More Then and Now…Changes at the Louvre

The Louvre started life as a fortress built by King Philippe-Augustus in the 12th century to defend Paris from the English invaders. Saint Louis, Philippe the Beautiful and Charles V transformed it into a royal residence and eight centuries later, in 1793 during the French Revolution, it became the world’s largest museum.
Francois 1 had [...]

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Then and Now…1974 and 2007

Our first visit to Paris was in 1974, and we found some of our old slides (some rather damaged, sadly). In 33 years, some things have changed—a lot or a little—and some not at all.The Louvre Museum has a whole new look and entrance (pics next time), but the famous Venus de Milo is the same: she’s [...]

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Five Years in Iraq: a local Vigil for all the casualties and all those serving

March 19, 2008. All around the USA:
Communities around the USA held vigils, parades, and demonstrations to honor those who have been involved in the Iraq War in any way, and to call for an end to this war that is having such a devastating effect on the country in so many ways.The weather was cold [...]

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Earth Hour, 2008

What is this Earth Hour?
WWF’s EARTH HOUR takes place 8-9pm, Saturday March 29, 2008, and the momentum is building.
(BTW, it all sounds very sensible to me, so I think we’ll try this—an evening get-together with friends would be pleasant, with a good bottle of wine, of course!)
According to Richard Moss, Managing Director and Vice President, [...]

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Wild Weather…all year

DELAY BY STORMS ( one June)
A time to learn patience.
No matter the season, weather can always be an issue in travel, and it seems to be especially so out of the Mid-West in the USA, and especially out of Chicago.
We’ve been delayed by bad weather before, but these storms were WILD! 
Chicago was [...]

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Haggis—a Scottish Icon

(A friend was asking me the other day about our earlier trip to Scotland, and was especially interested in Haggis. It reminded me of this incident, so I decided to post it here—the feelings are relevant for anyone trying this dish for the first time, I think!!)  
 “Think of this as your first kiss”, our Scottish [...]

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Another Photographic Expo

PARIS EN COULEURS, des Frères Lumière à Martin Parr
At the Hotel de Ville, until March 31, 2008
Paris loves photographs and photographers and there are usually a couple of photographic exhibitions on at any one time. Here is one to sample.

The classic photos of Paris are black-and-white images by Doisneau, Boubat and other “humanist” photographers. But [...]

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Ben Franklin leaves Paris…..again

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: UN AMERICAIN à PARIS, 1776-1785
Carnavalet Museum. Hurry, this exhibition will end March 9, 2008.
A great exhibition documenting the political influence—and huge social success—of Ben Franklin during the nine years he spent in Paris as ambassador of the new U.S. Congress.
In December 1776, Franklin, age 71, traveled to France to successfully negotiate a commerce [...]

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