Touring Paris

We"re off! On our way to the Champs Elysee.

Dinner Time

While strolling around Montmatre, sampling the various bars and bakeries, I decided to wander through a local grocery store (named "Ed"). After noticing that fine French wines were running about €2-3 per bottle (that's 2-4 DOLLARS), instead of eating out we bought two kilos of mussels, a package of foie gras, a bag of shallots, three bottles of wine, a bagette of freshly baked bread, and a large chocolate bar: total cost €21. Life is good.

Safe Landing

Arrived safely. It's a gorgeous day, and the entire city is enjoying theire holiday. We're outside our apartment in Montmartre.

Bon Voyage "Snacks"

The first class lounge at Air France was a bit stark (although the wine selections were excellent), so we retired to the airport's Pappadeaux restaurant for pre-flight drinks. And snacks. You can tell we're raring to go.

Slumming...

Janet and Eric settling down next to me.

Getting ready for France

We're getting ready for our epic Tour de France. While on a business trip to Midland, I stopped by the gorgeous home of the Prims, to check on the packing progress. (If I lived in such an over-the-top, spare-no-expense home, I would never leave it. The only thing missing is a gold-plated bidet.) We've got our business class seats, our apartment in Paris and our villa in Provence, train rail passes, car rental, Metro passes, and lists of restaurants.

As we have time between museum hopping, wine tastings, browsing food markets, and looking for wonderful findings in the famous French flea markets, we'll keep in touch. We haven't left yet and have so far spent to date: $15,000.

What Happened in 1934?

Some random events of 1934:

• Alcatraz became a prison.
• The German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact was signed. (It was for a 10-year period, and lasted until Germany invaded Poland in 1939.)
• Manchuria was invaded by the Japanese.
• Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson were all killed by various lawmen.
• The Dione quintuplets were born in Canada.
• FDR signed a bill creating the Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Donald Duck and Lil' Abner made their debuts.
• The Nazis purge the SS in Night of the Long Knives.
• The Long March of Chinese Communists begins.
• Sergie Kirov was shot in Leningrad, giving Stalin an excuse for purges of the Party that terrorized millions and lasted for years.
• Persia became Iran.
• Lionel Barrymore started his tradition of annual radio readings of Dicken's A Christmas Carol, which continued until shortly before his death in 1964.
• Hitler becomes Fuhrer of Germany.
• Marie Curie and Alice Liddell (the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland) die.

Random notable births:

• Hank Aaron
• Ralph Nadar
• Yuri Gagarin (first man in space)
• Gloria Steinheim
• Shirley MacLaine (one of her births, that is)
• Jane Goodall
• Bill Moyers
• Van Cliburn
• Norman Schwarzkopf
• Charles Kuralt
• Carl Sagan
• Sophia Loren
• Ahmad Shah Khan

And Oakley Glynn Baker. Happy Birthday, Daddy!