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time for a cigarette, fabric district, Montmartre Paris
04 Saturday Feb 2012
Posted in A Picture is worth a thousand words
Tag Archives: travel
Street Lamp beside Notre Dame, Paris
27 Friday Jan 2012
Posted in A Picture is worth a thousand words
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Calling the French arrogant is a little like saying Romans speak Italian
25 Thursday Aug 2011
Posted in travel quotes
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“It was, Bill Ernst said, a breach of the rules, but he thought the Peruvian officials were going a little hard on the French. They should be disqualified for that day’s diving, but not for the entire competition.
A Chilean diver I talked to later was all for the disqualification. If the French were allowed to compete tomorrow, on the last day of the competition, they could conceivably register a protest with the international organization, get reinstated, and have their first day’s catch counted. The only way to teach them a lesson was to tell them they couldn’t compete the next day.
It would also, I noted, move Peru up from eighth place to seventh, and Chile up from fourth to third. There was that, the Chilean said. But damnit, the French were always doing questionable things. A few weeks ago, the Chilean said, he was scouting, diving on an underwater pinnacle. The French came by in a Zodiac and kept circling above him.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they’re French.”
“You mean,” I said, “you think they’re arrogant.”
Yes, that’s what he meant. Exactly.
Actually, I’d had some contact with the French divers the day before. They had been uniformly pleasant, and, in fact, I owed my basement living accommodations, such as they were, to Phillippe of the French embassy. It occurred to me that calling the French arrogant is a little like saying Romans speak Italian. French folks have the most euphonious language on earth, their scholars commit the most esoteric theoretics, their food is superb, their athletes are more courageous and better trained than those of any other country. They are culturally superior and can pronounce the word ennui in a way that lets the rest of us know how much they suffer in our presence. Arrogance is a French cultural trait, as delicious in its way, as any bouillabaisse.
The next morning, early, my hotel lobby was in chaos. The French contingent was leaving in protest and en masse. Hey, au revoir, guys. I transferred from my basement hovel to a top-floor oceanfront room that had previously contained culturally superior Frenchmen.”
–Tim Cahill, Pass the Butterworms
The Charms of Staying in Nicholas’s Room
30 Monday May 2011
Posted in Family Life
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I just got back from spending the weekend in Colorado Springs with my brother Paul and his family. My 7-year-old nephew Nicholas let me sleep in his room and he moved across the hall to sleep in his older brother’s room during my visit. He was very excited to share his room and offered to let me play with any of his toys.
I had a roommate….Fudge, a toad.
I had a very nice glow-in-the-dark dinosaur for a night-light.
And best of all, I got to see the world thru the eyes of a delightful seven-year-old boy for a few days!
Awestruck while standing in a tornado debris field in Trenton Alabama
16 Monday May 2011
Posted in travel adventures, Trixie and Lulu
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When I was a child The Wizard of Oz came on tv once a year and every year I would thrill to the adventures of Dorothy and all her friends, while being terrified of the tornado and the flying monkeys. I had nightmares for weeks afterwards. Either the flying monkeys would get me, or the tornado would. Tornadoes ended up being one of my big childhood fears…along with the hand under the bed.
Last Friday I stood in the debris field left by a tornado one week earlier. It had touched down briefly on a close mountain, killing 2 people and then landed again in Trenton, sweeping along 3 or 4 blocks, killing 2 more. To stand in that debris field was something I will never forget. You see the images on tv and it’s horrifying. To actually be there and see the devastation…it is something else completely. I had goosebumps and chills and tears in my eyes. My feelings were so complicated it has taken me days to sort them out. Now I know that my most overwhelming feeling was incredible sorrow that people had to suffer through this incredible force of nature. To see a childhood fear brought to life was horrifying as well. We just don’t want to believe that things this horrible can really happen in real life. We all have fears, some realistic, and some not. My ankle will probably never be grabbed by a hand under my bed. Tornadoes are another matter entirely. How do you escape a tornado? They are going to touch down wherever they choose. It is the randomness of them that adds to their scariness.
Both Jeanne and I have struggled to express the incredible impact viewing this debris field had on us.
Everyone we have chatted with has a story to tell. Some have neighbors who died. Some lost trees or roofs, and considered themselves lucky. Some lost power for several days. Several had tornadoes touch down within half a mile of their homes. There were many complaints about the news coverage. They lost several people in their community and their town was never mentioned. A town was completely flattened 2 miles from where we were staying…and it never made it to the news.
We saw trees toppled over and roofs partially gone in many places, but until we reached the actual path of the tornado, we had no idea just how bad it really was. We had to pull over and take it all in. On the side of one destroyed building was spray-painted a simple message. “Dont look…help. Thank you.” And in the end, that’s all we can do. Help those who lost their homes and mourn those who lost their lives. And pray that they never have to suffer this way again.
Meet Miss Lillie Mae
12 Thursday May 2011
Posted in travel adventures, Trixie and Lulu
The very best food is always where the locals eat, and today we were lucky enough to have a conversation with several volunteers at the Chattanooga Junior League Thrift shop. We talked about the recent tornadoes and how it had affected each of them. One unlucky guy had been without power for 8 days and was seriously tired of “going all little house on the prairie and such.” We talked about our glitter pick road trip and they said it was a must to go eat lunch at Lillie Mae’s.
