Another Generation of Sibling Teasing

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

Setting: Early 60s, when naming farm kittens --

B: That one's Fidel.

J: No, her name's Fluffy!

B: Then that one's Castro.

J: NO! His name's SNOWBALL!

B: I like MY names better, Jose'.

J: MY NAME'S NOT JOSE! (Sometimes with tears, and sometimes followed by calling, "MOM!")

Next installation of France pictures

It's certainly been hard catching up on things around here! We have our annual Missions Conference coming up in about three weeks, and I'm on the Missions Team that plans and hosts it. That's made it very, very busy for me trying to juggle everything. So...it's hard making the time to get the rest of these pictures on the blog! But, here goes --

Versailles -- the palace of King Louis the XIV, XV, and XVIi in the late 1700s and early 1800s -- this is the opulence that I wrote about while we were in France. Everything was gold and mirrors and brocade and velvet and marble...you get the idea! Here are just a couple of pictures that give only a fraction of the kind of luxury.

We visited Notre Dame cathedral one morning. The architecture was amazing -- especially considering construction was begun in the mid 1100's!



Some of the many, many stained glass windows.

Then it was off to the Louvre one day where we saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo as well as lots of other famous paintings and items. We saw only a fraction of the whole in the three hours we were there. Here's Mona:

Now, here are a few of my favorites:
The really fast train we took to go from Paris to Chalon -- 200 miles per hour, and it was so very smooth traveling!

In visiting one chateau, the architecture was stunning with geometrical design created by using different shades of rock. I thought this was beautiful.

In another chateau, the kitchen had this pottery displayed that I really enjoyed. I'd like to have that displayed in my home!

Finally -- yes, this is a restroom. :-) All (and I do mean all) of the bathroom facilities in France were different. Rarely did we find one that flushed the same way as another. It was always creative to figure out how to flush the darn things. I show this picture though, to show you that there are two sides to the "flusher panels" on the wall -- a big side and a little side. Well, believe it or not, the big side flushes big, and the little side flushes little. You choose the kind of flush you need to complete the job! (It took Dick and I a few days to realize there was an option in our hotel room.) Now aren't you glad to know this fascinating fact about French toilets?


And finally, you can't visit the wine country in France without seeing lots of vineyards. It was harvest time, and here are some of the grapes!

And now I say, "Bon nuit!" which means "goodnight" as it's past my bedtime!

Quick Update

If any of you have become unable to access "The Old Farmer and His Young Wife", they were having some blog problems but now have them remedied -- complete with pictures!!



I've updated My Blog List if you need the address.

Installment #2 -- France

Okay, Jennifer, we really did go to France, not just to the Philadelphia airport! :-) And here's the proof:




One of our "free days" in Paris, we all went to the Eiffel Tower. One of the guys got down on the ground and took this great picture of us.


We rode to the top of the Tower which looked like a giant erector set. When you're traveling with all these engineer-type guys it's always interesting and a bit unsettling for them to start looking a little too close at the construction, but we made it up and back down just fine -- in an elevator, not by stairs. (You can walk up to a low platform, but most of the height can only be gained by elevator, and you can see out all the way up.) In this picture from the top, right in the middle, you can see the Arc de Triomphe (easily recognizable French war memorial on Paris' "main drag", the Champs-Elysees).

Our hotel in Paris was only a block from the Champs-Elysees and about 4-5 blocks from the Arc. The Champs-Elysees is a major shopping and nightlife street for Paris -- think Louis Vitton, Cartier's, etc. -- and this street was packed with people at 11:00 or so at night at least when we returned to our hotel. I don't know how late into the night all the activity continued; we never made it past 11:00 or 11:30. Here we are up close to the Arc.



The same night we went to the Tower during the daytime, we returned in the evening for a dinner cruise on the Seine River, traveling up and down the river by the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, and many other large, old government buildings and museums as well as old ornate bridges. It was a lovely way to see the area in the night lights. Here's a picture of our whole group as we began our dinner on the cruise and also a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night. The president of the European Union is currently from France, so the Tower is lit in blue with the yellow stars commemorating his presidency. When the presidency of the EU passes to another country, then the Tower will return to its usual all-white lighting without the yellow stars.

French food was an experience all its own! Every morning for me began with a croissant and cafe au lait (strong coffee served with plenty of hot milk, add sugar if you want). Additionally, there was really good granola, small slices/chunks of various cheeses and ham, and fresh tomatoes which are good when eaten with a dollop of plain yogurt. There were other pastries, too, but the croissants were my favorite. The breakfasts made me think a lot of what we'd experienced in Istanbul (except Turkish breakfast always included really good cucumber slices, too), so perhaps this is more "European" than "French" or "Turkish". What a great way to start the day!

Other meals offered opportunities to try not only plenty of good seafood but also duck, rabbit, foie gras (duck or goose liver well-seasoned appetizer -- I never went for that one but tasted Dick's and it was okay), other poultry as well as some beef that tended to be pretty mediocre after you've had good ol' Kansas beef. We even had the opportunity for frog legs appetizer once -- I passed on that one, too. The guy who tried them said they tasted like chicken -- imagine that! :-) Oh, and I did have escargot (sauteed snails) one meal and found them quite good.

Of course the desserts were a delight! We tried various forms of creme brulee, profiteroles (sort of a cream puff filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce), berry sorbets, etc., etc. Everything was such fun to try, and a big part of French food/cooking is the presentation -- the way it's displayed as it's served to you -- which was always very creative and artful.

Okay -- that's enough for today -- tomorrow, Versailles!

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time! Right now, the pictures I want to share from our trip to France feel like an elephant, so I decided to just start with a few and then do more every day or two. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

First of all, for all those Lego-lovin' nephews of mine out there, here are a couple of pictures from the Philadelphia airport. When I saw this, I knew I needed to be able to show the boys what they should try to build with their Legos. Yes indeed; this is the Liberty Bell done completely in Legos!

Now for Drew -- I think you should plan a business trip to France for you and Carrie so you can study all the different railings used on the balconies there. There definitely were lots of different ornate railings all over.

I thought Greg and Kim should note the "Royal Doner" eatery, too, as we did see quite a few doner shops in France. (Doners are sort of a "fast food" that was popular in Istanbul.)

Hmmm...I just had some more work download for me to do, so I guess I'll get back to work and plan to send a few more pictures later!

Home again

Just to let you all know we're home safely from France and had a wonderful time. As I'm able to "dig out" over these next few days, I'll put a few pictures here and tell a bit about the trip. I've thoroughly enjoyed catching up with each and every one of you on your blogs from the days we were gone. It's fun to hear all the soccer and football and running and school accolades and become acquainted with Fred and Ted (only Lane would think of this!!). Thanks to all of you for the continuing updates on your families and activities!