Travel Pictures:

In spring 2001, we flew to Frankfurt and then headed directly to Berlin. Everything German is so organized and clean, and a bit quiet. Then we drove to Hamburg in a Mercedes (reaching a speed of 230km/h at times). Hamburg is very different from Berlin, and the fact that we were staying at a hotel near the train station didn't help either. But they do have many, many Chinese restaurants, as opposed to Berlin.

After staying overnight in Hamburg, we took the train to Amsterdam. It's my second time there. It was also the Queen's Birthday weekend, so the city had a very festive mood. But the main purpose for my visit this time was to see the tulips.

We then left for France, heading towards Mont St. Michel. Finally we drove back to Paris. I drove at high speed again but unfortunately this is not the autobahn and we were stopped by the Gendarmerie.

The officer basically said I was speeding (as my friend sitting next to me later explained to me).

I said, "Je ne comprend pas..."

He looked at my driver's licence, which is English/French bilingual, and then asked, "Russia?"

"No, Canada."

He gave me a verbal warning and let me go. I was driving at 120 in a 70 zone. So, we headed back to the autoroute and skipped the country roads.