Home? at Last

Nance and I made it safely home - to be picked up at the airport by daughter and two grandsons.  I sat between the grandsons on the ride home and read a book to them.  Nance and daughter sat in the front and chatted.  It was a fabulous end to a long trip.  And the view over the ice fields of the North Atlantic and Greenland were spectacular, to say nothing of the Canadian Rockies!!!!

Church Sunday AM and the wonderful greetings of old friends.  Our house, big kitchen, Lay-Z-Boys in the family room and our wonderful bed feel so great.  But are we home?   I am not sure it will ever be quite the same.  We so enjoyed our stay in France.  We met so many wonderful new friends and associates.  We learned so much more history on our weekend outings that we will never be the same - at least I hope not.  There is so much more to see and so much more to learn.  (I could say that I can't wait to go back; but I really can - at least until afer I see all of my grandkids and kids again, and can share some minute portion of our experiences.)

I am reminded of the old spiritual song "This world is not my home."  This wonderful house is my home only when Nance and I and some of our kids and grandkids or frineds are here.  Our home is where our heart is; and now it is spread out all over the world - from coast to coast in the USA, to Tanzania, to Nairobi, to Grenoble, to Adelboden.  And this is all just temporary!!!  Thank you, God, for the wondrous way we are wrought.

Last time in Grenoble

Last full day of work.


It is Thursday, April 08, 2010; and today is my last full day of work here in France. I will work till the afternoon tomorrow; then load the car and drive to Lyon St. Exupery airport hotel, turn in the rental car, and have one last dinner in France before boarding the plant to Paris early Saturday morning; then on to San Francisco.

The experience has been wonderful. History comes alive when one walks the street of Barcelona – as Nancy did or rides a tour bus for one brief afternoon – as we did together. The joy of hiking near Alpine villages in Switzerland is very difficult, if not impossible, to overstate.

There are a lot of things Nance and I will miss: Saturday mornings at the open-air market just a block from our apartment. FRESH fruit and vegetables lovingly displayed. Fresh hot bread from the boulangerie. Friday nights exploring new (French) restaurants. Weekend outings to Provence, Lyon, Adelboden, Paris, Camarque, Bern, or just exploring local museums. Watching Spring awaken new beauty in the Alps. The astonishing views driving to and from work every day. The wonderful hospitality of co-workers, acquaintances, new friends from church, etc. The growing recognition of French words on the radio or in written form. The morning ritual of shaking everyone’s hand or “air kissing” of cheeks and “Bon jour.” And, of course, French pastries!!!

I won’t miss some of the strange quirks of drivers here – if you have to ask – you have not been here. We won’t miss not seeing our grandchildren for long time periods , nor flying to the cabin for a weekend escape. We won’t miss the praise program at church on Sunday AM; nor the fellowship of long-time friends.

17 days – and counting!


Our time here in Grenoble is rapidly coming to an end. We are scheduled to fly home on the 10th of April; and, I must admit, we are quite excited. It is not that we do not enjoy it here- we do, tremendously so. Nor is it that we are too cramped in our apartment – it is a bit cramped; but we wanted to be in town for our first stay here to get used to the area, provide Nancy with easy access to shopping and new friends, and easily engage in exploring the history of the area. It is just that we miss our grandkids and friends; and I miss flying. (Winter is not the best time to fly in the Alps, what with mountains, low clouds, ice, etc.)

We have had the experience of a lifetime; and I hope that business relationships have been established that will prove beneficial for a long time to come.

Nancy and I had a great trip to Barcelona last week. She was able to do a bit of walking touring, some of the best of which was the zoo. She has fabulous pictures of birds that are not in North America. We had time for a bus tour of the city before leaving on Friday, and toured Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral. It is much more beautiful and overwhelmingly impressive in real life. Photos just do not do it justice. It has been over 100 years in building and has many more to go.

Along the way home we visited Carcassonne – a walled city whose ramparts still have Roman-built towers, and Beziers – a city where in 1209 all 20,000 occupants were slain for their resistance to the Pope’s legates demand that 12 Cathar (protestant) perfecti be turned over to him.

