Did you know Jim Morrison’s dad commanded the American fleet in the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin confrontation? We saw Jim Morrison’s grave today at the 110-acre Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris’ 20th arrondissement which is what led me to want to read more about Morrison on Wikipedia. The cemetery is one of the most beautiful…
Remember plaster of Paris from elementary-school art class? It’s made from gypsum which is one of the mineral deposits upon which Paris is built. For centuries, and possibly millennia, Parisians quarried the limestone and gypsum left by the ancient sea that used to cover this portion of France. The result is a swiss-cheese effect –…
Below: A horse receives training in the cold water of the English Channel Wednesday. The peaceful scene belied the chaos of that June morning seventy years ago when hundreds of American soldiers and sailors died on this shore. Utah Beach saw far fewer deaths than the slaughter at Omaha Beach, however. Amidst the terrible weather conditions of…
We’re doing well in France with our special brand of diplomacy that is Charlie. The title quote was said to the grocery store clerk yesterday when Charlie read the young man’s name tag. We’re on a train to Paris this evening, coming home from a full-day, private tour of Normandy. Charlie has already greeted and…
Charlie said this as we stepped through the gate of our apartment building last Sunday and onto the sidewalk, having arrived in Paris the day before. Paris is so beautiful we can’t take it all in. Building after building, block after block is a work of art. Then there’s the Louvre where we went Thursday. I…
We’re at a restaurant now, having our last tavuk şiş (chicken kebabs). We’ll get up in the middle of the night and walk one kilometer with our luggage to the palace where we’re meeting our taxi driver at 4 am. Our flight to Paris leaves at 6:25 am. We’re pretty excited but will miss, among…
The Grand Bazaar was built shortly after the Ottoman takeover in the 1450’s and has been added on to and improved over the centuries. With that in mind, I was expecting something distinctly Turkish when we went there on Friday, October 17, but was disappointed to find it was just a pretty but low-end mall…
First, I want to give an update on Jen & Dave who are very grateful for everyone’s thoughts and prayers. Dave is out of ICU but still in the hospital. His kidneys are still not functioning, but he’s feeling a bit better than earlier in the week. We met our tour guide, Safiye, at Sultanahmet…
“Do you need help?” I asked in English. The stooped, old woman, wearing a babushka/hijab and carrying a cane and carpet bag was stopped on the sidewalk a few doors down from my apartment building last week. I’m not sure what I planned to do for her, but I hated to breeze by her. She…
You may recall my photos and story of meeting up with my friend Jen & her husband Dave at Niagara Falls in July. Jen and I met when we both volunteered – answering the phone, checking people in and out – at the Denver Ronald McDonald House years ago. I took Laurel with me to…
Travels with Charlie and Laurel 