Wedding rehearsal, 1 September 2017

Wedding Rehearsal

We wake up early, Madeleine does laundry while Barney makes breakfast, and so gather what we’ll need for the rehearsal. We dress and drive to Staithe House, the Bax family home in Brancaster Staithe on The Wash, an inlet of the North Sea. When we were here a few years ago, we went kayaking with a Briony  the water, and Barney was brave enough to go in swimming with her (I was not, it was much too cold).

The house and gardens looks stunning. A huge tent fills the ear years near the seaside trail, and a team is busy finishing installation and setting up tables. The rose garden looks magnificent, everything is blooming, and there is a new Woden arbor under which the Emory will take place, which tomorrow will be decorated with flowers. We find Briony, who introduces us to Ivan the cellist, we’ve arrived early so we can run the piece with him before the actual rehearsal starts. We go through it a few times, get the tempo set, and then it is time for the rehearsal. Madeline bee to see Natasha, we say hi to Simon and Charlotte, meet the bridesmaids and Jerry the officiant, and find our places. Ivan plays the entry music, Natasha looks so happy, Geoff’s mother does her reading, and then it is time for us to sing. It goes perfectly – what a relief! – and then Briony reads one of her poems called “Counting the thunder” and we’re almost all in tears as she chokes up a bit at the end. They Jerry goes over how he’ll do the comments and the vows, and Ivan pays the Queen of Sheba music by Handel for the exit. Everyone seems quite relieved that the rehearsal not so well. Of course there are many background details Briony and Natasha are a bit concerned about, but we are confident all will work out given their great teamwork.

Back to Burnham Market to buy hats! Madeleine and I have our dresses to help with selecting a hat. We go to Pensey’s, the amazing hat Place Barney and I visited last trip, where he got his nice wool fedora. Walking into this satire is like walking into a rainbow. Hats of every color land style for ladies, and quite a selection for men as well. The owner is ready for visitors needing hats, and she fusses over each hat selection, bringing out several candidates to help match the shoes or the dress. Madeleine chooses a sweet pink disk, not to big, not too small, and I find a lovely cream and white brimmed hat with matching purse. Barney faithfully holds dresses and shoes and gives words of approval on final selections. We leave with a large hatbox, large enough to hold both hats, and cross back to The Hoste for the rehearsal luncheon.

The large terrace is set for the rehearsal luncheon, three lovely courses, beautiful flowers, and a few speeches. Everyone seems a bit relieved, and we head back to the cottage after Barney has a chance to view their Lord Nelson exhibit, of important dates and some memorabilia. The Hoste was his base of operations for many years, and he was from a nearby town; William Hoste, whose family owned the inn, was a ship boy for Nelson, and one of his favorites, late becoming a renowned sea caption who was the model for Captain Aubrey of the Patrick O’brien novels. Soon after, Camden and Emilie arrived Camden who knows Natasha from Head Royce as well as Wellesley, and Emilie who is a friend from Wellesley. Every one settles in and unpacks, and the girls have a chance to chat. Then it is time to get ready for the welcome drinks party, and we walk back to The Hoste. The cocktail party is packed, all the out of town guests of which the ere are many. We ,eat some of Simon’s relatives, eat some amazing local oysters, and return home for a good rest.

London to Norfolk, 31 August 2017

London to Norfolk

We leave the Airbnb place (nice location but odd, no toilet paper when we arrived, lots of food left in the refrigerator) and haul ourselves to St. Pancras station. As always, the Enterprise car rental is the least expensive, as they are always located in some odd place not at the main airport or train station (as we learned in Paris). After quite a bit of traipsing around with our luggage, we finally find it inside the parking garage by the station. The car rental guy, Hamid, is extremely helpful and spends a lot of time with Barney on the car operation and showed me the GPS. We have a BMW sedan, as there will eventually be four of us plus luggage.  We decided to stop in Cambridge for lunch, which is very much a pedestrian town with limited parking. We find a small café, I have a chicken salad and Barney has a filled frittata, and we head out to walk around the town. You have to buy tickets to go into the actual college buildings, so we content ourselves with walking through the Medieval streets and visiting the Great St. Mary’s church, where the earliest scholars and students met for lectures, before the college buildings were erected.

Back on the road to Kings Lynn in. Or folk, where we will pick up Madeleine. She has been backpacking along Hadrian’s Wall, an 85+ mile walk she has done in about 10 days, allowing plenty of time for the many archaeological museums along the way. After some bad directions from the GPS and circling the train station three times, we finally connect with her, and are so happy to see her! There is a grocery store nearby, so we get some basics for breakfast, and head to Burnham Market. At The Hoste, we get the keys and head just outside the main square to the cottage,  3-bedroom, 3-1/2-bath place with full kitchen, dining room and living room. We settle in and go back to The Hoste for dinner, Barney had duck, I had a lobster shrimp salad (local shellfish) and Madeleine has an unfortunately dry cod. We head back to practice the song a bit, and get ready for the wedding rehearsal tomorrow.

London museum day, 30 August 2017

London museum day

Although I wake up at 4am and never really get back to sleep, Barney sleeps well, and is up making breakfast. I pack lunches, and we're off to a day of museums, which is good because today is the day is supposed to mostly rain. We head to Buckingham Palace on the bus, which is nice as we get to see more of London than underground. It is crowded but everything moves smoothly. This year's exhibition is of gifts that come from various heads of state from all over the globe. These are presented in the various salons, the throne moom, the state dining room, etc. The rooms are, of course, gorgeous and stately, a symphony of white and gold, and the house was mostly redecorated by George IV, and was significantly expanded by Queen Victoria for her large family. I think there are 50-some family bedrooms, 150+ staff bedrooms, 70+ bathrooms, and over 700 rooms total. Perhaps most memorable is the picture gallery, reflecting acquisitions by George IV, which include. Rembrandt, a few Rubens, a couple Titians, several Lorraines, and much more of that era. The palace is also filled with family portraits (Winterthaler was Vicoria's favorite portraitist), whom I can mostly identify, although interestingly many are not labeled. It makes me think about a family actually living here, and whether the children run around inside these rooms (probably not) and grow up seeing portraits of the ancestors (probably). We have some tea (hot chocolate for Barney) on the covered cafe terrace outside and eat our sandwiches, then stop by the gift shop which was huge and crowded, en route out the garden. It is raining heavily, and we take another bus to our afternoon destination, the Victoria & Alber Museum.

