Ketchup costs extra

I continued to wonder what a young Laura would have eaten during this trip. (Nothing at all against French food of course; it was just that Laura was a picky eater.) I took to noticing what was on the plates of children at adjacent tables. Why, french fries, of course! That would have been fine with Laura. As suggestible as I am, next lunch I ordered french fries too. That's when I learned that there is often an extra charge for ketchup! That took me by surprise. It was mildly amusing and rather quaint! I think Laura would have enjoyed it.

Another interesting thing was the French credit card. It seems in order to be efficient and get a train ticket out of a machine and not wait in a long line, one had to have a French credit card. Not even a credit card issued in another European country would do (so we were told eventually) it had to be one issued in France. A tourist might be directed to the ticket machine and spend some time stepping through the menus to select their train ticket only to find out at the end their credit card would not work and they had wasted their time. At least at Versailles, they made it plain with a clear sign: French credit cards only! It seems they have chips in credit cards there while we still have the magnetic strip.
Photos: You'll need to click on the photo of the menu to see the one euro charge for ketchup on this menu

Land of inspiring Castles

A long time ago, I had become keen to visit the Loire Valley. Years, decades past, and I never did get there. Now that chance arrived but only one day to do it in. Solution book a linkparis tour which offered a four chateau tour in one day with travel to the region by TGV. Not an urban sort by nature, I looked forward to this day in the country.

The thought occurred to me on this trip: if every little doll house that Susan and Laura once had looked like it had been modeled on buildings from Paris then their plastic toy My Little Pony and Barbie castles could have been inspired (sans the pink color!) by the grand limestone castles of the Loire. There's beautiful Chenonceau built over the water and approached by a broad woodland path; Amboise where Mary Queen of Scotts spent many of her growing up years; Chambord the largest with its double spiral stairway and Cheverny where the same family has lived for centuries and continues to keep its hunting dogs (whose feeding time is now made famous on youtube. ) Our lunch in the town of Amboise a treat with a just out of the oven quiche and a fresh salad. Delectable desserts too but I always like the macaroons in many flavors best.

Photos: Flags flying at Amboise; beautiful Chenonceau; detail of carving in limestone; quiche and salad for lunch in Amboise; macaroons on display; one little plastic castle still found in our basement: immense Chambord; some of the dogs at Cheverny waiting for feeding time.

Yes, we did go to France too! Our base was at the Novotel in the Montparnasse section of Paris. The hotel was much to our liking and the neighborhood with its quaint Breton cafes soon felt like "our own." But to see Paris we were at peak season and we were much daunted by long seemingly stationary lines at famous Paris attractions. Tour bus to the rescue! I think the city is made to be seen from the upper deck of the tour bus. From no other vantage point could the Paris boulevards fanning our before you with their characteristic architecture and sidewalk cafes so dazzle the eye as they did when the tour bus swung into the plaza in front of the Opera House. The bus rumbled along up and down boulevards, back and forth over bridges across the Seine many times, revealing at every turn the monumental aspects of the city. Through the excellent narration heard by headphone in your language of choice we learned much about each point of interest. We also realized we were once more crossing Diana's path. There in the Place Vendome we glimpsed the Ritz Hotel from which Diana's vehicle emerged to be pursued by paparazzi to "meet her fate" as the tour narration put it. The famous tunnel where the accident occurred was also noted as we passed through the Place de l'Alma above it.
As we rode along, I thought of how glad I was that Laura enjoyed the film about France at the France pavilion at EPCOT on our trip there in 2006. I think she got a very nice feeling of France from it. A tear might sting my eye to think that Laura wasn't with us now but I somehow felt a kind of peace that such a trip as we were making was not a trip at least a young, homeloving Laura would have wanted to take. Perhaps, now at nearly age 15 it would have been different. I consoled myself thinking that Laura, a selective and particular eater, would have barely eaten a thing, except maybe bread, at least at first. I'm not sure she would have even liked the Breton cheese crepes (more specifically, buckwheat "galettes") served in in the Breton cafes with cider which Susan and I enjoyed.
Want a little taste of Paris for the young folk? There's always the old Disney animated film, the Aristocats. I don't remember Laura watching it but Susan saw it countless times as a small child. Our metro station, Pasteur, seemed to remind her of a scene of the butler going into the Metro in the Aristocats and she often mentioned it.
-To be continued-next-the Loire Valley

Photos: A tour bus ( we actually took the competing red line); view in the Tuileries towards the Louvre; in our neighborhood cafe, galettes and cider, food from the Brittany region of France.

