We went to Paris during the strikes there. We do things like that all the time. Istanbul during Ramadan. The Middle East during terrorist attacks.
In two months, we’re going to China with all this going on about North Korea and the South China Sea.
It’s what we do. We took our first trip to Paris with an open mind and an adventurous attitude, and we left loving the French and their culture.
Paris in the Rain
One night, it was raining and thundering. We were eating at the ———–, but we couldn’t miss that: Parisian streets in the rain are romantic. So we ran from street to street in the rain.
As we were hopping puddles, a loud clap of thunder roared through the city. I thought of the movie Casablanca and Rick and Ilsa in the streets of Paris as the war comes to the city. I screamed out to Melinda, “Hurry, the German artillery is getting closer!”
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- Stepped by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s old room when we were staying at a hotel, so I photographed it.
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- Souvenir Bocce Balls. I played bocce with old men in the park of a little village one day. Melinda allowed me to carry them in a case.
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- Irish writer we met in Southern France. He was so much the image of one you would expect. Melinda had to drag me away from him.
At a Parisian bridge in the rain. No German guns at the moment.
As I said, we’re getting ready for China now. It’s our ideal time to go. People warn of the huge crowds, and I hope for them. Huge crowds, strange food: we go with adventurous hearts and open minds
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