What an incredible place! It has a bit of everything, rather like the Louvre, from ancient statues to early 20th century works. They are currently hosting a Balenciaga fashion exhibit, an exhibit on Pink Floyd, and one on plywood, so naturally we go to see the plywood exhibit. It is actually quite interesting to see how they cut the thin veneers, how it can be molded into almost any shape, he he Hanna gliders and Mosquito fighters of WWII we're made mostly of plywood, and how entire houses are now pre-fabricated of plywood. We then continue on to see the oldest museum restaurant in the world, comprised of the three original rooms, one stunning one by William Morris, and of course a modern addition. We then head down to the Medieval section, something I always enjoy, and they have an amazing collection. Of course massive amounts of gold and silver sacred materials, including a small house-shaped tabernacle of gold, silver, ivory, and cloisonné, all the high decorative arts, simply stunning. We go through several galleries devoted to stained glass, the earliest items from around 1100, amazing that they survive, and quite a few examples from churches in Germany and France, I wonder how they got to London? We end by going through a galley devoted to secular materials, gold and silver  dishes for the nobility, jewelry, and a stunning huge tapestry of a giant Medieval house party. Recordings of period music set the tone, and I am really enjoying this section, I could spend days in here.

Finally it is time to go - closing it down again - and we take a slow, rush hour bush that takes 30 minutes to go about 15 blocks. Dishoom is again an hour wait, so we go off to a pub we saw the night before, the Salisbury. Already packed (or maybe it is the rain), Ed find a table, Barney has a steak and ale pie with peas, carrots, and mashed potatoes, which was good, and I have the hunter chicken, which has bacon and cheese plus fries (chips) and salad, plus two pints of Guinness. Happy and full, we head out into the rain for the apartment. Time to pack and get ready for the tip to Norfolk on Thursday.

London, a day about the sea, 29 August 2017

A day about the sea

After a smooth two flights from SFO to Dulles to London, we arrive via Heathrow express and metro at our Airbnb apartment near Leiscester Square, not far from Piccadilly Circus, around 10pm. Despite the fact that it is a Sunday, there are huge crowds out and about, party because Monday is  bank holiday, party because it has been squire warm today (almost 80 degrees), and party because this is the last week of vacation before school. After dropping our bags and getting some water, we head  out to find a grocery to get some milk, coffee and yogurt for breakfast, but by close to 11pm, the only places open are mostly liquor stores. We get a few items, walk back in the warm night to the apartment, and sleep until almost 8am.

After a quick coffee, we find a Whole Foods about 5 blocks away, and get necessities for the few days we'll be here (including toilet paper, of which the apartment had none when we arrived). Now with fresh fruit and makings for lunch, we have breakfast and get ready to head out for the day. Our focus today is the Cutty Sark ship (which we missed last time) and the huge National Maritime Museum which Barney is keen to visit again (we had only an hour last visit).

Four trains later, we arrive at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich on a warm day, and immediately head onto this enormous ship, built in 1869 for the tea trade. It is a machine built for speed while maximizing precious cargo area, and could go from China to London in 79 days, more than 15,000 miles. We have a great time walking around the very instructive exhibits, and learning about how the ship was saved, stored, experienced a fire, and was restored again.

We trek up King William's Walk to the Royal Obsevatory and the Prime Meridian, which is at the top of a small bill. The Observatory was built by King George III for the first Royal Astronomer, whose job was to make accurate astronomical observations and publish details to aid in navigating, fishing,  and other fields. the Prime Meridian is located here, and it was fascinating to learn here that were four different merdians placed within about 20' of each other by the different Royal Astronomers, until they finally settled on the one that came to be called the Prime Meridian. A fascinating exhibit described the Longitude challenge of the 18th century, when the British Parliament promised a huge prize to anyone who could build an accurate instrument for measuring longitude. Longitude allowed much better location than latitude alone, and a man named Harrison invented the chronometer, a type of clock, after several versions, which do so accurately and won him the prize.

We hike down the hill to the  National Maritime Museum, Barney's choice for the day, which we saw briefly on our last trip. It is a celebration of the days of sail, and there is a whole gallery devoted to Admiral Lord Nelson, including the uniform he was wearing when he died, where shows the bullet hole that killed him. We saw the J.M.W. Turner "Battle of Trafalgar", a monumental painting of the decisive battle a Nelson won where he was killed. another exhibit is ballet the Battle of Jutland, the major naval conflict between England and Germany in WWI, which neither of us had heard of, but was a great study in strategy and the limitations of navigation and communications of the day. The museum was filled with ship models, equipment that people used no board, and everything from cuff links to fans that celebrated Nelson's victory. there is a reason that London has a Trafalgar Square with a giant column and statue of Lord Nelson. He was from Norfolk, and last visit we went to a pub Nelson used to visit.

Back on the train to central London. We go to a dishoom, but they have over an hour wait, and we are both too hungry. Barney is attracted by the a place across the street, Tredwell, and we go there and have a lovely dinner. To start, I have a Boulevard, which is good but the absolute standout is Barney's drink, gin with muddled cucumber, St. Germain, apple juice, and basil. I get three starters, a ham terrine, then a crab-tomato salad, and finally a poached egg with hollandaise on a bed of bacon and braised mushrooms, which was delicious. Barney had a perfectly done hangar steak with roasted broccoli and a nice Malbec. Dessert for Barney was a peanut butter pudding with the darkest chocolate sorbet I've ever seen, whhcih he really enjoyed, and I had an almost-apricot parfait, light and delicious.

We walk back to the apartment and fall into bed, tired after a wonderful full day in London.

Back to Paris

Up early again - what is going on with this - as we need to leave by 8:00am for Paris to meet our airbnb host at 12:15. All goes well between the GPS and the maps, until we hit the Peripherique and traffic backs up. We miss the 12:15 meeting, I text her, and she is nearby so we can be a bit late.This is the hairy part, as we need to find a parking space nearby so we can unload, which amazingly, we did. All bags upstairs, short briefing on the place which is lovely, and we're ready to go. We go to the place that makes Parisian street signs, only to find they have moved (why did I not call ahead?), and then very hungry, try several paces where the mangez is no longer possible. At last, we try the Crepe place I heard so much about, but once again - third time - it is closed. We give up, and go to the same place I went to last time the crepe place was closed, near the old market, We have large salads and a drink, and feel much better.

We walk over toward Notre-Dame and spend a little time inside, listening to the organist warm up, absorbing all the incredible beauty in this one building. I think a lot of the tourists may be here juts to cool off, but with so many people here it is not as cool as some other churches. We then walk across the bridge on the Left Bank, and over to rue Mouffetard to do some food shopping. However, we find that rue Mouufetard is mostly clothing shops and restaurants now, with only a few food specialty shops at the end o the street, and those closed because it is Monday. We navigate some items at Franprix and get a few peaches at the one place that is open, and head back to the apartment to unload.