The decor at Lillie Mae’s is plain and simple, with white walls and painted white booths. Lots of families and older gentlemen in button-down shirts and string ties. You don’t come to Lillie Mae’s for the decor…you come for the delicious southern menu. The potato salad was some of the best I have ever had…Jeanne described it as tasting just like a deviled egg. We both had fried cornbread, made with white cornmeal and it had an interesting taste…not to either of our liking since we both like sweet yellow cornbread so much. But we are glad we tried it. The rest of our meal was delicious!
In the waiting area there are several pictures of Lillie Mae and she looks like quite the character. Certainly not a vapid southern belle! I was intrigued by her photos and wanted to know more about her.
Lillie Mae’s is not a place we would have ever stopped at on our own…the building is very nondescript and I bet the locals like it just fine that way. I feel very fortunate that we had the chance to eat there.
Meat and 3 sides…food adventuring in Tennessee
10 Tuesday May 2011
Posted in travel adventures, Trixie and Lulu
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Chandler's Deli, Glitter pick, Knoxville Tennessee, Meatloaf, Road trip, soul food, Tennessee, travel
In preparation for our trip to the south I purchased a book called Tennessee Curiosities by Kristin Luna….because travelling for me is all about avoiding the obvious tourist traps and exploring the odd little places unique to wherever we are. Kristin advised us to eat at Chandler’s Deli if we ever found ourselves in Knoxville Tennessee. She believes it to be the best soul food in all the land. We found that hearty endorsement irresistable..so off we went.
Chandler’s is in a former Taco Bell building…small, pink and unpretentious. You order from a large menu…many types of meat and even more sides. It is served cafeteria style and my large plate of food and a soft drink cost me ten bucks, with tax. It’s an incredible deal. The meat special today was meatloaf, served with gravy or ketchup, and I also ordered mashed potatoes, broccoli in cheese sauce, mac n’cheese and corn bread. It was way too much food and I was only able to eat about half my plate…but I couldn’t resist trying all those yummy southern sides!
As we were exiting…we noticed the sign on the front door. Special today: Fried Pickles and Peppers.
Trixie and Lulu and the Glitter Pick Road Trip
09 Monday May 2011
Posted in Shopping adventures, travel adventures, Trixie and Lulu
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American Pickers, bling jewelry, flea market, Glitter pick, Lulu, Road trip, Tennessee, travel, Trixie, vintage jewelry
Greetings from Chattanooga Tennessee! My BFF Jeanne and I are here on a grand adventure…picking our way through the south. It’s my 50th birthday next week and I decided to spend it doing 2 of my very favorite things…treasure hunting and travelling! We are big fans of the tv show American Pickers and decided we needed to do a road trip of our own…but instead of digging through junkyards and spider-infested old barns we would hit every thrift shop and rummage shop and flea market we could find! We’d look for girlie things like china teacups and vintage linens and old books and lovely bits of vintage jewelry, all the while dolled up in big straw hats and bling jewelry……truly a Glitter Pick Road trip. We have nicknames for the trip…she’s Trixie and I am Lulu and we plan on stopping at every oddball roadside curiousity we can find. After a week we will load it onto a U-haul and drive it 2000 miles home…picking along the way. Stay tuned for our adventures…….
The Magic of La Tour Eiffel
17 Thursday Mar 2011
Posted in travel adventures
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The Eiffel Tower is one of the great iconic symbols of the world…it is so hard to believe that city officials planned to tear it down in a few years, after it was built in 1889 for the World’s Fair. It is the true symbol of Paris. Everywhere you go in Paris there it is…off in the distance, or peeking over buildings.
Seeing it up close enhances the awe……it is so much bigger than it looks from afar! Standing next to it and underneith it you truly start to appreciate the incredible accomplishment over 120 years ago.
One of the most magical things about the Eiffel Tower is how romantic it is…
On my first trip to Paris a few years ago we arrived at 7am in the morning. I had struggled to sleep on the plane and had only managed an hour or two so I was very tired for our first day there. We dropped our luggage at the hotel and bought some pastry for breakfast, walked a few blocks down cobblestone streets to the Louvre. While we waited for it to open, we sat on a ornately carved stone bench and looked about us. I was still fuzzy from the flight and hoped the pastry would wake me up. As I looked around, all of a sudden I saw it…the Eiffel Tower, off in the distance. My eyes filled with tears. I knew I was in Paris.
Paris—a tale of two cathedrals
15 Tuesday Mar 2011
Posted in travel adventures
Greetings from Paris…it’s our first day here and we chose to take it easy since the travel has exhausted us. We explored Montmartre and Notre Dame and it was interesting to contrast the two cathedrals, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. Notre Dame is many centuries old and Sacre Coeur is a wee youngster in this ancient landscape, at just 125 years old.
Notre Dame is somber and majestic, with gorgeous stained glass windows and a multitude of carvings. Sacre Coeur is beautiful and joyful, with beautiful intricate mosaics. A banner hangs from the front, proclaiming ” For 125 years, HERE day and night, somebody has been praying to the Lord.” I love the thought of the never-ending prayer in Sacre Coeur.
Notre Dame has incredibly cool gargoyles.
Sacre Coeur has the best view in Paris.
Of the two…..my choice goes to Sacre Coeur. As much as I appreciate the history and majesty of Notre Dame….Sacre Coeur has a lovely spirit that lifts my heart.
