The weather makes it onto some of the front pages today and the Dutch are out of the Tour de France. Politicians and the gossip magazines have found each other at last, and a snake surfaces in an awkward place.
 
Weather most foul
There’s not much big domestic news around today, so the front pages of the papers contain a variety of different stories. Yesterday’s severe weather (winds gusting up to 80 km per hour and heavy, persistent rain) makes the front pages of several papers.

“We’re rock solid, we’re staying” is a front-page headline in Trouw. Camping is very popular with the Dutch - perhaps this has something to do with their traditional thriftiness. The paper says the story was the same at campsites throughout the Netherlands yesterday: holidaymakers had to stay inside their tents, or call it a day and head for home.

Trouw’s front-page photograph is of four young women, luckily still dry, sitting inside a spacious tent on mattresses and deep in conversation. “Playing games, and chatting has its appeal,” explains the paper.

That appeal was definitely limited, however, and Trouw goes on to describe a deserted camp site in Noordwijk aan Zee, where the Van Hartevelt family was one of only two groups left. “We didn’t even bring raincoats or wellingtons,” complains Mrs Van Hartevelt. “I hope it doesn’t get any worse: my worst nightmare is of having to hold on to the tent poles.”

De Telegraaf also runs a front-page story on the unseasonal weather, but its take is rather more serious. “Summer storm causes problems everywhere”, reads the headline. Streets were flooded, events had to be cancelled and café terraces were empty, we are told.

But, it goes on, the problems were much worse in some places. A 52-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man had to be taken to hospital after being seriously injured by a falling branch while they were waiting for a tram in The Hague. The paper also describes the widespread damage caused by felled trees and the like.

Dutch out of the Tour
“Dutch hopes dashed” is the headline in de Volkskrant, which leads with the disappointing show by Dutch cyclists in the Tour de France yesterday. Hopes were high in the Netherlands in the run-up to this year’s Tour, the paper reminds us - a place for Robert Gesink on the podium in Paris, victories in some of the stages, perhaps, or the polka-dot jersey for the best hill-climbing performance?

It was not to be: de Volkskrant’s front-page photo shows an exhausted Gesink passing the line over 17 minutes behind the leaders, after this year’s first stage in the Pyrenees. The paper reckons he won’t better his 2010 Tour performance, when he came in sixth place.

De Telegraaf agrees, saying Gesink is “physically and mentally broken”, presumably following injuries caused by being involved in some of the many pile-ups in the race so far.

The paper also rubs salt into Dutch wounds by pointing out that “iron” Johnny Hoogerland had to surrender his polka-dot jersey after yesterday’s gruelling climbs. After crossing the finish, he apparently admitted that he’s probably not up to getting it back – again following injuries caused by a crash.

Dutch MPs and the gossip press
“Do you know that [Prime Minister] Mark Rutte has a girlfriend?” asks nrc.next. Well, both he and the alleged girlfriend deny the months-old rumour, we’re told. But it’s an illustration of the fact that Dutch gossip magazines and politicians have found each other at last, says the paper.

Not that the revelations are that sensational. Unlike their British counterparts, the Dutch rags don’t hack into politicians’ phone calls or go through their rubbish in search of salacious stories.

The paper tells us that, for years, politicians have hankered after more media interest, even if directed at their private lives. While he was languishing on the opposition benches, pictures of Mr Rutte living it up “with beautiful bits of skirt” would have done him no end of good, one anonymous MP admits.

Although it’s nowhere near the dizzying heights hit in Britain, the Dutch gossip media’s coverage of politicians is on the increase. Nrc.next reckons this is to do with the rise of Dutch populism and the fact that it’s no longer just educated people who are interested in politicians. It singles out the assassination of maverick populist MP – and flamboyant homosexual – Pim Fortuyn in 2002 as a turning point.
 
Snakes in the toilet
Thank goodness, at least one paper couldn’t resist running a photo of the python which slithered out of the toilet bowl in a house in Leiden yesterday. The 1.5-metre snake stares out at us from the front page of AD, securely held in the thick-gloved hand of an expert.

When police arrived at the house, the snake, thought to be a royal python, was halfway down the stairs. Animal welfare workers “took care” of the animal which looked “healthy and well-fed but was suffering from slight hypothermia”. It is being housed in a reptile shelter in Haarlem.

Unfortunately, AD doesn’t run an interview with the person in whose home the python so unexpectedly surfaced.

(as)