This evening, we are seeing Alexandra and her sons Antoine, Louise, and Benoit for dinner. It is wonderful to see them again. Alexandra looks quite chic with her new short haircut. Antoine has a beard now and is 19, studying business. Louis is 6, interested in medieval literature, and Benoit is 12 and trying to keep up with all the English. hey are really wonderful boys, very well-behaved and interesting to talk to. I tell Alexandra she has done a great job with them, which is true. After an interesting amuse-bouche (pea purée in a hard-cooked eggshell), I get a terrine which I split with Barney, and then about the best piece of salmon I have had anywhere in France, delicious and succulent. Dessert is the Baba au rhum for which the restaurant is famous (Au Bain Coin). Everyone enjoys this, and finally we say farewell, in Kong the younger baby's to come to California sometime for summer intensives.

Walking back to the apartment, finally it cools off a little, it is so nice to be relaxed and without a schedule. Time to catch up on the blog.

A Relaxing Sunday

Because of the long holiday weekend, Thierry and Nathalie told us that the return to Paris on Sunday would be "black," even worse than red, perhaps double the time we had planned. So we decide to stay an extra day, change our dinner with Alexandra and our airbnb and car rental, and spend a lovely relaxing day in Échiré. First we go to see Benjamin who is playing in a football (soccer) tournament that day, 6-8 15-minute games in sweltering heat. Kids are amazing to handle all this. Watching them brings back memories of Madeleine's soccer days and Barney's coaching. We go back to the house, eat a simple salad lunch, and then Benjamin comes home later, his team finished 8th of 16, and he had a nice trophy. I do some laundry - it dries almost immediately outside on the laundry line - and just hang out and relax.

Then we walk to a local park for some pétanque, and tings get serious very quickly, Benjamin in squire competitive, and Margaux is not thrilled when she loses a point , so the whole thing is quite interesting. I even played a bit during out US vs. France team thing, and of course we lost. This makes we want to do this at home even more. Then Nathalie makes a lovely dinner, radishes and pate, then a seafood salad, and the leftover chocolate mousse and creme Brûlée from the first night we were here. We eat outside on the front porch at the table, and it is quite nice. After such a lovely weekend, we pack up and prepare to depart early the next day.

Bordeaux!

Another early morning, up at 6:00am so we can leave right at 7:00am for a a secret "adventure" that Nathalie and Thiery have planned for us, but they won't tell us what it is. We roll out at 7:00am, and they tell us we are driving to Bordeaux, about 2 hours away, for a 9:30 appointment. It is a lovely drive through the countryside, and we arrive at the outer borders of Bordeaux, where there are parking lots and a very cool tram system that takes you into town (so there can be fewer cars in town). The 5 Euros for parking gives you unlimited riding on the tram all day for all people in your car, which is a great deal.

We go to the Palais de Justice, which is both an old traditional building and a new and somewhat odd one, with cone-like wooden structures enclosing the courtrooms. The group is led by a virbrant women who speaks only French, I understand some of what she says, and Nathalie does some translation. A young man who I think is her son is doing a video of the tour.

Our first stop is a wonderful gourmet boulangerie and patisserie, call Koin (a play on coin, as it is on the corner), owner by a man who used to be an architect. They take us down in the basement to see the Owens and pastry-making areas, which are large and have a lot of flour on the floor. The young baker, who started when he was 16, gives us details on how they approach their breads. Upstairs, they have set up a table for the group, and we get to taste three breads and two pastries. One bread is the young baker's own creation, a yellowish bread with bits of corn and papaya in it, which is good, a moderate whole wheat which is nice, and then a darker multi-seed bread which is delicious. They serve these with plenty of butter and strawberry jam that the woman who leads the tour made herself. Of course the croissant has a delicate crust and the pain au chocolate is terrific, Barney tells me.

We walk to our next stop, a shop founded in 1838 for traditional products of the region. There we taste a Dillon and rillette of duck liver, with the rillette being a bit more flavor awful and spicy, we are told, because it has less fat. We buy some of this, as well as a jar of the salted caramel sauce which we also taste. They serve a young local wine with the rillette, which is nice

Then on to La Dune Balance, named after the white sand dunes somewhere nearby (I did not get all of this) where they invented this extraordinary creme-filled puff that absolutely melts in your mouth.We each have one, the eyes close, the oohs and says comefrom everyone, and this is the lovely ending to our tour.
UIKEYINPUTDOWNARRO
We then walked around, following a path in the tourism map, though the old part of town, sa the Saint-Andre cathedral, and went to the waterfront, where a large group of 0' sloops were gathered for a race that would begin in a few days. MAIF, Theirry and Nathalie's employer, sponsors a boat in the race, and their virtual reality booth has a system that they had brought to the office one day as well.

It is very hot - almost 96 degrees - and we head over to the "water mirror" a think layer of water near the waterfront, from which come spurts of mist and burbles of water from time to time.This is very popular with children, and some adults, and we enjoy watching the reactions of the children when the water spurts up.

We continue our walk, decide we are getting hungry, and found a place with a large variety of main dish salads, just the thing for a hot day. We each get a different salad, so nice and cool and delicious.  We continue out]r walk, and I feel so tired and hot, at one point I saw "I wish I could lay down in the grass somewhere and sleep for a few minutes". And lo and behold, we find a little park in the middle of everything, with a small pond, and Thierry, Barney and I laid down for a nap on the grass (while Nathalie went to St. Catherine Street, the big shopping street) to look around. This was the very first time I have ever slept in a park and it felt so wonderful!


We continue out we all,and I am concerned about Barney getting sunburned, so I buy him a nice gray tweed-y looking cotton hat with a discreet Bordeaux sign on it. We stop at a tea shop for cool drinks, which helped cool us down, because there is really nothing else you can do when it is 96 degrees out, but then leaving brought all the heat back - the high was 96 that day around 5pm.
As we continued our walk, we found another plaza  and get some delicious ice cream and walk around a bit. We sat for about half an hour by the Place de la Bourse, people watching and waiting for it to cool off.

Dinner was at 7:30 at  the Brasserie Bordelaise, with delicious food and quite a huge array of wines. Fully sated with charcuterie, lamb and duck, we roll back to the car on the tram and head for Echire. Thierry was nice enough to drive home while we are all quite sleepy, and we did indeed sleep well that night. What a lovely adventure with our friends!

The Abbey and Échiré

We're up be ry early, pack everything, and head out to a quick breakfast. The shuttle is slow, so we decide to walk to the Mont, a beautiful way to approach, which takes about 30 minutes. We head straight to the Abbey, which already has a long line, and slowly wind our way through until we ascend the grand staircase - more stairs! Each room of the Abbey is more spectacular than the last, beautifully proportioned, brilliantly engineered in this difficult site, most of the rooms are plain stone, the colors long ago erased, but at least this was not too damaged after the revolution. In several locations we have incredible views, which are both intimidating and thrilling. At the end, we exit through the beautiful gardens with stunning views of the ocean, and head down the main rue, which is now thronged with people as the day heats up. I am very glad we followed Madeleine's advice and came last night and early this morning.

