The middle of May is the very end of the bulb season, but not to be deterred, we drive the “North Holland tulip route” north of Alkmaar, through Limmen, home to Hortus Bulborum, a treasure trove of historic tulips.

And towns with quaint-sounding names: Callantsoog, Julianadorp, Anna Paulowna and Schagen - towns I have no recollection of from the years we lived in The Netherlands!

The towns, villages and communities we drive through are almost unnaturally orderly, neat (“netjes”) and beautifully kept! Picture postcard pretty!!

Unfortunately for us, the bulb flowering season is just about at an end. There are still splashes of colour amongst the endless of fields headless flower stalks - we can only imagine what it must have looked like two or three weeks back