koos's favourite pic of the day was the one of him and his new blonde girlfriend he flirted shamelessly with on the water  taxi! ;-)

Today Dad and I are off to stay with Teene and Antoon on their farm for a ouple of days. Koos will spend the next couple of days getting ready for his 84th birthday bash on Sat. What fun!

Have a great day!