A little shopping at the magazine next to the hotel (Mont St-Michel beer for Thierry, caramels for the children), and we are off for the long drive to Échiré. With only a few detours and a short stop for a picnic lunch, we arrive about 5:00pm. Nathalie looks as gorgeous as ever, Thierry the same, and the children are so tall now and so beautiful! Of course a lovely long dinner follows, salami and fois gras, then a duck shepherd's pie, quite delicious, with salad, the three delicious local cheeses, and then chocolate mouse and créme brulée. We can't even finish the desserts, and we stay awake late talking. It is so nice to see them again.

On to Mont St-Michel

We pack up this morning, get some fresh bread, pack and load, and we're off to Mont St-Michel. But first,we head up to Longues-sur-Mere, one of the large German batteries, which is just a short distance from Bayeux. We head up through the beautiful countryside, and park in the lot, then head out on foot. These were the largest of the German batteries, with 15mm guns, protected by tons of concrete and steel. On the heights of Longues, they had a full view of the whole area, so this was a fearsome place of defense. The Allied bombings did finally destroy one battery, but the others were preserved with their huge guns. We walk along the trail, and see munitions storage underground, as well as a well-hidden lookout. It is no wonder the Germans held out here a while.

Then we're off to Mont St-Michel, about 90 minute drive through the beautiful countryside of Normandy, lots of cows and sheep and pitcuresque small villages. We stop at an aire for our picnic lunch, and this place has an automated bread machine which is kept restocked 24 hours a day, amazing. We arrive to the tiny village (about 50 people live there full-time) and find the Hotel Vert. It is a bit nicer than Motel 6, not quite as nice as a Holiday Inn, but very serviceable for our purposes. It is very warm here, so we unload, fill our water bottles and take a snack to head for the shuttle bus.

The drive is short, and in a few minutes the amazing Mont St- Michel comes into view, floating above the water. We stop in the tourism bureau for a map, learn that the tide is coming in, and head to the ramparts to watch. It is truly impressive to see the water coming in, mixing with the flow of the river, like the potato patch of the Golden Gate. We also scoped out a good place to watch the sunset. Because of Ascension, a holiday in France, many places we saw along the way were closed (this also became a long holiday weekend for the French) and the Abbey closed early. So we explore the rest of the island, climbing many, many stairs, around each turn another breathtaking view of the area around Mont St-Michel. Around 7:30 we look for the Cafe Mére Poulard, and go up to the lovely terrace for dinner. It is so hot still we are not that hungry, so I get moules mariniere and Barney gets a nice lamb casserole, both with wine and dessert. Then we walk back to the place we scoped out for the sunset, which is about 20 minutes away. Others figured that this is also a good place, but we hold our spot to take photos of the sunset. As the sun slips lower and gets redder, more as more people gather, and we take some final dramatic photos before we head back. The high tide was at about e8pm, so only the upper edge of the entry way is dry. We head out, are lucky to get on a shuttle, and go to bed so we can wake up early.

The Sobering Reality of Omaha Beach

Today was our day to explore Omaha Beach, the second of the American D-Day invasion areas. Now that I understand how the guide works, and Barney highlighted the key places he wants to go, we should have a smoother day (and not so late). We head out for St Come du Mont, the start of this itinerary, and go to Carentan, one of the major areas of fighting in the Battle of Normandy, what happened after D-Day. Our next stop is Isigny-sur-Mer, which was a bustling town and had a market in the square. The open air grill is irresistible, and we get a homemade sausage and some fries to go, which were delicious. We then walked by the church, which had been party destroyed in the war. The stained glass windows had been replaced by single-color faceted glass, so the light shone through to the Gothic columns and made each one look a different color.

We continue on to la Cambe,a small village which houses the German cemetery. It is an interesting contracts to the British cemetery we saw yesterday which was calm and orderly in crisp, British sort of way. The German cemetery is all dark: dark reddish-brown headstones (2-4 people to a headstone), massed around a series of black stone crosses, dotted by huge dark led oak trees, and with a dark statue of a couple mourning their lost son at the top of the mound where the unknown soldiers are buried. The German cemetery says "remorse"while the British one says "we will carry on."

On to Omaha Beach at its easternmost end. We first go to the Musée Omaha Beach, filled with actual. Items used by both sides during the war, and with German defensive boxes, American weapons and a Mulberry (temporary) roadway section nearby. We walk down to the beach, which is huge in its breadth, and at low tide, very similar to the way it was on D-Day. The expanse between the waterline and the cliff seems enormous ... it must have been terrifying to leave the transports, throw yourself into the water, and walk into a hail of machine gun fire.  Back on the shore, there is a National Guard monument built over a German bunker, these huge constructions with tons of concrete and steel in them.

Nearby at Ruquet, we climb up a small hill to another bunker, and it is easy to see how the German gunners had a wide view of the beach and the men below. It is a miracle that any of them made it through. The bombers missed their targets, the Hugh seas swamped the tanks and their equipment, men weighted down by equipment could barely get to shore .... so many things went wrong it is hard to believe that they actually won this.

On to the Omaha Beach Memorial Museum, which has some excellent exhibits on events of the days before and during and after D-Day. It is surprising how much materials has survived intact, and we learn that even today occasionally things wash up on shore. The film at this museum about the D-Day campaign is very informative and moving ... the actual footage of the day shows some of the devastating impacts on the early forces ashore. They also had some great exhibits on the engineers who helped clear the beaches, and how they quickly turned it into a massive port for bringing in millions of tons of materials and thousands more men, with the Mulberry temporary bridges and ports, truly an engineering feat. It was sobering to see the photos of the day with the beach littered with bodies that they had not yet been able to clear. So many lives lost at all the beaches, but this one was the worst ... the small town of Bedford, Virginia lost 23 men in the D-Day campaign, of the 35 who had enlisted, a whole generation of young men lost.

Finally, we go to the American Cemetery in Saint Laurent. It is huge, planted with trees and shrubs imported from the US, an enormous expanse of crosses. We arrive just as they are taking down the flag for the day, and they play taps. It is an emotional moment, and everyone there stops in their tracks and listens. In contrast to the German and the British cemeteries, the American cemetery says power, that "we have lost precious people but we are triumphant." The huge expanse overlooks the beach and the ocean, a lovely setting for the sadness of these graves.

