Fodor's the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg - Couverture souple

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0679000607 ISBN 13 : 9780679000600

Editeur : Fodor's Travel Publications Inc.,U.S., 1999

Synopsis

Provides travel information and tips on local attractions, and includes a list of important contacts for visitors.

A propos du livre

Extrait

This excerpt from the essay "Reflections in a Pewter Bowl," by Nancy Coons, in the Destination: The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg section, gives you a taste of what The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg have to offer and the sights and scenes that make them great places to visit.
Slate-color skies curve like a pewter bowl over an undulating landscape, the long, low horizon punctuated by blunt steeples and a scattering of deep-roofed farmhouses that seem to enfold the land like a mother goose spreading wings over her brood. Inky crows wheel over spindle-fingered pollards; jackdaws pepper the ocher grainfields; and a magpie, flashing black and white, drags a long, iridescent tail through the damp air. These are the 16th-century landscapes of Pieter Bruegel the Elder -- stained-glass planes in sepia tones, leaded by black branches, crooked spires, dark-frozen streams.
And these, too, are the 20th-century landscapes of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg -- a wedge of northern Europe squeezed between the massive and ancient kingdoms of France and Germany, bounded by the harsh North Sea to the northwest, defined by the rough, high forests of the Ardennes to the southeast. No wonder so much of their appeal, past and present, is interior -- bountiful, sensual still lifes, the glowing chambers of Vermeer, the inner radiance in the portraits of Rembrandt: Their weather-beaten cultures have turned inward over the centuries, toward the hearth. Indoors, Bruegel's otherwise sepia scenes warm subtly with color -- earthy browns, berry reds, loden greens, muted indigos, coral cheeks. So it is today: The Netherlanders gather in gold-lit, smoke-burnished "brown cafés," old bentwood chairs scraping across weathered stone floors; the Flemish nurse goblets of mahogany beer by candlelight in dark-beamed halls, a scarlet splash of paisley runner thrown over the pine tabletop; red
-vested Walloons -- French-speaking Belgians -- read the newspaper in high-back oak banquettes polished blue-black by generations of rough tweed. In Luxembourg, the glass of light beer and drüp of eau-de-vie go down behind the candy-color leaded glass of spare, bright-lit stuff, or pubs, where village life finds its social focus, day in, day out. In each of these small northern lands, so often lashed by rain, soaked by drizzle, wrapped in fog, with winter dark closing in at 4 pm and winter daylight dawdling until 9 am, the people live out the rich-hued interior scenes of the Old Masters.
Yet the skies do clear, come spring, and at last the light lingers until well after 10 at night. Then the real pleasure begins -- an intense appreciation that residents of moderate climates would be hard-put to understand. As if the people's gratitude took physical form, it manifests itself in flowers, a frenzy of color spilling from every windowsill, spreading like ocean waves across tulip fields, over rose trellises, through wisteria-woven archways. Fruit trees explode like fireworks, and whole orchards shimmer pink. Chestnut branches sag under the weight of their leaves and the heavy, grapelike clusters of blossom that thrust upward, defying gravity.
Then café society, and home life with it, moves lock, stock, and barrel outdoors, to bask. Terrace cafés on the Grote Markts and Grand'Places rival any piazza in Italy. And when there's no café around, the family simply sets out a cluster of folding chairs, perhaps a checkered-cloth-covered card table, whether smack on the sidewalk or behind the barn door, to make the most of fine weather.
The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg -- as diverse within themselves as they are to one another. And yet all this diversity has been thrown together by the dominant cultures pressing in at the borders -- France and Germany. Having been conquered and economically dwarfed for generations, the three little countries felt compelled, in 1958, to form an alliance, an economic union that served as a foundation for the European Union. Since then, "Benelux" has become a convenient abbreviation for a small, independent wedge of northern Europe where even fruit juice is labeled in French and in Dutch.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over.  Smart travel tips and important contact info make planning your trip a breeze, and detailed coverage of sights, accommodations, and restaurants give you the info you need to make your experience enriching and hassle-free.  If you only have room for one guide, this is the one for you.
The best guide to The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, packed with essentials
Great walks in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Antwerp
Holland's tulip heartland, Belgium's chateau country, the storybook towns of Flanders, and the Moselle vineyards
Flower shows, flea markets, historic festivals
Van Eyck to Van Gogh -- the great painters at home
The best buys and bargains, from diamonds to Delftware
Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget
Cozy inns, castle manors, and top-value city hotels
Lavish restaurants, neighborhood cafés, basic brasseries, and best bets for frites, herring, and local beers
Fresh, thorough, practical -- off and on the beaten path
Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands
All reviews based on visits by savvy writer-residents
32 pages of maps, 12 vacation Itineraries, and more
Important contacts, smart travel tips
Fodor's Choice
What's Where
Pleasures & Pastimes
Festivals
Helpful vocabularies
Complete index

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Fodor's Travel Publications Inc.,U.S.
• Date d'édition: 1999
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0679000607
• ISBN 13: 9780679000600
• Reliure: Broché
• Numéro d'édition: 4
• Nombre de pages: 369
• Éditeur: Fodor Eugene, Etc.
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible