Page 133 - ball12eng

The small Miffy, young rabbit and hero of fiction in the children’s books by Dick Bruna (more than 85 million books sold worldwide) is the mascot of Utrecht. This year the city celebrates 60 years and, on this occasion, 60 famous artists were invited so that everyone decorates with his paw a white statue of Miffy of 1.80 m height.
The Tour de France is a wonderful opportunity to discover this beautiful city, the fourth largest city of Holland and yet so unjustly neglected despite its Roman and medieval roots, its historical center and its sweetness of life.
The CNN has voted it as the «New Amsterdam.» Smaller than its famous sister, she looks like her by her bubbly and charming character.
Largest academic center in the Netherlands, Utrecht is a young city full of life and creativity.
To discover it, the best is to rent a bike and to let the wind lead you off the beaten track, along canals, cobbled streets, bridges, stopping occasionally to visit a monument, buy flowers or take a break at a cafe terrace on the banks.
It is a city that needs to be tamed step by step to reveal its attractions, its beauty and energy. The discovery is made much easier because everything is close, whatever you want, like the shops of the new talents in fashion and design, the museums, the restaurants and breweries inspired by a new generation of chefs.
It is impossible not to visit the unmissable Cathedral of Saint Martin in Utrecht whose proud Gothic tower, symbol of the city, overlooks downtown from its height of 112 meters. Other resorts, the flower market, the university building on Place Domplein the Awning Sainte-Marie, the Wilhelmina Park, the Botanical Gardens and the recent, modern room TivoliVredenburg concerts will tell you with poetry and softness all the charm of Holland.
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