Back to Bayeux for our appointment with Jerome and Sebastien. As tonight is the night before Ascension, which is a French holiday, Sebastien will be ringing the bells at 7:00pm, and they have invite us to watch. We enter the Cathedral as they are closing up for the night, and climb a few hundred stone stairs in a spiral staircase, to what feels like a rickety wooden structure and then we see the bells.  There are four medium size heels in the south tower where we are, and two large ones in the north tower where Sebastien is. He operates them by motors which power the swinging of the bells. And the sound is deafening. Jerome warns us to cover our ears and he is right. After the thrilling ringing of the bells, he takes us out on the roof of the side nave, where we can see up close the gargoyle and other decorative elements of the cathedral, some which have Ben recently restored. We carefully wind our way down the steps, and I ask if I can sing for them. I do the Fauré "Pie Jesu" but this time singing full out, and it feels so good to sing out, like my voice is back!

We offer to takeout Jerome and Sebastien for dinner o thank them for the tour, they demur, but finally agree, and we have a lovely Franglish dinner. At the end, we walk back to the Cathedral, and they let us in to the cathedral library, which dates for the time of Louise XIV, bit someone how not destroyed in the revolution. It is filled top to bottom hit prices books, all temperature and humidity controlled, wood-panels with Latin inscriptions of the sections of books on the wall. My recent experience at Bancroft Library taught me a little about special collections like this, so we touch nothing but only look at some amazing pieces. Our eyes filled with the wonders we'e seen and our ears with the sound of the bells, we go off happily to rest and get ready to travel to MOnt St-Michel tomorrow.

The Serenity of Bayeux

Today we decide to stay in Bayeux, a bit of an antidote to all the driving and the intensity of the beaches yesterday. But first, time to re supply ...we go out in search of groceries, after failing to find an open grocery last night at 8pm. At the end of the block is a small grocery where we get yogurt, milk, cheese, apples, and cookies. Across the street, we go to a cave with all sorts of alcoholic specialties, and get a large Calvados and a small sampler to take home. After depositing the groceries, we go off the the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, a few short blocks away. e go around the back side f the cathedral ... it is beautiful from every angle, and we can see it just as we step out the front door of the place we're staying.

We enter - it is not too crowded - and get the audio guide which is included. And wow. No photo can do this tapestry justice. It is actually an embroidery on linen, 70 meters long (about 200 feet) filled with stories and  people and horses fairly bursting out of the fabric. This work is simply stunning, and like nothing else you'll see ... telling the story of William the Conquerer and how Harald's betrayal led him to invade England and then become its king. The time and creativity required to make this piece is unimaginable. The tapestry is hung in a long oval, and the recorded audio guide gives you the story as you go along, I recommend going through once with the audio guide,and then going again without it to see all the things you missed the first time. The exhibits on the second floor provide great context for the era, William and Harold, a replica of the boat they sailed in, details on embroidery of the time, and the aftermath of the invasion. We both found this place quite inspiring. Across the street are two wonderful shops, one with all kinds of fabrics and memorabilia with images of Normandy and her own designs of  Poppies which are quite lovely. Poppies,of course, became a symbol of veterans during the First World War, based on the poem "In Flanders Fields," and they are all over items here, but hers are the most attractive. I find a lovely tote bag, made here in France of unique fabrics. Another nearby store sells beautiful embroidery kits of the Bayeux tapestry and more. I fantasize about having the time to do embroidery, and decide that if I buy the kit I will be more motivated to do embroidery, which I do find quite relaxing.

Off to lunch ... at La Moulin de la Galette, a block away. It is lovely outside today, so we sit outdoors at a table shaded by a tree, next to the small river that runs through the town, and turns a nearby mill wheel. Barney orders a nice main salad with Camembert on toast and tomatoes, olives, pine nuts, chicken, pesto, and lots of nice lettuce. We've both been a little salad starved here, it has been heavy on the protein and carbs, so having this was great. I have a delicious galette with egg, chicken, caramelized onion, and Gorgonzola cheese, and we trade halfway through. There's plenty of interesting people watching here, and lots of folks walking dogs along the other side of the river, which makes me miss Atlas a little.

We still have a bit of shopping to do, so back to the Main Street to get bread, eggs,lettuce and tomatoes, and two small quiches for a dinner at the gite. The off to the other big musuem in Bayeux, the Musuem of the Battle of Normandy, which traces the whole nearly three-month battle starting with D-Day until the whole northwestern part of France was liberated. Bayeux was the first town liberated (others were villages) and De Gaulle landed on the Gold Beach and came here to proclaim the restoration of the French Republic and the provisional government. There were photos of him walking alongside Montgomery, and De Gaulle is a full head taller than Montgomery, which surprised me, I did not realize he was so tall. There was much more that happened after D-Day, as the troops fought through the hedgerows, tried three times to take Caen, swept up to Cherbourg and rebuilt the port within days, and joined up with Patton's Army to begin to march toward Paris. A very educational afternoon. Afterwards, we walk over to the British cemetery- 4,000+ urged here - and the memorial to the unknown soldiers and those for whom no remain were recovered. These memorials and cemetery are are the first we've seen since arriving in Normandy, and they are quite moving.

A nice walk back to the gite, and dinner out in the garden ... heavenly. Tarama and Chabicou with local cidre as we listen to the fat bumblebees nearby. All of the flowers are in bloom and the garden is gorgeous. I think that their garden is about the size of our entire lot. We have the quiches, and I make a nice salad with the lettuce we bought, as the sun starts to move down the sky and the birds are singing. Eventually, we go back in the house, typing notes and writing cards, and Howe at 10:15, there is still light outside. A truly lovely day.

The reality of Utah Beach

Because we have not yet found a grocery store, breakfast is leftover bread with jam and butter we brought from Paris, and a peach with yogurt. We need to find a grocery today. We decided to do Itinerary One from the book Barney got, which focuses on the area around Utah Beach. After a bit of getting lost at the beginning - for some reason the GPS would not recognize the town of Ste Mere-Eglise which is ridiculous - we finally found our way there. The church there looks just like it does in all the photos, especially with the dummy paratrooper hanging from the steeple where his parachute caught, one of the more famous incidents there. We see the St Michael stained glass (the patron saint of paratroopers) and the stained glass of the Virgin surrounded by paratroopers. It is clear that people take the liberation ether very seriously, even more than 70 years later. Most stores and restaurants have signs that say "welcome veterans" even thought the youngest veterans would now be about 91 years old. Most of the tourists we see today are English-speaking, probably at least 2/3 to maybe 75%, the rest mostly French with a few German.

