I shared a picture from a trip to Paris I took in 2008 here and today, I’m sharing another!
Saint Denis, Paris France
Poor Saint Denis! He was the first bishop of Paris back in the 3rd century when Paris was still ruled by the Romans. At that time, Romans were not the Christians we know of today and they weren’t very happy with the number of conversions to Christianity that Denis was accomplishing.
So they took him to the Montmartre area of Paris and beheaded him. It was said that immediately after he was killed, he picked up his head and walked six kilometers north before he finally died.
This statue is in the Place Suzanne Buisson, a lovely park in Montmartre. We came upon the statue as we were heading down the winding streets of Montmatre after visiting Sacre Couer.
We would see Saint Denis again above a door of Notre Dame and again inside the cathedral.
Greetings from our nation’s capital! My husband and I are here for 3 full days to explore Washington and Alexandria. Two days are in the books and both have been great.
Day one we took the metro into the city and visited a bunch of monuments around the mall and went to the Holocaust Museum. Today we went to Mount Vernon and the spent a few hours in Old Town Alexandria. Tomorrow we’ll be back to DC for the White House, Capitol building, the museum of the American Indian, and on the way back we’ll stop at Arlington Cemetery.
If you’ve been here, what’s your favorite place to go?
In July 2016, five people and three bikes took off from Wallingford, Connecticut, for a cruise around Pennsylvania. The trip was inspired by our 2012 trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway through Gettysburg. My head was on a swivel as we went through the middle of town coming home from that trip and I knew I wanted to go back some day!
We prepared for the trip in February by checking out the state on a map looking for sites and hotels and planning our route.
I took so many pictures during our trip and one of the sites I couldn’t get enough of was Fallingwater.
This home was designed in the mid-1930s by Frank Lloyd Wright for Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann who met him through their son Edgar jr. The home is cantilevered over the falls of Bear Run!
The family, through Edgar jr., continued to own the house through the early 1960s, when he turned over the home and 1,500 acres to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. It’s a beautiful home in a gorgeous location and the ride on the motorcycles to it was filled with rolling hills, forest, and farmland.
Have you ever been to any of these locations? Tell me in the comments!
Six years ago today, my husband and I set off on our first significant vacation – a Danube River Cruise. We left on October 2nd at 6pm, had a stop in Dublin, and a short flight to Munich. It was a great trip and we met some really great people on the first evening.
Corridor at Melk Abbey, Melk Austria
We stayed 2 nights at a resort before we boarded our boat (could have done without those), and the low water levels messed with our time in Regensburg (that really annoyed me!), but once we started really sailing it was great!
One of our tours was of Melk Abbey and it was so beautiful but photography was not allowed in the rooms.
Town of Melk
Bonus Hump Day photo because I loved the colors of the town. These are real colors – no filter but it sure looks like one! I have quite a few photos of the town!
Have you ever taken a Danube River cruise? If you have, what was your favorite destination?
There’s nothing like “seeing the colors” on an October weekend in New England!
Our motorcycle gang of 4 people, 3 bikes took off for Vermont on a Friday morning in October of 2015. We stayed at the Grey Ghost Inn in West Dover. On Saturday, we took a ride to Mount Equinox and had an amazing 360 degree view of mountains and valleys.
Of course when you’re on a motorcycle, you take a very circuitous route there and back so I’m sure we spent the entire day riding to a place that is a 2 hour round trip! Of course, there’s stops for snacks, lunch, more snacks, candy…..
Along the way we passed through 2 covered bridges and this beautiful steel bridge. This was taken as we were motoring by and there are 3 or 4 pictures I took leading up to it because I’m always hoping for at least one spectacular shot. I think I succeeded here!
What’s your favorite part of fall? Do you have changing colors where you live? Let me know in the comments!
I have a thing for trees with no leaves. That doesn’t mean I like winter though; I hate cold weather. But I love the sights that trees with no leaves give me.
Central Park
This picture is from February 2009 – so long ago! It was during an overnight trip to New York.
I love the way the branches curve in and out and I can “see” the canopy that the branches with leaves would create during the summer.
We go to New York every December to shop for the holidays but we haven’t been to Central Park is a few years.
