ZANDVOORT

LIZ SAYS: It has been too hot to type in Paris! Everyday Dick looks at the weather report and says," It is supposed to be hot again today, then it is supposed to rain and the heat will break. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 70." Read, repeat.
That was about a month or two ago. Right now, we are laying under the air conditioning vent to cool off our sweaty bods. I bought fall's new knee high, black boots and tights and it's 76 degrees in the bright, bright sun. For the first time the Dutch are not complaining about or apologizing for the weather. Lekker!
We went to Zandvoort today to see the sea, sea, sea. Me, with my lightest attire on and sweating like crazy on the train and in the streets. Dick had been wanting to go to Zandvoort since he read about a track there. The first warning came when the hotel photos came under Zandvoort. It was clearly beachy and it seemed like you get your lunch at some kind of "shack", which could be great fresh fish or hotdogs imported from the great freezer in the sky.
So, okay, We decide a day trip one day. It's 20 minutes from Amsterdam by train and in September the ocean breeze may be a little chilly, but we'll just take a windbreaker type jacket, says Dick.
We get off the train into undeniable, glorious sunshine and 76 degrees. We begin to walk up huge steps to get to the first of what look like the roadways, only to be confronted by more steps leading to useless tat stores that line the roadways leading to the roadside trucks that would be selling food, if it were still tourist season. There were a few bars and a coffeeshop with candy bars. As we ascended along the pathway, a woman was playing "peek a Bo" with a child who would not giggle or reply back. Thus, creating this haunting unanswered, "peek a boo, peek a boo."
I said to Dick this place is almost maudlin.
As we stood looking across the perfectly coiffed sand, it all fell apart, looking for a great fish place would be like looking for a great restaurant in a mall in America. It could happen, but it wasn't likely. I put my booted foot down and Dick agreed, we left the perfectly devised place of beach, with food and shops within walking distance.
DICK SAYS: Zandvoort once hosted Formula One races; however, those ended when the evil troll who runs Formula One upped the sanctioning fee by millions of euros. They still host racing events, but nothing was happening during our brief trek to the Zee, and a hot, multi-kilometre trek over Zandvoort's famous sand dunes wasn't on the agenda. I did glimpse the main grandstand as the train rattled through some peripheral dunes, but that wasn't much consolation. Yes, I've now been to Zandvoort. And yet I haven't.