Bonjour, Sometimes, it’s better to let pictures tell a story…the afternoon in Montmartre and then the evening for dinner at Le Train Bleu. I’ll describe the day in captions as we go through it. There are so many photos I had to reduce the size. I think you can click on them to enlarge. Hope […]
Bonjour mes amis, Our plans came together yesterday in glorious fashion. Warmer, dryer weather mixed with fly-overs, a little Van Gogh, Kir Royales (pink champagne), and birthday candles brought smiles to everyone. Our usual habit on La Fète Nationale is to go to one of the bridges to watch the fly by. It started out […]
Bonjour, I’ve been rearranging plans like crazy to accommodate this awful weather we’re having. Last week was lovely and next week looks mostly sunny so what did we do to deserve this?? I’ve never been quiet about preferring sunshine days in Paris, especially since it’s mid-July, for goodness sake. Cold…windy… rainy. We cancelled Montmartre as […]
Bonjour, Travel is one of the pure joys of life whatever your age. But it does indeed take a toll on one’s body. I’m working to stabilize my crazy system after a year of health challenges, and the kids are struggling with lack of sleep. But slowly, all are finding a new normal. Emily seems […]
Bonjour mes amis, It’s such an amazing world we live in today. The minute my daughter’s plane landed at Charles de Gaulle, we were able to text back and forth and I could track her exact whereabouts. Unfortunately, her first text to me was “The flight of annoying noises!! Screaming (obnoxiously) baby, cat freaked out […]
Happy Weekend all, Today’s the day we’ve been waiting for: the arrival of my daughter Natalie, her 12-year old son Carson, and her niece, Emily who will celebrate her 17th birthday on Bastille Day or as the locals say La Fête Nationale. We’re going to stretch it so that she celebrates for two days at […]
Bonjour, Rain was in the forecast yesterday (though none came) and we did one of our usual rainy day activities: a subway ride out to La Defense to the huge interior shopping mall Quatre Temps. On the walk to our subway, whom should we meet but our friend, Richard Nahem. He was waiting on some tour guides […]
Bonjour mes amis, The picture says it all…the infamous passport has arrived. Many thanks for your prayers and well wishes. I’m quite sure they helped to bring a smile to Emily’s face. Merci beaucoup! I’m not quite sure why we have gotten so lucky with the weather here in mid-July, but it has been near […]
Bonjour, As many of you saw in the comment section of my blog yesterday, the passport situation surrounding my daughter’s visit has been hopefully resolved. HOWEVER, the delivery at 10:30am yesterday did not happen. Supposedly, the passport is in Kentucky with delivery today. Stress is still hovering until we have that little powerful disrupter in […]
Bonjour mes amis, If you have any pull with the Man upstairs, please say a little prayer for my daughter. It is looking like the special Paris trip for her, my 12-year old grandson Carson, and niece Emily, may not happen. The passport process is arduous right now, and we have pulled every string we […]
Bonjour, Paris is quieter, less congested and quite cool. It’s in the 50’s at night and low 70’s during the day. Who knew? I can remember upper 90’s in mid June a few years ago. Seems I never quite get the wardrobe selection correct as I planned for very hot weather. Oh well, we’ll adjust. […]
Bonjour de Paris! Our travel to Paris yesterday was completely free of any issues. All the fuss and bother about tests and masks and vaccination cards was uneventful, and we are indeed breathing easier this morning. There was hardly anyone at Orly airport and Paris is empty of the throngs we are used to. Coming […]
Bonjour mes amis, If all goes well, we will be in Paris by early July. We need a picture-taking theme a la the Café chairs. In 2019, we did a series of light photos which turned out great. This was a suggestion from Lea Ellison. Sometimes it takes a village. Two considerations: must appeal to […]
Bonjour all, I am sad this morning, exhausted, weary, missing Paris, and quite honestly terrified. I don’t know my country any more. I can’t weave between the lines of lie-filled discourse, recognize the values I taught my children, or relate to such intense malfeasance. I have been quite ill for over a month, and I […]
Bonjour mes amis, Thanks for joining us through this very strange and scary journey over the past ten weeks. Bernie and I are doing well but have decided to allow several weeks to pass before we go out and see what happens in Alabama with COVID-19 spread. Our cases go up every day but onward […]
Bonjour mes amis, It occurs to me that I’m not doing nearly as good a job as some of my fellow bloggers who are sharing a new post every day. Shame on me. Some days are harder than others. Here are some daily Paris-related blogs you might enjoy: Eye Prefer Paris from Richard Nahem who is […]
Bonjour mes amis, We received our airline refund yesterday for our Paris trip which was great news and sad news all in one. Hopefully, next year, about this time, we’ll be able to return to Paris. France and Paris in particular have been hard hit so we hope they will be in recovery soon. Riots […]