After a nice walk around the town, we're off to find some of the areas where paratroopers were landing, but things go awry, so we headed up north, saw the Captain Winters memorial, and stopped at the town of Saint Marie du Mont, which was also liberated fairly early. Photos in the window of a souvenir shop show the area as it was before and after D-Day, luckily not too much damage, mostly the presence of one type of troops or another. We go inside the church which was quite lovely and peaceful, no one else there, so I sang the "Pie Jesu" again, this time full voice, and what a sound! It was o nice, and we learned that the community had put more than $500K into renovating the church and repairing the damage to the tower. The photos we see of a various towns devastated by bombings are truly saddening.

Then to Utah Beach, considered one of the most successful landings for various reasons (mostly the leaders saying full steam ahead even after they found out there were a few miles southeast of where they were supposed to land). Coming up from the parking area. It s a humbling experience ... a huge expense of beach, on which they landed at low tide no less, and thus had to cross 700 yards of bench on their own before getting to the Gereman positions. Luckily, this area was not as heavily defended as Omaha, which we'll see on Thursday.  The Omaha Beach museum is excellent, well worth the time, but stay twice as long as the guidebook suggests because we are the people who read every sign and placard. I have learned so much, Barney already knew much of this, but seeing it is real like is still a thrill.  We head back toward the bridge at La Fiere, which we missed the first time, a major landing area of the paratroopers. We could walk right over the bridge where they walked, but the tiny creek we see now is nothing like the huge Merteret River that had been dammed to flood the surrounding area (and drown paratroopers). It all looked so pastoral.

Back on Bayeux, we decide to have tomorrow be our in Beyux day. we see Jerome and Sebastian, and Jerome tell us he is the curator of the church and Sebastian is a guide for a nearby abbey. They invite us too the Bell ringing at 7:00om on Wednesday, the night before the Ascension,and for course we say yes!

Getting rather tired now, heading off to bed for our day tomorrow in medieval Bayeux.

Off to Normandy

Up, well kind of early on Sunday, breakfast and packing to leave the apartment at rue Lalande. Off to the Gate Montparnasse to get the rental car. And it turns out that the rental car that we have (the budget kind, Enterprise) is off site, over the hill (literally a bridge over a main road) and through the woods (well, through the parking lot for a long distance) to finally find Enterprise and the kindly David who helped us. We could see the Tour Montparnasse, where we began, about a mile away in the distance. If only we had known the correct address, but anyway we found it, and he gave us an Opel Mokka, a small SUV so lots of room. It's a manual, so Barney dries carefully back to rue Lalande, where we score a parking space n the delivery spot. Down come the suitcases, we see Stephanie coming to prepare the apartment for the next folks, and off we go. Some harrowing moments getting on the Peripherique, but eventually we get out to the A13 toward Bayeux. Soon the office buildings and apartment blocks turn to green fields and stone farmhouses.

We arrive in Bayeux around 5:00pm, and Barney is having fun driving through the narrow medieval streets, and the "something is close" buzzer keeps going off when we go by other cars. We find 16 rue Chanoine, where we're staying, and ring the bell. Jerome and his partner Sebastien greet us and take us through the main gate into a large and very lush garden. Large trees and carefully tended flowers are everywhere,. Even though the fronts of the houses go right up to the narrow sidewalks, behind those fronts are beautiful gardens. The gite we have rented is lovely, the second floor of an 18th century house built party into the original medieval wall, and Jerome and Sebastian live on the other side of the building. The apartment is beautiful, with a huge bed, enormous bathroom, modern IKEA kitchen, and a sunroom that looks out onto the garden.

We unpack and settle in, then go walking around the area to get some bread at the one boulangerie that is open late on Sunday, and then to the cathedral, where a concert by the French Army chorus has just ended. We walk through the cathedral, and when most people have left (we are long past closing time), I sing the Faure "Pie Jesu" which has a nice sound there. We leave to look for dinner, and find La Assiette Norman, a very nice yet simple place with affordable specialities ... an appetizer and plat and dessert plus aperitif and cider cost about 50 euros.  The waitresses are all young and very nice, and almost everyone in the restaurant is speaking English, either with American or British accents. Back at the gite, we fall into the very comfy bed and sleep until 8am the next morning.

The opposite of a Still Life

Barney made eggs and cooked some French jambon for breakfast today. Then he went shopping all by himself to get some items - successfully - and we hung up laundry so it would dry by the time we need to pack.

Catherine came over about 11:00am to see the place, really liked it, and we decided to go to see the exhibit at the Jacquemart-Andre Musuem (one of our favorites) of the collection of Alicia Koplowitz, a Spanish businesswoman, which turned out to be stunning. Our favorites were the Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture and the still life by Van Gogh, which was vibrating with life and energy, the opposite of a still life. How did he put so much vibrancy into a painting in two dimensions, of a vase and flowers? In the mansion itself, the Tieopolo stairway fresco is also a favorite, and for the first time I noticed the greyhound in the fresco, so sent it to our friend Linda who has Opus the greyhound. We also liked the self-portrait of Nellie Jacquemart, so lively and curious. We took Catherine to lunch in the cafe, which was originally the dining room that seated 32 people, surrounded by a set of beautiful tapestries of the life of Achilles.

Back to Daguerre, we met Anne Godon (who was shopping for a dinner with friends, at the grocery nearby) and went back to the apartment so she could see it. We had some tea and cookies, talked about Anne's upcoming travels to South America, and Catherine's upcoming travel plans, as well as her experiences in Cuba. I wish we could have gone with her on that trip, it sounded fascinating.

Barney was tired, so he took a late afternoon nap while I caught up on email and news. I went down to the boucherie to get a roast chicken and some ratatouille for a quick delicious dinner. Today is the Nuit de la Musée, when almost all the musuems in Paris were open until midnight for free, so we decided to go to the Petit Palais to see the "Watteau to David" exhibit. There was a line when we arrived, but not too long, and the exhibit was lovely. We both really liked the sanguine drawings, the red chalk commonly used by sculptors drawing ideas for their works, or sometimes just doing drawings because they could. And did they ... beautiful detailed down to the hair, sometimes with dozens of figures in each drawing, as well as luminous paintings of Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard, the princes of the the era of beauty and tranquility in painting. Toward the end, you could see the start of the transition to the world of David and Gericault, more expressionistic and emotion-filled. After this, we explored their rest of the musuem, enjoying he inner courtyard and the large formate painting, including one of Les Halles that seemed drawn directly from Zola's "The Belly of Paris." The Petit Palais and the Grand Palais were both packed, and still had line when we left at 10:30pm. Parisians love their musuems.  Back to rue Daguerre and some quick notes, as tomorrow we pack and leave for Normandy.

All Over Paris

We had a terrific day exploring Paris today.