We spent the night at le Château Hospitalet near Narbonne – a winery, hotel, and fine restaurant in the countryside between the highway and the Mediterranean sea. AAAHHHH!!!



We are home this weekend; but our last weekend here we are invited to Switzerland for some sightseeing.

Detail from Sagrada Familia

Walled city of Carcassonne

Some life-saving advice - just for fun.

Excuses for social gaffes in France.


Recently, Nance and I were preparing for the visit of a cousin and spouse from the USA. Jim is a great friend and hunting companion; and Nancy had even shared that our visit with them one weekend was one of the things that convinced her that I just might be the right guy to share the rest of her life. Anyway, Jim and I like to kid each other a lot; so in preparation for their visit I suggested to him that he should practice saying “Garçon!” and snapping his fingers to impress the waiters when we went out to dinner. He suggested that if he did that that some big Frenchman just might come out and beat him up – to which I laughed and responded that I had just the phrase to protect him. So, out of that grows a list of phrases/excuses for you to use in France if your companion embarrasses you with a social gaffe that you may find humorous. (It is all in fun folks; so don’t take it serious or get your feelings hurt.)

Lead-ins: To determine whether to use ma or mon, just remember that Ma is feminine; and mon (masculine) is the sound your dad makes when you tell him about the scratch/dent/ total you have done to the car.)



Ignorez s'il vous plaît mon cousin américain stupide. (Yep, it means what it sounds like.)

Ignorez s'il vous plaît mon cousin idiot. (Please ignore my crazy cousin.)

Ignorez s'il vous plaît mon marie idiot. (Please ignore my crazy husband.)

Excusez s'il vous plaît ma femme bête. (Please excuse my silly wife.)

Or substitute fil (son) or fille (daughter) as required.

Now here are the excuses:

Elle est vraiment un blond. ( She is really a blond.)

Sa mère l'a laissé tomber quand il était un bébé. (His mother dropped him as a baby)

Il était un fusilier marin et un flic. (He is an ex marine and a cop.)

Il a perdu la raison depuis. (He has lost his mind ever since.)

(By the way; please do not ever say “Garçon!” and snap your fingers at someone unless it is a little boy whose attention you are trying to get.)  :-)

Bern and beyond

It is Friday morning here; and I am in bed with my laptop in my lap - of course - wherre else would it be?  I have a bronchitis that I am sure my daughter gave me over the phone from California - I just don't know quite how she did that; but I sound pretty much like she did when I talked to her on Wednesday.
I took Nancy with me on a drive to Port, Switzerland yesterday for a business meeting.  She walked around, watched birds, and read "Emma" while I conferred with a soon-to-be client (I hope).  Then we drove the rest of the way around to Bern, had lunch, and enjoyed this beautiful Swiss city that is the federal capital.  The city burnd to the ground in 1405 and was rebuilt with a local greeninsh sandstone.  As a result, it has over 6 miles of shopping arcades at the base of the old buildings.  I showed her the lobby and restaurant of the Hotel Bellvue - THE hotel where the national delegates stay when their congress is in session.  There was an outdoor skating rink active in the square.  Nancy puts it a close second to Paris in charm.  Natually, the Swiss made the rebuilt city very organized and elegant at the same time.  (No cattywampus streets - large streets, etc.)
We ran in to our biggest traffic snarl yet on the way home last night just as we arrived in Grenoble.  There is one section which can, on bad days, have a speed of 100 meters per minute for about one kilometer.  After that, it is usually just ordinary traffic speeds the rest of the way home.  Last night, it was about 25 meters per minute in that section, and slow/blocked much of the rest of the way.  It didn't help that I was coming down with this whatever I have- so I crashed shortly after we got back to the apartment.  (The weather in Switzerland and most of our ride in France was beautiful; but we arrived back in Grenoble just near the end of a sudden drop of 2.5 to 3 inches of snow - accidents, no road clearing, end of rush hour, etc.)

Paris!

Ahhh, Paris!


