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Post by mich64 on Sept 29, 2012 19:17:39 GMT
Thank you htmb, it was a joy to be able to help my sister see all the sites she dreamed of and watch her expressions and emotions.
Watching the Tower light up is a favorite event for my husband and I and my sister was delighted and was able to capture it on video. I am only sorry that I will not be home next weekend when she comes to town to visit with my parents to hear her recount her experience to them and see all her photos!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2012 21:19:34 GMT
I obviously cannot say that I am tired of Paris, but I get much more enjoyment out of it when I am able to show it to someone who has never seen it.
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Post by htmb on Sept 29, 2012 22:07:10 GMT
I obviously cannot say that I am tired of Paris, but I get much more enjoyment out of it when I am able to show it to someone who has never seen it. And what an extraordinary tour guide you must be, Kerouac, with your fascinating knowledge of the city. Your visiting friends are very lucky. On a little side note, this past summer a couple of work colleagues joined me in Paris for a few days. She is French and is one of my best friends. She's lived in the US for many years. He is an American, but lived in Paris a long time ago and is fairly fluent in French. They are very intelligent and interesting people and we have similar tastes in food, drink, traveling styles, etc. They introduced me to their close friend who lives and works in Paris and we spent a very enjoyable afternoon with her, but I smiled to myself the whole time because their middle-aged Parisian friend was wearing white Reeboks. We also walked down the Champs-Élysées, another first for me because I'd always avoided it in the past. Maybe on my next visit I will stay up late enough to actually see the sparkling ET.
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Post by mich64 on Sept 29, 2012 22:35:21 GMT
An amazing guide you must be Kerouac, I can imagine.
I hope you do on your next visit htmb, it is a beautiful sight. When we walked back to our Hotel that night, we kept turning to look again and again. Finally we decided to stop for a beverage at a place that faced the Tower, it was so relaxing listening to my family talking while I sipped my hot chocolate.
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Post by mossie on Sept 30, 2012 6:46:51 GMT
Mich, your and your sisters enjoyment shines out of this thread, well done.
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Post by mich64 on Sept 30, 2012 15:29:58 GMT
Thank you Mossie! We were so happy to share the experience with them.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 2, 2012 13:18:26 GMT
Watching the Tower light up is a favorite event for my husband and I and my sister was delighted and was able to capture it on video. I am only sorry that I will not be home next weekend when she comes to town to visit with my parents to hear her recount her experience to them and see all her photos! Would she want to let you share any of her pics & videos on your thread? That way we could all see them!
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Post by mich64 on Oct 2, 2012 14:47:20 GMT
I will ask her if she can send me some of her photos and hopefully her videos! Actually, I will ask my nephew, like most young adults his age, he would probably be able to do it in minutes versus my sister spending hours trying to figure out how to send it electronically to me.
Hopefully next week I can add to this thread as I am getting ready for another adventure!
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Post by lugg on Oct 3, 2012 8:07:11 GMT
Just caught up with the final parts of your report, it is so lovely to see that your sisters enthusiasm continued . Bruges looks so wonderful and I too loved the pic of Fido, that is one pampered dog - the pillow to protect his head from the window frame made me smile. The bridge at Honfleurs is so fantastic isn't it ? And - what a great pic of you tucking into the mussels , I am dribbling looking at it ( and it is only breakfast time here ) Finally - the night pics of the Eiffel tower are just wow Thank you for a great and moving report.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 3, 2012 13:35:11 GMT
Thank you Lugg!
The bridge was amazing and unexpected, all of a sudden when we came up over a hill on the highway and could see it off in the distance and I thought, "oh oh, I think we have to go over that, I hope Ladybird can take this!".
We leave tomorrow for a wedding in St. Catharines and have to cross the Burlington Skyway Bridge. I hope the winds are light as this one tends to sway. I will try to take some pictures.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 3, 2012 14:24:31 GMT
O Mich, I have just read the last of your report and must thank you for so many different photos. Todate the only military cemetery I have ever visited is Kranji War Memorial (Kranji is a dwindling species of the Velvet tamarind tree).
