It's Been Awhile

I have never gone off topic on this blog but I just read an article on FB (and re-posted it to my timeline) and I'm going to put a link to it here. This is a very long piece but well worth the time it takes to read if you are trying to understand what's going on in the world.  It is written by a former AP correspondent in Israel & explores how we get our news (not the way we think) and places the Israel/Palestinian conflict into a much larger context.  And that's just for starters. (H/T to Laurie K. for bringing this to light)

Here's the LINK.

Back to our regular programming.

Friday was the first good weather day we had since the kids left last Sunday.  We did alot of walking headed to the Gare de Lyon, Paris' rail gateway to the south.  As with all rail stations, Metro & bus lines converge.  It's a busy place.

On the way there, I saw this fences & liked the way the shadows fell.

There were a couple of places that were slightly broken so the sun shined through as a circle.  The shot with no broken places was less interesting.











Here is the Gare (rhymes with "far").  Most of them are imposing, old style buildings.  We took a table at a cafe facing the Gare and sipped tonic water for an hour or so I wanted to take people photos but we were right on the sidewalk and people were rushing by, either heading to the Gare and maybe running late or just arriving and anxious to catch a bus to where they were going.  So not able  to take people pics.

A shot of the clock tower from our table.  Yes, the time is right on.

















Here is a video of the Gare de Lyon area.  Please bear with me.  I'm find it no so easy task to pan the area, getting everything in I want to and narrate.  If you received this post by email, please scroll to the top of this page and click on "Steve's Travel Blog".  The link will take you to this post in your browser where you can view the vid.

As we were heading back, I saw this half-dressed couple struggling mightily to keep the balcony from coming crashing down.








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In June we were celebrating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.  Of course, one of the major objectives of landing in France was to liberate Paris.  By August, the Allies were advancing and the German Army felt it could no longer hold the city.  So the last week of August marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Paris.  The German Army did not go quietly or peacefully.   There was an uprising of the Resistance, armed conflict in the streets.  Some 1,500 Resistance fighters lost their lives fighting for Paris.

All over the city there are memorials to those fighters who fell, their names, ages & their occupation.






During the commemoration, the City of Paris attached flowers to each memorial.

This plaque tells us that two young men, Marcel Hauville (age 21) and Mathieu Kervell (age 26) died at this place on August 20, 1944.

It's be awhile since I've released a post.  So I'm going to publish this one with fewer photos than usual.

We moved to the new apartment on Saturday.  For a short time we were homeless.  Here we are at the new place waiting for the representative to let us in.  She arrived a short time later.

We spent part of Sunday with our friend Gerard who just returned from Brazil where he intends to relocate.