Reflection of some Parisian buildings in a puddle on the street.

Wouldn’t you like to live here? I would.

You can find flowers for sale on just about any street in Paris.

Ready for business.

With a Smart car you can park just about any place you want.

The west side of Paris. I don’t often get over to that part of the city unless you count the Eiffel Tower or Tracadero. I was there near the Javel metro stop and it was a beautiful day with sunshine.

A river goddess on the Mirabeau bridge. Actually I read that the figures represent ships.

The other side of the Mirabeau bridge. I love the colors.

Heading up the Seine, you reach the Grenelle Bridge where you will find a replica of the Statue of Liberty standing there to surprise you.

Keep going and you finally reach the Eiffel Tower. As you can see, the leaves are just starting to change. Chestnuts are falling to the ground, always a sign that school has started.

In England, in the Wiltshire region, is a village called Lacock. It is one of those place preserved as it once was and given to the National Trust so you get a feel of what life was once like there. One of the most interesting things there, to me at least, was a little inn.

Inside is a large fireplace with a giant wheel attached at the side where you learn a dog once ran inside to turn the wheel, to make the spit turn so meat would get cooked evenly over the fire. These dogs, with short legs and small bodies, were even specially bred especially for this purpose. (In fact, small boys did this job at one time). The breed has died out, if indeed it was a real breed. I saw a dog the other day with the fur, head and tail of a labrador but the legs and body of a basset hound which I guess could be reproduced into a breed if you had the desire.

It looked like this.

A view of the fireplace with the wheel on the left side.

A drawing of the dog at work. They think the dog was related to an Irish dog called the Glen of Imaal Terrier which were bred to dig into badger dens and dispatch them. I read that there were two of these turnspit dogs here at this inn and that usually every morning one of them would hide, not wanting to do the work. The other one, knowing he would be put to work if the other couldn’t be found, would show the people where the other dog was hiding.
Just another case of, “Who knew?”

The Eiffel Tower is lit up in blue for six months in Paris right now. It’s to celebrate France being head of the European Union during this time. I’ve seen the tower red too. It’s always fun to find it lit up in another color. No matter what color is chosen, it is always spectacular.

From the foot of Tracadero before the sparkling lights start on the hour.

The lights are sparkling and there is a reflection on the roof of the car.

Closer.

A view to give an idea of how immense the tower is. It is always a surprise.

I don’t know about you, but I very seldom meet up with old friends from my past, especially ones from high school. What are the chances that two people I knew in high school, and who married, would also end up in France? These two, Jim and Margaret, discovered how much they loved France while they were in the Air Force and now have a Bed and Breakfast in Normandy where we all were lucky enough to stay for two nights while exploring the region. The B&B is just lovely, full of antiques.

Two views of the front of the B&B called l’Atre Fleur.

The living room with the dining room beyond.

The nearby chateau in the village of Balleroy where the B&B is located. I wish we had had time to see the inside.

The clock and its bells on the little church there in the village.

PS-I met them several years ago after a phone call from Jim. We didn’t just happen upon each other as we entered the B&B, as I must have made it sound.

Of course on our trip to Normandy we also visited Omaha Beach the scene of the disasterous landing by the Americans and when you see it you can see why so many died. Airplanes were supposed to have blown away most of the bunkers and guns up above the beach, but they went too far inland. Also, the landing boats had to arrive at low tide which meant that the men had to run a long way to get under the guns. The Germans had also put logs in the water pointed in such a way to stop or damage most boats. In the end, it was because there were so many Americans coming and because ships at sea could fire their guns when the tide was high again and a few tanks were able to blow away some bunkers that the landing was a success. If you’ve seen the horrifying opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, you can imagine just how it must have been.

You can see how it looked after the bombs had done their job. As our guide said, like the surface of the moon.

The American Cemetery. It’s so sad to see all of the crosses, made of white marble from Tuscany, of those who died there. Some are unknown.

It’s a beautiful, peaceful place on land given to the Americans by the French. It’s taken care of an organization and no profit can ever be made from anything there so in the scene where in Saving Private Ryan, the family comes to the grave, that grave is not real but put there temporarily by Steven Speilberg for the movie.

Flags in a chapel on the grounds.

Omaha Beach now. Hard to imagine how it was back then.