Bonjour mes amis, Writing this blog is sometimes not as easy as I thought it would be. I promised a positive focus and some days “positive” is a difficult mindset right now. I’ve checked off a variety of activities like finishing the edits on a novel, working jigsaw puzzles (now one that has 2000 pieces!), […]
Dear mes amis, I’m seeking to keep this blog a focal point of positive vibes. It’s hard to stay positive, at least for me. But the best we can all do is the best we can do, mais oui? I had distant family affected by the tornado in Chattanooga—two 90-year-olds who hid in a small bathroom […]
Dear mes amis, This is generally one of my favorite weekends of the year, watching The Masters golf tournament. This afternoon at 12:30 CBS is replaying the famous win for Phil Michelson where he played a near perfect game. I will get my golf fix that way, I suppose. It’s certainly a different set of […]
Bonjour mes amis, I think it’s Thursday but I’ve lost all sense of where we are in any given week. Most of the relative indicators are gone unless of course, you’re working from home. Bernie and I trust that each of you is doing well and staying above water in your thoughts. Some days it’s […]
Bonjour mes amis, Here in Huntsville, it is 80 degrees, beautiful blue skies and a slight warm breeze: what I would call a Montmartre day. Let’s revisit this gorgeous spot and embrace the best that Paris has to offer, at least in my opinion. If you have our book, Bernie’s Paris, I invite you to read […]
Bonjour! The world celebrates Spring even amid the sadness and isolation we all feel. It’s a deliberate choice daily to find the good in this situation but there is one definite bright spot…Our healthcare workers in all capacities, our first responders, our firemen and police men and women. I deliberated over how we could lift […]
Bonjour mes amis, I received an email from Pierre this morning saying they will make it off the Zaandam to the airport for a plane to France. We don’t know the timeline whether that means today or tomorrow, but at least they are soon off that death ship! He mentioned that it would be “harsh” […]
Bonjour mes amis, Certainly not to be flippant during these very difficult days, I thought food pics from Paris might be comforting. You can partake without calories or weight gain! The “presentation” is always so magical, and photos of food seem to be almost as popular as Café chairs for our blog readers. There’s an […]
Bonjour mes amis, I had intended for this blog to bring only hope and smiles and beautiful images to all of you. I still hope that, but it’s very hard at the present moment because of the situation with Bernie’s cousins. Writing here gives me a personal outlet for my angst so please forgive me!! […]
Bonjour, No other blog series has ever been as fun or as popular as the one we did many years ago on the cafe chairs of Paris. Bernie thought I was crazy when I started telling him to take photos of chairs! Who knew it would become so popular? I have gone back through photos […]
Bonjour mes amis, Writers write during good times and bad times, sharing stories of the heart to help themselves and to bring joy, solace, and hope to others. I have decided to spend a few minutes each day to share fond memories of Paris, pulling photos from our voluminous archive. Unfortunately, unless a world miracle […]
Bonjour mes amis, Here it is…the winner of our 2019 Light Photo contest. Thanks to all 51 of you who voted. Yes, it was a tough decision; we agree! Here’s the top layer of voting: #1 Bernie in the mirror image 25 votes #5 Champs […]
Bonjour mes amis, The big question for us now is “Will we get stuck here in Paris because of the strikes?” The answer is, “We simply don’t know!” There could be worse places to get waylaid, but we’re ready to go home for Christmas. Tomorrow, December 5, is a previously announced major transportation strike in […]
Bonjour mes amis, It’s time for our light photo contest!! If you wish to participate, spend some time scrolling through these top 50 photos selected by Bernie and me together on a dreary, cold rainy Sunday in Paris. It took a while over several cups of hot coffee and some discussion to formulate our selections. […]
Bonjour, In 1975, I was 28 years old, recently divorced, jobless and basically without a place to live for myself and my 3-year-old son. A dear friend stepped in and offered me room and board for a few months until I could find a job. My first job interview was at WHNT-TV for a typist […]
Bonjour mes amis, A quick post this morning before we are off to greet some new visitors from Mississippi arriving this morning. More about them later. We had lunch with our friend Richard Nahem yesterday as a thank-you for helping us with printing our exhibit tickets. We ate at Les Foodies again and thought you would […]
