An early morning rise, to say our goodbyes to romantic Paris, for a road trip to Belgium - Ghent, we stop for a tea break at Paul, a famous French bakery – there is nothing quite like this bakery, fresh breads and pastries – the French just do it right when it comes to baking! Who taught them how to cook so well?

It's almost lunchtime where we stop at Ghent for a canal cruise, where we motor down into the centre of the town, a quaint town, to find charming buildings with assorted shops, in particular chocolate and sweet shops, and beer houses to serve the famous local Dragon Beer.   We turnaround to return the way we came, as we reach the Castle of Ghent, and are served yummy petite bread rolls with assorted choices of meats, salads and cheeses and the offer to try a Dragon Beer in its own glass that helps achieve a good head.

It’s a drive across the border and then we arrive in Amsterdam to board our ship the MS Ama Verde. Wow what a cabin, with plenty of space, our own verandah and butler service – we can definitely call this a special holiday.   We unpack, there is plenty of room in our cabin and we meet the rest of the tour group in the lounge for the routine safety checks and chat about our next few days.  

Dinner is next, oh boy, no shortcuts with the food, three course selection is superb served with French wine – bliss! And a bigger waistline!

Tonight because we are in port – in Amsterdam, we join the drop off bus that takes us to the square, and we join a one hour night lights canal tour, although a chilly night, rugged up in the warm cruise boat, we view Amsterdam at night, a different view to the city, travelling past many house boats old and new, and apartment type architecture of all different periods, some we can see chandeliers in the windows, where the well to do people live, and others we can see they have been renovated to offices.   It’s very expensive to live on the canals in Amsterdam, be in an apartment or houseboat.

We arrive very late back, others have walked the streets where coffee shops are open late and red light district has just started for the night.

Our first night aboard Ms Ama Verde, is a start of an exciting journey from Amsterdam to Budapest.