FRANCE Conclusion, August 2019


Wow, is this really our departure day? time flies! We woke up early in Paris, which is the norm wherever we are. France, a destination that was not my first choice turned out to be one seriously amazing trip! Not wanting it to end we took a relaxing morning stroll for a couple of hours. It was another great weather day and the crowds were noticeably absent. We walked slowly across the beautifully wide Place de la Concorde again. Normally a busy square, with fast moving cars navigating with no distinct traffic lanes, pedestrians use caution!!






















We crossed the opulent Pont Alexandre III bridge, which was completed for the 1900 World's Fair. We watched as photographers captured beautiful images of beautiful brides at the end of the golden hour. The early morning is the time to walk around Paris, I believe. Very few people this morning, calm, quiet and peaceful. We walked as far as the Musee de L'Arm'ee and the tallest church in Paris (107 meters) Dome Les Invaldes, which contains the tomb of Napoleon. We don't actually enter a lot of popular museums, I guess it's the long lines and well....we avoid crowds if we can. Why go inside when we were already in the largest open air museum on the planet!!





























































Trying to keep this last report fairly short. However, I feel I should explain why France was not high on my bucket list. To start and probably my biggest "fears" were my lack of the language and the "rumors" of the disdain or dislike towards Americans that were engrained in my thinking by whatever forces. Let me tell you, even though there was a language barrier in some places (which is my problem, not theirs!), we were always treated very well and with respect. I believe respect is earned and not a given, we have always tried to be as kind and thoughtful to others as we can be, we are certainly not demanding and with that mindset we received nothing but kindness in return. After fully retiring for a year and a half I became bored and took a position with a local high school last year. I went to our French teacher before the trip, she's from France, she put some of my language concerns to rest, recommending Duolingo and other apps! We currently have French exchange students and their teachers at our school, on their first day a simple smile and Bonjour to them has them coming to me in the hallways to engage in conversation, English of course!

France, the small snippet that we experienced, was as beautiful as any place we have visited. The people are fantastic, the food and wine (BEER) extraordinary and the history, oh the history! Our trip to the "City of Lights" nicknamed because it was one of the earliest cities to have electricity! And the entire "Republic" of France far exceeded my expectations and has changed my misperceptions! Of course our final morning would not be complete without a last visit to the Eiffel Tower and the Parc Champ de Mars. Adieu France, until we meet again.











To be continued, somewhere! CHEERS!!