It was not my first time in Paris – I have been there several times before; though usually not for as long nor in such a romantic setting. The occasion was to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. The travel was by TGV (fast train) from Grenoble to Paris. We stayed in the Hotel Gare Lyon Bastille; had French buffet breakfast each morning at the hotel; and then went out for adventures.

Friday evening was a walk around the neighborhood to the Bastille memorial, along the Seine Quai Rapee, by a boat harbor linked to the Seine by a lock followed by a dinner at a Bistro/café just a couple of doors from our hotel.

Saturday we walked though a modern art outdoor sculpture museé on our way to Notre Dame and the archeological crypt underneath. After lunch, we made our first trip to the Louvre, and viewed sculptures, middle eastern artifacts, Egyptian artifacts, and the apartments of Napolean III, etc before surrendering to tired legs and backs for a return to our hotel. (I don’t even remember what we had for dinner Saturday night!)

Sunday, we took the Metro to Monmartre and attended services at Sacré-Coeur. (The directions for the metro politely and fully provided by our hotel clerk were immediately abandoned since the line we needed to take was closed as of that morning for maintenance.) After a bit of study; I began to figure out the system for myself and we made our trip uneventfully. After the service, we walked to another nice café for lunch; and then headed off to the catacombs. (Big hint: Don’t go to the catacombs or one of the public museums on the first Sunday of the month. Admission is free – so they are very crowded. The line was so long that security informed us that we would not be admitted before it closed. So, I surprised Nancy by getting us off the Metro at the Eiffel Tower. She had initially not expressed much interest in seeing it; but as we approached and she grasped the size of the thing, she was most impressed.

We were very bad for dinner – we went to a creperie and had a crepe with banana, chocolate, and served flabé. Oh la la!

Monday, we went back to the Louvre, and toured Greco-Roman statues and most of the paintings before heading back to the Gare de Lyon for our train back to Grenoble.

Nancy tells me this was the best combination of Valentine’s Day and Anniversary she could have asked for. :-)

Late winter/pre-spring

Rain is falling - more or less continuously as we prepare to depart on the TGV for Paris.  It is supposed to lightly rain tomorrow and then be cloudy for Sunday and Monday.  I guess it does not matter much what the weather is in the Louvre or in Musee D'Orsay.  We will hold off of Monmartre till Sunday or Monday AM.
We have been incredibly healthy since we got back to France; and hope to stay so for the remainder of our time here. 
I have been trying to get enough exercise while here; and managed to climb the 66 steps of our apartment building 15 times in a row the other day.  (It is a little boring; but is a lot warmer than the 32 F outside temperature.)
We are really looking forward to this weekend - celebrating our first two years of marital bliss. 

God is good - all of the time; even when he is taking us through the fire.

Confessions of a bare head.

Oh pas! Mon chapeau!


O.K. It may not seem very important to you; but with my nearly bare head and with the cold, freezing drizzle, and snow, the loss of my hat – even temporarily – is a big deal.

You see, I have this reputation, unfortunately well deserved, of losing hats – especially since marrying Nancy. I STILL have the nice suede hat that I inherited from my dad; and I wore it a lot in the winters in California. I have several aviation “base-ball caps” that I have not lost over the years. (I have left them up at the cabin a few times – but I have not lost them.) Shortly after we were married, Nancy bought me a very nice “Spirit of St. Louis” hat at the airport restaurant in San Luis Obispo, CA. I lost the first of those when I left it at Bryan’s house in Santa Rosa after one of our visits. (Bryan tossed it after not recognizing who might have left it there.) Nancy obligingly bought me another on another visit to SLO- which I shortly left in Hydesville on a hunting trip to cousin Marilyn’s house. My third was given to me by the restaurant when they heard my story of losing the first two. (I do still have that one back in California.)

Shortly after arriving in Grenoble, the weather quickly became a bit too cold for my bare scalp; so Nancy supplied me with a nice wool scarf for my neck and a wonderful, stylish, rakish chapeau – which you have all seen in former posts here. I had only had it a couple of weeks when we went to Provence for the weekend and thought that I had left it in a restaurant – only to find the restaurant closed 10 minutes later – bang on the door – be admitted – and find no trace of the hat. Fortunately, the hat fell out of my leather jacket an hour or so later and was noticed – not by me, but by an attentive passerby and – voila! I am content.

