Rembrandtplein

A popular place on sunny days and every night of the year, the Rembrandtplein is always alive with people and action. The park is a tribute to the famous Amsterdam artist, Rembrandt van Rijn, and there’s a statue of him in the center.

On one side is nice grassy area, which hosts a beautiful tulip display in the spring. Shade trees provide some relief from summer heat.

The center park is surrounded by cafes, restaurants, nightclubs, casinos, a bank, a four-star hotel and a coffeeshop. Sit in a sidewalk cafe, order a beer, and watch the show!

Walk to Montmartre

Walk up the hill to Montmartre for a journey back in time.

One of the nicest little walks I took recently in Paris began on the tacky Rue de Clichy. If you want to ignore that scene, go up Rue Lepic towards Montmartre and you’ll find yourself in Parisian paradise just a block away from the madness of Pigalle and the Moulin Rouge.

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The Louvre

No trip to Paris is complete without a visit to one of the most magnificent museums in the world. It’s timeless elegance encases some real jewels, including the Mona Lisa, several Michaelangelos, the Venus di Milo, and so many more.

Once the palace to kings and emperors, the Louvre shelters some of the great art works of the world. The collections focus on sculptures and paintings from the European masters, as well as ancient Egyptian, Greek and Islamic art. They’ve also restored some of Napoleon III’s apartments complete with original furnishings which convey what it was like to live in the Louvre when it was a royal palace.

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Musée National d’Art Moderne

The Musée National d’Art Moderne (National Modern Art Museum), located in the colorful Pompidou Center is a glowing tribute to 20th Century art. Occupying the fourth and fifth levels in the modernist/industrialist Pompidou Center, the museum contains one of the best collections of modern art in the world.

Forty galleries display works from the modern collection which spans from 1905 until 1960 and covers Fauvism, Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, the Paris School, and American modern art. Some galleries are dedicated to individual artists, others to various themes.

All the great modern artists are represented with prime works including Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Rene Magritte, Piet Mondrian, Vassily Kandinsky, Juan Mirò and Paul Matisse.

Another floor highlights various exhibits of modern art post 1960. These include the wonderfully campy Pop Art from Andy Warhol and psychedelic Op Art from Vasarely. New Realism and Kinetic Art are also displayed here.

This museum is a must see on your next trip to Paris! The Pompidou Center is a major entertainment destination and contains an excellent public library too!

Pompidou Center

Pompidou Center also called Centre Beaubourg, was completed in 1977. This imposing structure got off to a very controversial start (not unlike the Eiffel Tower), with many critics protesting the clash between the modernist/industrial design and the surrounding classical Parisian architecture.

To allow for more unobstructed exhibition space, Pompidou Center’s utilities were put on the outside. The façade makes the building look like an oil refinery or a power plant. Things like airconditioning ducts and plumbing snake around the outside of the building, and their color-coded conduits indicate the various building functions they perform.

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Arc de Triomphe

One of the most famous monuments in Paris is the Arc de Triomphe, which has been a place to celebrate war victories since the time of Napoleon (who commisioned it in 1806).
 
Standing 50 meters above Place Charles de Gaulle, it provides outstanding 360º views including the Champs Élysées and 11 other grand boulevards which all radiate from the traffic circle around the Arch. The Arc is a beautiful sight at night especially looking down the Champs Élysées where it stands majestically lit up at one end of the boulevard.

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Highlife Hemp Expo: Cannabis Growing Technology Showcase

This annual event in Utrecht showcases the latest technology available for those who grow cannabis and hands out awards to the top produce from that technology.

About 70 booths vied for attention selling everything from top quality seeds to get you started, to plant mediums like rock wool for hydroponic gardening, to fertilizers to ensure rapid healthy growth, to self-contained mini-growrooms, to complete computer controlled systems that monitor and control water, fertilizer, air circulation, CO2, lighting, automatically, even remotely via cellphone or the internet!

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New Mobile Phone Law

As of March 30, 2002 using a hand-held mobile phone while driving a car, motorcycle or moped is illegal in Holland. They’re really trying to discourage this with fines ranging from 136 to 2000 Euros. This should make driving safer for everyone, but watch out for bicycles! The law doesn’t apply to them, and they’re scary when they’re on the phone!

Lee Bridges, The Cannabis Poet

Hip Profile: Lee Bridges,
The Cannabis Poet

by Skip Stone

No one believes Amsterdam
Will ever stop swinging when
So much real freedom is truly
Felt, especially in the smoking
Coffeeshops where tensions and
Hostilities melt and
WWWHHHOOOoooeee!
What a beautiful scene

The Scene (Part C)
Copyright 2000 by Lee Bridges


Hip Trip:
Philosopher, poet, cannabis activist, former soft drug smuggler.

 

Grooves on: fine clothes, good company, red wine & black hash.

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