Whether you live there or not, everyone knows: driving through Amsterdam in a car is a horror. Not only is parking unaffordable even in the far suburbs, you also end up in traffic jams in the strangest places. On the canals, trucks are unloaded onto their empty fields and everyone walks, runs or cycles through red lights. So in the city I take the bike. Better for myself and for the rest of the world.
My father would have been proud of me, because from an early age he tried to get me to cycle through devious ways. He would prefer that I also go on holiday by bike. He himself pedaled quietly from Zeeland to Amsterdam, and until he was very old he cycled through the Netherlands: from me to my sister and back home via a different route. Along the way he stayed with ‘Vrienden op de Fiets’. Until last year I had not yet taken the step to a cycling holiday, but chef travel Françoise changed this. “You know what I like? If you go cycling in Brittany and write about it.”
Before I knew it, Wim and I packed a tiny suitcase and found ourselves at an e-bike rental company in Brittany. I was quite nervous beforehand, but that turned out to be unnecessary. The weather was glorious for five days and nature, the villages and other sights showed themselves from their most beautiful side. What a pleasure this was. Sure, we were sometimes overtaken by real cyclists with trendy helmets and dressed from head to toe in Lycra suits, but it was also fine in shorts or jeans. If I had to think of one disadvantage, I would like to do it in ten days next time. Then you have a little more time to take a good look at everything and enjoy it even more. Read my travel report here.
Hilmar Mulder is editor-in-chief of Libelle. She is married and has two sons.
Photography Hilmar: Brenda van Leeuwen | Styling: Maartje van den Broek | Hair and Makeup: Manous Nelemans