Remembering Diana

I usually have a couple of themes of interest that I am on the look out for in any trip. One of them for this trip was Princess Diana. It was one of those "you'll always remember where you were" days for me the day when the news broke that Princess Diana was dead. It seemed like an ordinary Sunday that 31st of August 1997. Laura was 2, almost 3 and Susan was 7; both were happily playing at home. That day I hadn't spoken to anyone and I hadn't turned on TV or heard any news. I headed into Williams Stationery to pick up our Sunday copy of the New York Times. The headline took me aback: Diana killed in car accident in Paris. An unaccustomed feeling of emotion as tears suddenly filled my eyes (little did I know that sudden tears would become a regular feature of my life with our own tragedy in the years to come.) Never quite did I forget the scenes in the days to come of the outpouring of emotion for the Princess. And so with this trip a hotel near Kensington Palace and Gardens was chosen so that we would be sure to see the palace gate where all the flowers were left; to be able to follow a part of the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk; and to see the Diana Memorial Fountain.
Photos: marker for the many mile long Princess Diana Walk through London; approaching the Diana Memorial fountain; children frolic in the memorial fountain.

Way to Windsor

I was keen to go to Windsor Castle so we had a day trip planned there. Mostly I knew about the Changing of the Guard held there and about the fire there a number of years ago. I didn't realize how many other fascinating things we would find it especially St. George Chapel within the Castle precincts. To think we would be walking right over the grave of Henry the VIII! It was right in the walkway in the inner sanctum of the Chapel where the Order of the Garter meets every June. The remains of many kings and queens are here including Queen Elizabeth's father and mother (George VI and the Queen Mother (also Elizabeth) and the Queen's sister Margaret. After our tour we had a very nice al fresco lunch. Suse did some shopping and got a pair of boots on sale that she would wear for much of the trip.

Photos: Susan looks out from the train; waiting for the Changing of the Guard parade; crowds follow the Guard (I had this Wizard of Oz kind of feeling at this moment!); cat in the streets of Windsor; children at the next table at lunch.

Return to Cambridge

After a quick tour past famous points in London and dealing with our jet lag, we were ready for our day trip by train to Cambridge. Tony was looking forward to showing Susan and me Cambridge University and Trinity College where he got his advanced degrees. Classes were not in session but the town and University and colleges were lively and filled with people. Downpours came periodically throughout the day and hundreds of umbrellas would pop up as undeterred visitors continued to pour through the streets. We visited the quad and buildings of Trinity College and saw where Tony had his rooms as a student. Another highlight of the day was taking part in the traditional activity of "punting on the Cam," which Tony, like most students here, used to do. Our punt was from the Trinity College dock where each had a name related to the number 3, for Trinity (like three "Little Kittens", "French Hens" or "Magi""). The punt given to us was "Step to Heaven" which seemed significant.
We paused to look at the centuries old Eagle Tavern where US Airmen and RAF wrote messages on the ceiling before their missions and where Watson and Crick used to have a beer in the days when they were discovering DNA.
Photos: some scenes around Cambridge and of punting on the Cam River; scenes at the Eagle Tavern in Cambridge.

Bound for London

It was going to the first major sort of trip since Laura's death. I had to take something of Laura with us so that she might ride silently along in spirit. We were going to London and then to Paris, to make various day trips from each into the surrounding areas. (Tony and Susan would also go on to Switzerland but I would return home after Paris.) Should I take the silver star locket holding her ashes? I had always imagined I would. But the past weeks of preparation where many of the most common google searches in this household of not recent travellers began with "TSA..." (like TSA umbrella, TSA contact lens solution...) had me doubtful for any number of reasons that I could be 100% sure that the locket could stay with me. Could not become comfortable that the locket would not be questioned so decided Laura would ride on our luggage in special tags with her picture. I would also bring a lock of her hair (from the long pieces we saved when her long hair was cut short in anticipation of the total hair loss after the first round of the heavy chemo that began her treatment.) I was remembering the lock of angel Lucas's hair brought to Hawaii by his family member some time ago and I had just read how friend's of angel Erin put her picture on their luggage when they recently took a Northern European cruise.
Photos: Laura photo on a luggage tag and ready to board; the star locket holding some of Laura's ashes which remained at home.