After breakfast, we headed to the 8th for a violin-making workshop, at the atelier of Frederic and Anne Levi. Right in the middle of the musical instrument area, we had a fascinating look at the world of handmade, Cremona-style violins. Frederic is the violin dealer (his father was in the busiiness) and Anne makes violins in the back of the shop. She showed us how a violin is made, from pieces of seasoned wood glued together and gouged and scraped into curves, to the final fitting out with bridge and neck and button. We got to actually try out some of the tools (which she herself had made) and gouging the wood was surprisingly hard. We got to see inside the violin as she placed the soundpost using a special mirror. And at the end, we were each given a bridge blank to "brand" with the firm/s name.

After some window shopping at the many instrument makers on rue de Rome, we walked to a nearby park at the end of rue Vienna (where apparently lots of local high schoolers hang out during lunchtime), and enjoyed our sandwiches and delicious peaches from the rue Daguerre market. The we walked south to find Dehellerin, the famous cooking supply place near the Bourse. What a place ... packed top to bottom with every imaginable piece of cooking equipment.  No prices, just codes on each item, and mounted books where you could look up prices. We bought a tiny cooper pan and scraper, and enjoyed seeing everything from tiny silicon molds to enormous wooden paddles 8 feet long for I-don't-know-what-purpose.

Since we were nearby, we walked down rue du Louvre (a bout of rain again) to take a photo of the Duluc Detective Agency, one of the inspirations for the Aimee LeDuc detective series by Cara Black. Wandering through the newly-hip 2nd, we went by Lockwood (written up in the SF Chronicle recently) and then o to Frenchie, where we had some delicious afternoon snacks of a brownie and fruited pound cake with coffee, a wonderful pick-me-up. They are affiliated with both the coffee place across the street and a restaurant down the road, as cooks came by to bring things out of the kitchen and carry them down the narrow pedestrian street.

Then off to one of my favorite paces in the world, the Museum of the Middle Ages, aka the Cluny. They are doing some construction and renovation, so there are temporary construction stairs to the second floor where the glorious Lady and the Unicorn tapestries now live. Their new location is smaller and darker, but the tapestries surround you so you feel like you are living in a room with these glorious works. Some of the Lady and the Unicorn-themed stuff as on sale in the gift shop so I went a little crazy, but alas, they no longer carry my favorite watch. In the neighborhood, on rue des Bernardins, we stopped by Rockridge Paris, a shop for which I had purchased a gift certificate from the EB auction a year ago. It has interesting gift items, lots of clever paper creations, and I bought a pair of paper earring and a crystal necklace.

Back at the apartment on rue Lalande, we had a nice Skype session with Madeleine to say bon voyage before she leaves for 10 weeks in Italy on two archaeological digs. She seems to have everything under contro, though a bit if last minute packing was underway. We hope that she has a wonderful time.

For dinner, we had made a reservation at the one-star Champeaux, which was terrific. We had a lovely table against the back wall, with wide mirrors so Barney could see all the action on a busy Friday night.  We started with some champagne, Barney had a nice charcuterie board and I had a delicious octopus salad, grilled tentacles with three sauces in small dabs around it, pimento, basil, and a white purée. Barney then had a lovely entrecôte with Bearnaise and frites, and I had a Scottish salmon with super-thin sliced vegetables and Beaise also. Bearnaise with frites is a new favorite.  Finally, we a Carmel soufflé with pistachio ice cream, which the waitress recommended putting into the soufflé after breaking through the top with the first few bites. It was delicious. Overall, a wonderful, 3-hour French dinner. We took the Metro back to Denfert, and home for a good night's sleep. Except that the washer was ultra-loud and made a huge racket during the spin cycle, so we rushed to turn it off, hoping we did not anger the neighbors below.

First Full Day and Old Friends

Arising fairly early, with another nice yogurt, fruit, and coffee breakfast, and off on a slightly cooler day, at last. We're going to see Catherine Godon and her daughter Anne. We met them almost 20 years ago, when Catherine was doing a year-long Fulbright fellowship in the US and lived in Rockridge; her daughter Anne attended Ecole BIlingue with Madeleine and they became fast friends. It was great to see them both, especially Anne who was traveling in South America and broke her leg zip-lining and was recuperating back in Paris. Catherine's friend Martine also stepped over and we had the chance to see her as well, which was nice (we have stayed at her place in the past). We went to see a friend of Catherine's who lives in the 14th and is thinking of renting her cute studio apartment on airbnb. Then off to Le Flibustier for traditional Breton crepes, followed by a trip to the BHV basement hardware section to get some Allen wrenches so Barney can do some repairs for Catherine. He says he will spend a month in Paris every year once he retires, fixing things for Catherine and her friends, and I think he would really enjoy that. Of course he'd have to learn all the words for various items in French, but the universal language of tools works well.

There is a cute shop in the 3rd called Goumanyat & Son which specializes in saffron, and we have gone there in the past to get saffron and the most delicious curry powder with rose petals. Unfortunately, we did not call first, and found that the store had closed and they are only available online. Darn. So we went to another spice shop we had been to before called Izraël in the 4th (near the old Jewish district), filled with huge sacks of nuts and spices and all sorts of delicious smells. We went there years ago with Madeleine, so it was fun to revisit this place. Catherine then headed out, and we went to the Louvre.

As always, the Louvre is huge and amazing, and 90% of the tourists head straight for the Mona Lisa. So we headed for the Italian paintings that were not the Mona Lisa and enjoyed them ... five Leonardo da Vinci painting all in a row, utterly luminous, and no one looking at them but us. We also spent some time with the Davids, Barney's favorite, the huge format paintings.

We left the Musuem, and the rain had arrived, so we dashed across the Point Neufchâtel to the Place Dauphine, where there are several small, old restaurants I had tried before. We went to Le Caveau du Palais, which looks out on the lovely triangular park there. We shared some paté, Barney has a nice steak and I had fish, with some good wines. By this time the rain had abated, and we headed back to rue Lalande for a good night's sleep.

A great Day in Paris and One Michelin Star

We woke up this morning after a reasonably good night's sleep in the comfy bed in the apartment, had yogurt and fruit, and some delicious Moisin bread with Echiré butter, mmmm. Made some French ham and Cantal sandwiches, filled up our water bottles, and we were off for the day ... another veer hot one, expected to be abut 85 degrees. I only brought one t-shirt and I am wearing it today. Thank goodness there is a storm coming in tonight and it will be 20 degrees cooler tomorrow.

