Friday's post...and restoring my faith in human nature.

When in Amsterdam we visited the Van Gogh museum which has a new temporary home in the 'Hermitage' while work goes on in its original setting.

There are over 70 of his paintings on display as well as letters, drawings and objects relating to his search for his art, all of  which serve to give you a better understanding of the man behind the artist. Interestingly enough the other exhibition on display here until January 2013  is dedicated to the French 'Impressionists' with pieces by pioneers like Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Camille Pissarro on display plus Paul Cézanne's 'The Smoker' and Paul Gauguin's 'Woman with Fruit'.

Here is a link to their website.http://www.hermitage.nl/en/

It is presented as a timeline and explains the changing face of Paris as the impressionists evolve their style with a look back at their predecessors in the company of their contemporaries and eventually on to their successors...very interesting.

As we walked around the exhibitions there were a number of places to sit and view the works on display and at one of these I was careless enough to leave my hat (as 'featured' below) lying.

I retraced my steps with no success and asked if it had been handed in at the security, information and lost and found desks but no luck. One of the young men at security suggested I should leave my address and proceeded to right it out on a 'post it 'note, suggesting that it would only cost around €10 to return it to France should it be found. I would have to admit to a certain amount of scepticism re this outcome but thanked him for his assistance. The next day, as Pauline had gotten the opening times of a couple of 'Canal House Museums' we wanted to visit, wrong by an hour, we decided to pop back and try our luck again. There were different staff on and a quick check at the desks again proved fruitless plus there was no sign of the 'post-it' note. I resigned myself to the fact that my uncovered head would not reunited with my black 'Stetson' hat. 

Imagine my surprise when on Friday our post lady handed in a jiffy bag with my hat enclosed along with a note that read ;"Chér Mr. Craig, On a trouvé votre chapeau.C'est formidable! Encore une tete chaude!" and signed Dana & Freek. How kind were they? As I said restored my faith.