Brussels was the quintessentially European city that had lots of modern stuff that a large capitol city would have, but it still has maintained all of its history. Being the European capitol, it was a little more diverse than Amsterdam. Lots of great street scenes here and lots of nice restaurants too. Everyone must go out and eat everyday. you can't sling a dead cat around here without hitting an outdoor cafe.





The oldest shopping "Galleria" in Europe. Pretty fancy place.





The architecture here is just amazing. There's just no way that you can build stuff like this today. Even if you had the skilled workmen, you wouldn't have the money.







Typical street scenes in Brussels...







[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53739332858_50723d98a4_4k.jpg[/img]

Some of these places you go to your mind wants to tell you that this is all fake, like in a Disney theme park or something and all of it is a facade, but it's not. It's all real people live in apartments over the tops of all these stores and shops. I say that because it's all just kind of hard to believe, even seeing it for yourself.

Very cool.

You should learn to use Climchamp. Make a video with your picture and you can add audio. Then you can upload the video to youtube.

It isn't that hard to do.

Next to last stop was Rouen, France. (Pronounced Rue Onh) This place was a medieval city all the way. We docked in Le Havre (Pronounced Lay arvre) but Le Havre was completely destroyed by the allies in WWII because it was a big Nazi base. So we didn't spend a lot of time there.

I mentioned earlier how some of these cities look fake, like a Disney city or something, well Rouen takes the cake. It is what you picture in your mind when you think of an old world European city. Truly an amazing place... I could definitely live here too.

This church in Rouen was built in 1200, 1400, 1600, 1800 and they are still working on it in 2024. Wait until you see the inside...

More Rouen City Pics...





It was Sunday and Sundays in France pretty much everything is closed down...



There were people walking these cobblestones a thousand years ago. It's cool to think about stuff like that.



If you had to remodel one of these houses you would just throw your level and framing square away...







The French in Rouen decided to keep their Napoleon statue...

Last few pics. Our last area we visited was the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. It was a nice little square and market. There was a church built there in the late 1970's in her honor and it was some pretty neat modern architecture.

Cool clock street scene...



The church of Joan or Arc. You can read about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_Joan_of_Arc



The actual spot where she was burned at the stake. A bunch of stuck up religious dudes burning a woman, because she's a little bit different.



Legend has it that she never once cried out. She only asked the Bishop to bring a cross from the cathedral and place it in front of her so she could see it one more time.

People still leave flowers for her here every day...

Looks like quite the trip!

You can still see bullet potmarks in that old church. Pretty cool. Thanks for posting.

My neighbors are in Amsterdam this week. Lydia joked that she was going to take Duane to the red light district and buy him the ugliest whore she could find.

It's a cool ass place. That's for sure.

Looks like an amazing trip! You sir are starting off your retirement right!

Workin' on it.

The detail in the church in Rouen is spectacular. Don't the architecture bring the engineer in you to the surface just a bit? I spent 6+ hours just studying details at Biltmore, and I'm not an engineer. Just a machinist and carpenter. Some of the European structures are an amazing balance between architecture and art.

Awesome trip! I couldn’t take 5 days at sea tho!!!

I may have missed it, but what cruise line was this? It looks like an awesome vacation!

AWESOME!

Damn cool sights. Looks like a good time

Nice pics - would love to go to ireland

Nice trip , great scenery . What's the story behind the orange life ring on the roof of one of those crooked buildings?

Nice👍looks like pictures of old postcards from a 100 year ago. Everything is so clean and neat not run down looking or trashy like it’s getting here. It’s a shame all the idiots here have been allowed to tear down our history and monuments 😬😬thanks for sharing.