Kranji served as a military camp before the Japanese invasion of Singapore in 1942, and is now the home of the Kranji War Cemetery and Kranji War Memorial, commemorating the 30,000 Commonwealth personnel who died in Singapore, Malaya, Java and Sumatra during World War II.
You may have see Prince William & Kate on TV during their recent visit there.
I am making notes on my map of France with all your stops and visits. This makes it so much easier when suddenly deciding to take a holiday in the area. Just pick up the map! Thanks for the lovely report.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 14:39:17 GMT
The Pont de Normandie was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world when it was built in 1995, but it lost the title to a bridge in Japan 4 years later, and now the longest one is the Greek one that spans the Gulf of Corinth, open since 2004 and also built by a French company.
Cable-stayed bridges are more resistant to high winds than suspension bridges, and that's an important factor along the coast.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 3, 2012 15:49:09 GMT
Thank you Tod. I did see that Cemetery from reports of their recent visit there. These memorials give me moments of reflection and remind me of those who perished, those who suffered, those who survived.
I understand how this makes Mossie depressed because he lived through it, like my mother-in-law (in France) and my father-in-law (in Canada) waiting to hear if their loved ones survived.
They have told us their accounts, how they were affected and how she survived. I can not profess to know how this feels, I show my respect by visiting these Memorials. I can tell you that my father and my aunts were overwhelmed that we took the time to visit the grave site of my Great Uncle. We dug up the earth a bit and placed some Canadian coins and told him he will never be forgotten.
My Aunt wrote to me, "I am so happy that you went there and know that your Great Uncle loved your Nana very much and sent letters asking how his little sister was".
When visiting the grave site of my husbands Uncle, when signing the guest book, I skipped back a few pages to May of this year and found the note left by his great granddaughter, she was on student exchange, she made a point of visiting him.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 16:46:53 GMT
Without trivializing modern military conflicts or modern technology, I think that current and future generations are probably missing a lot. In the old days, just like on a movie set, the troops spent hours, days, weeks waiting with nothing to do except write letters to everybody back home and hope to receive letters in return. As we have seen from a lot of what has been published, a lot of these letters went on for ten pages or more, giving every detail of the joys and hardships experienced.
I don't think that sending a few tweets or emails between watching DVDs, updating FaceBook status or playing video games, as is now the practice, can possibly match the wealth of information that was shared in the old days. More photos, of course -- but are they photos of the damaged villages or child shepherds herding goats or -- more likely -- pix of last weekend's beer drinking contest?
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Post by auntieannie on Oct 4, 2012 22:56:43 GMT
Thank you again, Mich, for wonderful pictures.
I so understand your joy at seeing the eiffel tower lighten up, as I saw the first time they did that! (had to do a little research to confirm it. but it's true!) I was in Paris for new year's eve 1999/2000 - nearly didn't make it because of the memorable tempest of only a few days before. I was expecting a freezing cold night so layered well... and it was really mild. The only inconvenience was that we had to wait until morning to go back to Vincennes where we were staying. But when they lit the eiffel tower... oh boy! suddenly, silence. We were stunned...
beautiful memory of a lovely time.
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Post by nycgirl on Oct 7, 2012 19:22:29 GMT
Looks like a wonderful trip! So glad to see your sister had a great time.
My mom is in her mid-50s and has always dreamed about traveling but has never left the country. I'd love to make it happen for her one day. I hope to be as good a travel guide as you (I've been accused of being an itinerary Nazi).
Great photos. I especially love the behind-the-scenes look at Compiegne. I would have loved to see that.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 8, 2012 23:50:07 GMT
That must have been wonderful auntieannie! I understand that feeling, we are stunned each time we see it being lit up as well.
I hope you get to accompany your mom nycgirl, it is very enjoyable watching their reactions. When we were in the shuttle to the airport on our way home I knew when we were about to turn a corner that the Arc de Triumph would appear in front of us so I told my sister to get her camera ready and there it was! She was stunned and said "How did you know that!" as she got a few extra photos that she never expected to get.
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Post by auntieannie on Oct 10, 2012 11:49:18 GMT
hehe... nice one, Mich, telling your sister to get her camera ready!
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