The only President I’ve ever seen in person was Dwight Eisenhower. It was 1956, and we lived in Peoria, Illinois. You might think that a 5 year old would not remember much of what happened back then, but I already knew who he was and what he looked like. He was revered in our family […]
Paris Blog
French Labor Protests
In our neighborhood of Paris, we’ve already seen two large, well organized French labor protests. There are now violent protests throughout France against proposed changes to the labor laws. The government is trying to improve the economy – why is there such strong opposition? Economic Problems France has a number of economic problems. The rate […]
Visit to the Swedish Club
Last week we received an invitation from an acquaintance to go to a mixed French and English group get together at a local Paris cafe, Lili et Riton in Montparnasse. It was followed by a light dinner and jazz music fest at a place called Cercle Suédois (Swedish Club). Brenda and I showed up at […]
Annual Trip to the Préfecture
On Thursday, January 7th we went on our annual sojourn to the Préfecture de Police to renew our residence permits. Our original appointment was December 10th, the day before we were leaving for a Mexican cruise vacation. It seemed then to be a good thing that the nice lady at the Préfecture asked us if […]
Return to the US to sell the house and say goodbye
March to July, 2015 After 4 months in Poulsbo we have returned to Paris. The time in Poulsbo melted. We had no idea it would be so busy – our plans to keep up with people in Paris, continue French lessons, etc., faded in the rush to get everything done and see everyone we could. […]
Terrorist Attacks in Paris
We have received many inquiries from the US about whether we were OK after the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. We are fine, but we’ve spent the past few days riveted to the news, learning about Muslims in France, and then Sunday marching in Paris’s huge march against terror. Brenda and I were both at […]
Happy New Year!
I‘ve been thinking that there would be time to post an end of the year letter like the very nice ones I’ve been receiving in the mail – but no, the clock has almost run out. We started 2014 in Paris, celebrating with our American friends Martha and Terry and French friend Pascale and her […]
Running into John Paul Jones in Paris
Brenda and I were on our way to dinner with our French friends Catherine and Jacques when Catherine was talking about her decision years ago to give up a good paying job and start her own small business in France. She acknowledged that there was risk in starting her small business, but she said it […]
Vacation to the Dominican Republic
In September our French friends Cat and Jacques invited us to go on vacation with them. They were planning a trip to the Dominican Republic. Since we are in effect already on vacation in Paris, it didn’t seem like a good idea to me, but they told Brenda and me to think about it and […]
Trip to Barcelona
In early May we took a trip to Barcelona and spent three days exploring the town. Our Kitsap County friend Don Merry joined Brenda and I as part of a bigger European vacation Don had planned. This was a good deal for us because Don did most of the planning and research and passed on […]