Lordy, what a day I had! Within one hour the dog threw up on the carpet, I got caught behind a funeral procession (thankfully small and just heading from St. Paul’s to In Memoriam), there was construction going on at the corner of Ives Road and Route 5, CVS pharmacy was busy, and the train gates came down just as I got out there. Oh well. Dog’s fine, someone’s laid to rest, and my husband has his prescription. All’s right with the world.
Biddeford Maine 2022
This photo was saved in my favorites. This was from a family vacation to Biddeford Maine. We rented a cottage maybe 1/4 mile from the beach. My niece, her husband, and two children live there and we got to spend a week with them. At the time they were almost 3 and almost 1. We all just loved being with them!
I took this on one of our morning walks. I can’t be near the ocean without taking 100s of pictures! Especially a sunrise or sunset!
In the run up to the November election, I am reading “Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate” by Bob Woodward.
Currently reading – published in 1999
Obviously, since it ends with Clinton (his first term), it’s an older book, however, since I turned 18 during Carter’s reign, it’s all pretty new to me!
It tells of the various scandals of the presidencies, beginning with the end of Nixon, his resignation, and his pardon by Gerald Ford. That was very controversial and seemed to guarantee Ford would be a One and Done president.
It also brought about the ethics bill and the creation of independent councils and special prosecutors. This was due to Nixon firing his appointee to investigate Watergate. Of course the first time it was used was to investigate Hamilton Jordan, Carter’s chief of staff for his “alleged use of cocaine” at Studio 54 in New York! This was based on testimony by the 2 owners of the club who were charged with skimming millions of dollars off the top of the club’s profits and it was requested by Carter’s Attorney General. So odd and such a waste of time and energy to come to a No Probable Cause decision by a grand jury.
I read a biography a year or so ago on Jimmy Carter, “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life” by Jonathan Alter. It was very interesting and gave me a greater appreciation for him. He was out of his league in Washington and I think he could have done so much greater good if he hadn’t wasted his time there. Of course, he’s nearly 100 and had many, many fruitful years after 1980!
I was in college during the uprising in Tehran and the taking of hostages and my school was big on, and made most of their money with, their English as a Second Language program so we had many rich South American, Asian, and Middle East students there. I remember long nights of them watching the news in the recreation room. I remember hating that the hostages were freed after the exchange of the presidency between Carter and Reagan. I was not a fan of Reagan.
I’m currently on the Reagan Era, the Iran Arms Deals, the Contras, and Ollie North. There were a lot of powerful men hiding a lot of crazy shit – or were they really hiding it?
It’s a heavy book of 517 pages but close to 80 of those pages are notes and an index. I may have to have a few palate cleansers nearby because I fear some sections I may slam the book in aggravation!
Have you read it or anything similar? Do you enjoy non-fiction books?
Today’s Hump Day photo comes from the first week long motorcycle trip we took in 2013. We traveled with another couple and 2 single guys from Connecticut, down the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park, and along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Cherokee North Carolina and back.
Brendan, Chris, and Mark Harley Davidson Factory York PA
This picture was taken in the parking lot of the Harley Davidson factory in York Pennsylvania. It was on the last day of our trip. Because of a rain delay the day before we were running behind. We stayed overnight in York, but I think there either was no Saturday tour or we couldn’t swing the time because we were still a good 6 hours away from home.
About the trip –
We took off in early June and it was cold and rainy. The views were amazing on the Skyline Drive but for much of the ride on the parkway it was cold and foggy! Lesson learned #1 – we need to travel in the summer!
There was one other rider, who is still a good friend. He led the way and the focus was getting in a lot of hours on the bike. Amy, the other female, and I wanted to see sights! Lesson Learned #2 – plan the trip!
We rode on the Tail of the Dragon in Deals Gap, NC and went nice and slow! We went to the top of Chimney Rock and could see Lake Lure where they filmed Dirty Dancing. We stayed in Floyd Virginia and absolutely fell in love with it! We got caught in a monstrous rain storm on the highway and stopped for the day and overnight in Natural Bridge Virginia at this little motel where we pulled the bikes under the overhang and walked to the nearby diner for our meals.
After this trip, we continued to go on day trips, weekend trips, and week long trips with Brendan and Amy and Chris. We all got along so well and enjoyed some really great trips.
This picture reflects the start of those wonderful friendships.
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 