Larry

After landing at the airport in Brussels, Belgium, we ended up taking six trains on this trip. This is the way many Europeans travel. From the basement of the airport we took a local train to downtown Brussels. Once there, I changed our ticket to an earlier train and we boarded this French high speed TGV train. It took us here to the modern "Lille Europe" station in Lille, France where we stayed at a hotel while visiting the Bus World show. Nancy asked for this photo because she liked the blue color on the train.
The Bus World show in Kortrijk, Belgium is scheduled every two years and is the largest bus show in the world. More than 300 exhibitors have displays in six huge buildings and several smaller buildings connecting the larger ones. In addition to European buses, this show included some buses from China and even a bus from Russia. Shown here is a new bus from Irisbus that won the manufacturer of the year award for 2007. The show is so large that is runs for a week and starts off with two days just for the press. We were able to attend on both press days.
The second press day at the Bus World show ended on Friday afternoon and we did not have to be in Antwerp until Sunday evening, so I took advantage of the free day to bring Nancy to Paris on Saturday. Here, the first photo shows Nancy shortly after our arrival in Paris on Saturday morning at the Gare du Nord (North Railroad Station). The second photo was taken not much more than two hours later with Nancy standing on the Champs Elysees, one of the most popular streets in Paris and in the world. It ends at the Arc de Triomphe.
The Arc de Triomphe commemorates the victories of Napoleon. It is totally surrounded by a huge traffic circle that is constantly busy with traffic. All of the tourist books tell you to take the undergound subway rather than try to cross the street. The arch is larger than it appears . . . if you look closely you can see people walking around it.
Nancy was really pleased to see the Eiffel Tower. It is also larger than you might think. Here, Nancy poses with numerous tourists also in the area. There were many tourists in Paris on this day because of a Rugby (football) tournament that brought thousands of tourists from England.
I got this photo of the Eiffel Tower just as the sun was setting for the night. The top of the tower is lit up but if you look closely you will see thousands of flashing lights all over. Yes, that is Nancy standing immediately in front of it.
In this photo, Nancy is standing on a bridge over the Sein River with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Later this night, Nancy and I boarded the boat immediately behind her for a very nice dinner cruise on the Sein River.
Two trains later, Sunday afternoon found us in Antwerp, Belgium. Antwerp is one of the two largest diamond cutting centers in the world. The last time I was here, the Belgian Railway Central Station was being rebuilt to allow through trains to the Netherlands to operate in a tunnel under the station. The station rebuilding also included these modern shops for the diamond merchants. Here, Nancy checks out the window displays in one of several diamond shops. As I expected, she found something she liked and brought it home as her souvenir.
Antwerp is one of the oldest and most historical cities in Europe. In addition to being somewhat of a transportation center, it also boasts of having a huge harbor. We stayed at the Antwerp Hilton, a modern hotel on the edge of the historical district. This photo shows a Sunday afternoon crowd gathered around the Cathedral in the old part of Antwerp. This little plaza was no more than a five minute walk from our hotel.
On Monday, we joined about 25 American bus operators for a tour of the Van Hool bus factory near Antwerp. It is probably the most diversified and vertically integrated bus factory in Europe. Here, Nancy and some of the American bus operators pose adjacent to a new double deck coach. This new coach was going to be shipped to Coach USA/Megabus in Chicago for use on bus routes joining Chicago with other Midwest cities.