Off on the RER to the Musee d'Orsay, one of Barney's favorite, and mine as well. Got our museum pass, no lines at all, and went straight to the 5th floor where all his favors are located. Chief among these are Manet's "Olympia" and "Dejuener sue l'Herbe" and Caillebotte's "Le Raboteurs de Parquet" or "The Floor Scrapers." It is amazing what a difference it makes to see these painting in real life, so much is lost from permits and digitized reproductions online. The entire background of "Olympia" for example, often looks all black in books or online, but in reality there is a brown patterned wallpaper, two large blue drapes, details of the black cat and more that you can see in person. We enjoyed seeing these and so many more - a bounty of Renoir's, Monets, Pissarros, and more. Simply joyful. They have a large collection of Van Gogh painting as well, and they are set to contract with the work of Gaugin at the same time. We also saw an interesting exhibit called "Beyond the Starts: Mythical Landscapes," which included late 19th - early 20th center landscapes from well-known painters like Monet and Van Gogh (A Starry Night) and Georgia O'Keefe and Arthur Dove, as well as Odilon Redon and a whole group of Canadian and Scandinavian painters who painted these robust landscapes devoid of human life. The whole exhibit was around landscape as meditation, as religion, as spirituality.

We dashed back to the 14th to meet Catherine, and it was so great to see her.Of course we spent some time talking about politics ... thank goodness the French came to their senses and elected Macron, unfortunately angry, ill-informed voters in the US elected Trump, who is now busy obstructing justice. We caught with her activities and Anne's and will see her tomorrow morning. Barney will be Mr Bricolage (hardware) and fix some things around the house for her before we go out, something he enjoys doing.

So very hot out, we came back and took a short nap to rest up for our big dinner. Quite unusual for us and quite refreshing. Then got dresses and off to the 7th for a fairly fancy dinner. Thanks to planning ahead for once, we were able to get dinner reservations at two different one-star Michelin restaurant, and lunch at a three-star toy which we are inviting Catherine as our guest. We love to cook and to eat, and I was glad that we finally got it together to make this happen.

As we wanted to try something new in Paris, and read about this as one of the newer one-star Michelin restaurants. We had a reservation on at 7:30 on a Wednesday, made before we left the US. The food was delicious (though not quite knock your socks off spectacular), wines were very nice, and service was smooth and professional. My husband started with the crispy egg with leeks vinaigrette and haddock, which was inventive and we got the waiter to tell us how they got an egg cooked inside the edible container (two hemispheres of pasta joined together). Red mullet pissaladiere was quite good as well. The roast sea bass was delicious, accompanied by a red onion pastry layered like a napoleon, with zucchini, squid, dried tomato, on a vegetable confit. The roast duck was done very well, and came with sweet potato and tin crispy carrots. Desserts were a standout: Chocolate mousse on a chocolate biscuit with hazelnut sorbet and praline sauce, and the chef's signature Breton shortbread topped with mandarins sorbet, crime Annalise, and tiny bits of meringue. The wine selection is of moderate size but well chosen, with a standout champagne I did not get the name of. All in all, a very lovely dinner at a good price.

A Long-Awaited Journey to France

Monday the 15th of May we left for France for 16 days, after Barney and I have been working really hard for many months, and so we are really looking forward to this. And I have saved my miles, so we were able to fly business class (one way), which was quite nice.

They greet you by name, the food and wine are decent, real plates and real silverware, and both cheese and two sweets for dessert. The best part was the seats which fold competent flat so you could actually sleep. We both got about 5 hours of good sleep, which made all the difference when we landed. First time in a long time I have not felt like a zombie after landing in Paris or anywhere else overseas.

The RER train ride to our airbnb apartment gave us time to regroup, and we got off at Denfert-Rochereau and walked down rue Daguerre to the apartment. It is a lovely place, on the 3rd floor up stairs, a small bedroom, lovely sitting room with a piano, large kitchen, and nice bathroom. Our liaison greeted us and showed us around a bit. We unpacked, went down to Monoprix to buy some basics, got some nice cheese and sausage at Androuet, bread at Moisin, and some fresh strawberries, and went back to provision the kitchen for the morning.

I had read about an exhibit of photos of cars, at Fondation Cartier, which I thought Catherine would probably not be interested in, so we walked over there, only a few blocks away. It was an interesting exhibit and Barney really enjoyed it. We walked through the garden afterwards, an oasis of green and quiet in the midst of the 14th. Then back to Brasserie Peret for a light dinner: smoked salmon salad and Sancerre for me, smoked duck and a Languedoc red for Barney. We indulged in some Bertillion ice cream, the salted caramel so strong and full. We were both quite tired, so we headed back. On the way, we stopped at a nice wine shop, and I urged Barney to try his French to buy some Porto, and he did very well. Upstairs now, it has been a warm day (the high was 86 degree, very warm for Paris) and it is still warm up here even with the windows open. The street is busy here at night but we will sleep well I am sure.

Girls 60th Reunion in Florida 2016

Thursday, 9 February 2016:After the wonderful success of our trip to Paris celebrating our 50th birthdays, we decided to gather again to celebrate turning 60. This time we gathered in Plantation, Florida, where Kim lives. Her husband thoughtfully moved out for several days to a local hotel so we could more or less have the house to ourselves. When I arrived Thursday evening after an uneventful a Virgin American flight from SFO, Kim had a lovely baked ham dinner ready, very traditional Midwestern. It was so wonderful to see Kim, Carla, and Linda again!

On of the amazing aspects of this group is that while we've known each other since kindergarten (except Kim whom I met in 6th grade), we can easily slip back into the relationships we've had for decades now - 55+Years! - yet still informed by a lifetime of birthdays, deaths, jobs, marriages, divorces, and much more. We stayed up a while talking and made plans for the next day.

Friday, 10 February 2016: we woke a bit late, and got ourselves organized for the day trip to the Morikami Japanese Gardens and Museum. About one hundred years ago, a group of Japanese farmers came to South Florida, invited because of their superior horticultural expertise, and established an agricultural colony. They tried to make a real town of it, but most left after a few years, and only a few families actually stayed. The gardens and water features are magnificent, and the small history museum quite informative. Everywhere there is tranquility and beauty. We found a lovely short pink pastel robe in the gift shop which we got for Kim as a birthday present. We went to Bahama Breeze for their happy hour, recommended by Carla who had been there before. We ordered almost every appetizer on the menu plus some of their special tropical drinks, and had a wonderful time. Back to Kim's, we relaxed by the pool and talked, just like old times. Kim went t bed, and Carla and I drove to the airport to pick up Jan Swanson Nicholson, Kim's sister in law.

Saturday, 11 February 2016

After a leisurely breakfast, Kin left for her dress rehearsal for the Sunrise Pops Orchestra, and Carla, Kim and Jan and I left for Dania Beach and some ocean time. While since sat undr the umbrella and made had way on m book, Carla and Ali CA and a Jan enjoyed the water and ealki the beach.


Sunday, 1 February 2016

Monday, 1 February 2016