This Tuesday morning came a repeat performance. I got up early (5:40) to go to a men’s Bible study and went to the study. Around 8:00 we said our goodbye’s and I drove away about a block when I noticed my head was quite cold. I immediately turned around and went back to the building – locked and no one around, and no number to call!!

So, I am now being punished with a cold scalp until this afternoon when, hopefully, ma cher femme will retrieve my hat where it has nicely been stashed in a cupboard for safekeeping by one of the missionaries here in Grenoble. (Good thing – it is due to snow about 4 inches according to the local forecast for the weekend.)

Wonderful winter travel

Travel on the business trip from the nether regions is complete; and, finally, Nancy and I are together again in Grenoble.




The trip started ignominiously: It was snowing; and for the first portion of the limo ride, we followed a snowplow.

Upon arrival at the airport, I found my flight to Frankfurt was cancelled; and a three hour line was at the Lufthansa desk for flight changes.

The 24 hour travel agency’s help desk could make a reservation for an alternate flight; but I had to call Delta in the USA to confirm and pay for the change.

When I reached Delta, Air France would only confirm a Business Class ticket - $7000.

After the ticket was paid for, Air France insisted that I go to Lufthansa to have my ticket changed.

While standing in the Lufthansa line (sure I would miss my Air France flight) I called the travel agent and Delta – who both assured me that my itinerary was now changed; and I need not stand in Lufthans line.

Back to Air France; and I still cannot check in for my flight.

Air France ticket agent is irritated to see me without a Lufthansa ticket; but her supervisor now assures me I can check.

Electronic check in fails; so I go to the desk

Desk tells me I am on standby which I declare unacceptable – I have to make the meeting in Washington; so they tell me there is room on a flight leaving in 10 minutes.

Flying though security, I make my flight to Paris; and all is well in business class to Washington.

Trying to check my e-mail at my hotel, I find the touchpad on my computer has failed, and I cannot access any programs on my computer.

A borrowed mouse; then a purchased travel mouse later, the meetings go well.

Calling Nancy before flying out to Frankfurt, her flight is delayed; and she will not be able to meet me in time for the limo in Lyon.

Calling to France; I arrange for the limo to delay and pick us up after Nancy arrives.

Nancy arrives in Lyon – the limo does not – for some unknown reason; the driver is delayed.

Take a taxi to Grenoble – he does not take credit cards (everyone else here does) – so off to the ATM down the street.

ATM card is not in wallet !!!!!!

Nancy’s ATM card works; and we are safely ensconced in our apartment.

Find my ATM card in a pocket full of papers.  :-)

I can’t wait to travel internationally in the winter again. Yeah, right!!!!!

Oo la la! C'est froid!

I am back and sort of getting adapted to the 9 hour time difference.  Thank you melatonin!  The 6 inches of snow which fell last Sunday night and Monday morning have pretty much stayed around - unusual I am told.  The forecast is for more snow tonight and VERY cold weather next week.  I just want it to warm up enough to keep the roads clear when I go to Lyon on Sunday and then drive back with Nancy on Wednesday.
It is all very pretty with the snow still clinging to the trees on my drive to work in the morning - can't say much about the evening commute - it is usually dark by the time I drive back to the apartment.
One note of amusement - now, that is.  Last evening I worked later than usual gettting a response to a customer request completed.  When I went out to the uncleared parking lot, the temperature had dropped and the ice/snow was quite slick - especially to my lightweight little car with no snow tires.  I had congratulated myself on making it to the normal exit gate - where the gate refused to open; and backing up in the snow was virtually impossible.  I finally made some progress about 2-3 feet at a time by getting out, kicking the snow away from the tires, and then backing/rocking again.  After about 10 minutes of this and about 2/3 of the needed progress, one of my fellow late workers came out and provided the extra push to get me to a flat/packed enough area to drive out the normal entrance - which had cleared from the traffic and sun on the paved access.  (Did I mention the exit is NOT paved - it is a light colored gravel that hold the snow and ice very well.)