My Stupid Soup Rule

So for a long time I have held the position that soups and stews were only for the cold weather moments. I never had soup in the summer. The last time we were in Paris was the summer of 2009 and of course my wife, being smarter than me ordered the onion soup. All onion soup in France is French Onion Soup. I had a lovely shrimp and avocado dish but when I saw her Onion Soup I knew I had made a mistake.

Next time in France I will order the Onion Soup even if I am wearing shorts!

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Real Onion Soup

Friday Night Fever

In 2009 while visiting Paris we attended Pari-Roller on Friday Night. Pari-Roller is the world’s largest skating event but similar events occur in other European cities. The skaters begin to gather at Gare Montparnasse around 9:30 and get the week’s skating route. At 10 P.M. close to 10,000 skaters have gathered and begin to skate through the city until 3 A.M. Some dress in costumes, some are part of teams and some just come to watch, like me.

This guy was such a good skater I made a T-Shirt out of him but it also works well as a poster. I am happy that the terrorist events in Paris have not forced an end to this tradition. Viva La France!

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Friday Night Fever

Didn’t Make the Cut #2—Sunday In the Park

Working with a curator means that not all the images submitted will be used. Galleries can only hold so many pieces so some of my images didn’t make the cut for the Moment and Souls Exhibition. This one is entitled Sunday in the Park and was taken in 2009 at Luxembourg Palace in Paris France

To find out more about Moment and Souls, click here.

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Sunday In the Park

Happy Valentine’s Day

Since today is Valentines Day, I thought it appropriate to share an image from my work in progress “Just a Kiss”. This comes form Monet’s beautiful garden in Giverny near Vernon France. Happy Valentines Day to everyone, remember to love the one your with.

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A Kiss in the Water Garden

Giverny Kiss

Forty-Five… European Street Music

Recently we took a four week trip through Europe. We started in Amsterdam and finished in Prague. I made a vow to myself that I would take video of every street musician we saw. Some were great, some not so great but all provided an interesting taste of the countries we traveled through. What I like as much as the music is the action in the streets around the performers. Watch until the end and take a look at the “gold statues” behind the performers.

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Strasbourg France

I have always kinda had a secret love affair with France. As a history student I always respected the role they played in securing our freedom from Britain. Yet Americans seem to love Britain and hate France. Go figure! I mean one of the symbols of our freedom was a gift from France.

Personally I married a French Teacher and 45 years later she still makes me melt when she speaks French to me. We have been to France together a couple of times but on this years junket through Europe we would only be in France for one day.

That day would be in Strasbourg which is a place we always wanted to visit. It is interesting because it is on the border between France and Germany and sovereignty has flipped back and forth many times over the centuries. It is a beautiful city and sits on an island between tributaries of the Rhine river.

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Strasbourg France

Strasbourg France

My Kind of Selfie

If you know me you know that like most people I am kinda shy about being photographed. When I was in my 20’s or 30’s I didn’t mind it so much. It was before surgeries and hair growing out of unusual places. I am still kind of fit and flexible for my age but don’t like the camera on me much. So selfies are not my thing. I don’t mind the occasional selfie but tend to think I am just screwing up the view of what I want to share. I don’t mind the vanity of others and kind of find it amusing.

So here is a selfie of me in The Indiana Cafe in Paris at Guerre Montparnasse in 2011. It is actually a refection off of a table, I am the foreground blob, you can see the waitress talking to my wife and a man standing up to my left. This is my kind of self portrait. I have posted some others below.

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My Kind of Selfie

My Kind of Selfie

selfportrait Sand Portrait[/caption]

Self Portrait

Self Portrait

Claude Monet’s Jardin de l’eau

You could easily visit Giverny and miss the water garden. The house is a fun tour and the gardens are quite large. Then in the back of the gardens you will a little sign which reads Jardin de l’eau and a little tunnel that leads across a stream and to a path through the Water Garden.

Monet’s water garden in Giverny is located just outside of Vernon France. It is a short day trip from Paris and worth the train and bus ride. The house and gardens are unique and stunning and kept in the same way that they were during the time of Claude Monet. If you have the time it is worth spending a night since the entire area is really a tribute to nature and art.

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Jardin-de-leau

Jardin-de-leau

Jardins du Château de Versailles

I have only been to Versailles once and it was a very full day. Of course we spent a lot of time touring the Château and the gardens immediately surrounding the Mansion. Then we went down a garden path and were in another world. Louis XIII’s purchased the lands around Versailles in the 1630s and formal gardens were laid out west of the château. The garden was expanded to its present size of 800 hectares (1800 acres) by Louis XIV in the 1660s.

The good thing about visiting Versailles is when we return we will not have to tour the Château and can take a picnic in the garden. You have to have a ticket to visit the château but the gardens are free to the people. I can’t wait to return. This is a statue in a small garden pond.

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Jardins du Château de Versailles

Jardins du Château de Versailles

Happy Independence Day!

This year as the United Kingdom declares independence from Europe, I thought it appropriate to republish this post from a few years ago.

I am so fascinated with American’s insatiable appetite for Britain and the royal family and apparent disdain for French culture. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Without the help of the French we would have never defeated the British and won our independence. So this year when you fire up the BBQ have a nice red wine with your burger and say vive la France!

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Independence Day

Independence Day