Bonjour, Since Christmas lights are our focus, we’ll begin with a look at one of the classic market streets on the edge of the Latin Quarter area called rue Mouffetard. It’s unpretentious and conjures up old Paris. It’s pedestrian mostly and busiest in the mornings with fresh fruit markets, boucheries, boulongeries, patisseries and still a […]
Bonjour mes amis, As we approach Thanksgiving, it is appropriate to mention how blessed Bernie and I feel to have shared sixteen years together in Paris. Our relationship has grown up here, matured, endured, suffered hardship and joy. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know that all has not been roses! We […]
Bonjour, Saturdays in Paris these days are somewhat iffy depending on where and if the yellow vest demonstrators have plans. Yesterday, was calm, and all the subway stations were up and running. Our friend Jerome came by at noon to assess the broken shower, and hopefully identified the problem. It will most likely require a […]
Bonjour, Yesterday began badly for Bernie as he found himself taking a cold shower! It’s quite chilly in the mornings as we have only three electric wall units for heat which are limited in feeding heat into all areas of the apartment. Our friend Jerome, the maintenance manager at the Monoprix, is coming at noon […]
Bonjour mes amis, Yesterday was the third sunny day in a row and that’s big news…even got to wear my sunglasses that Paula Steigerwald so kindly brought over. The weather and a new restaurant proved to be the highlights of our day. The Christmas lights, just a few. Today was also Beaujolais Thursday in France, […]
Bonjour, Christmas is popping up all around us and it’s such fun for us to share it all with you! In planning this trip, we could have easily departed after the birthday celebration, but decided to spend an extra three weeks to see at least the start of Christmas in Paris. Since our theme was […]
Bonjour, When you don’t receive a blog from us, it’s because it’s rained all day the previous day or we’ve done laundry all day or some of both. Monday was that kind of day, but we’ve had two days since that were wonderful. We’ve been out enjoying the better weather, but shifting our emphasis to […]
Bonjour, Saying good-bye is rarely as much fun as saying “welcome.” All of our company was gone on Sunday morning before noon. Bernie had tears in his eyes and warm memories in his heart as he embraced his cousins and his brothers in farewell. What a great week we’ve had even with the mishaps which […]
Bonjour mes amis, Well, what a day we had trying to celebrate Bernie’s actual birthday of November 15th. I hope this brings some laughter and amusement to you. Some of it wasn’t funny last night as I sat with tears in my eyes, but oh, the memories and stories we will tell in the future. […]
Bonjour, Yesterday was a day to rejoice, to greet, to share memories, to laugh, to eat…oh yes, did I say eat? All of the birthday company has arrived, and we are pretending to run around like we are 50 instead of ancient! Happy 80th Birthday, Bernie!! The celebration continues as November 15 is his actual […]
Bonjour mes amis, I realize that there will be far too many photos to have a one week-long summary blog so here’s a few photos to whet your appetite. The last set of cousins from Alsace, Pierre and Laurie Verdier, arrive today by train. Like many who visit, Bernie’s brothers, Bill and Steve, are having […]
Bonjour, Busy day today so a quick post. Bernie is off to the airport to greet his two brothers from Alabama. His cousins, Curt and Diane Brewer, arrived yesterday after a not-so-restful flight that was devoid of any sleep. Their advice: don’t fly Comfort Class in the bulkhead seats! They were exhausted but glad to […]
Bonjour, It used to be that we came to Paris years ago and found a quieter city. Not the case anymore! There are SO many tourists right now. The streets are jammed everywhere, and such was the case on Sunday near the large department stores behind the Opera. Sometimes, we are just ignorant and happy […]
Bonjour mes amis, If you’ve visited us in Paris, one of the first things you learn is to address Bernie as “Bear-nar” (spelled phonetically) as the French would say. Last night was his night and our light theme doesn’t need a special picture for this post. The light in everyone’s eyes and the fun smiles […]
Bonjour, The last two days in Paris have produced blue skies after rain all through the night and quite chilly temps. We have been running here and there to get all the party supplies for hosting neighbors and friends tonight in our apartment. Familiarity from multiple visits over the years has given us an advantage […]
Bonjour, Yesterday was the third sunny Paris day in a row! Just wonderful. Unfortunately, most of our time has been spent in the Apple store configuring a new phone for me. Bernie has been very patient, but as he says, “What choice did I have?” I’m very pleased to share that my new phone is […]
Bonjour, What an interesting day we had yesterday amid more sunshine! Yay! We rushed off in the morning to go to the Apple store (again!) to figure out how to buy a new phone for me. This plan to beat the masses was thwarted when we turned into our St. Paul subway station only to […]
