FRANCE Conclusion

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!!

Great trip thanks for sharing.

Thanks TravelHat!!

I am not big on the Trip Report. We head to the Caribbean every year, usually same place so they would get redundant. We are headed to Italy in December for two weeks and I am committed to do a picture filled report. You and Tom are good inspiration. Stay tuned.

Sheeew, need a minute to decompress after that conference record 6 overtime win for the HOKIES over the Tar Heels, GO HOKIES!!

TravelHat, look forward to your report, we love Italy!!!

I saw the OT. I hate that TO on a kick but it works. Nice win.

Great report as always. Love your comments on France and the French. It is probably the nicest country in the world with just about everything you could want all in one country. When looking for a holiday home a few years back we would really have loved to buy in France, but didn't, mainly because the place was intended to be somewhere to escape the British winter and even the Cote d'Azur is a little chilly in January and February!

Mike--wow, such high praise by a Brit for France?? Shocking.

As always, a fantastic job, Beerman!! Thanks for taking us along!

Some things are just too obvious to ignore Carol

I agree with it all as well! We love France. Have visited three times over last few years and always have been treated well and respectfully. It just takes a few simple things.

My husband was like you and was coerced to go to Paris, it is his favorite trip and favorite city still!

We too are going to Italy next, but I would go to France again anytime!

I love your trip reports as well. Wish I could take one picture that captures as much as yours do.

Happy planning for the next adventure.

PS. I live in NC and usually happy to see the Tarheels go down as well. My daughter went to JMU so I unfortunately can’t pull for Hokies usually.

Thanks EllenS! I took 1500 pics in 10 days, bound to have 1 or 2 keepers LOL!! I have a neighbor who spent a summer in Paris when younger and has been back a few times, but her husband was not interested, at all. I have been talking it up with them the last couple weeks, he now says if he can visit the Normandy beaches he might be interested... So you're say'in there's a chance!!!

JMU is a great school and the football team is doing pretty dang good! but....GO HOKIES!!!

Normandy is a great trip. We took our 16 year old daughter. it pretty much left her speechless. And besides the history there, the surrounding area and towns are great as well. Hope you are able to talk him into it!

Let us know your next trip so we can watch for more pictures!

Well Beerman another job well done!
Thank you so much for taking us along.

My sweetie graduated from graduated from JMU and got her Medical Technologist from UVA.
No hokie fans in this house!
So last night as the Hokies pounded it out... I chose to read my grandson Billy Goats Gruff and a few other classics...

The "gentleman" neighbor avoiding France is a wahooo. We have the best back and forth when it comes to college sports! He is not a dog owner, we have an English Springer Spaniel that he takes care of sometimes, he says if it was a Retriever he could not or would not help us, i.e 1 seed upset by 16 seed!!!!! I would never hold Janet's post grad education against her, but she'll always be a Duke in my eyes and not a fish!