Laminated Asparagus? Meeting a “Dirty Girl” in France…. A Dead guy in Dijon…. Coolest cars & A day at a Swiss Cottage by Lake Walensee….

At a very French Restaurant called the Cheval Blanc (White Horse) in a quaint town called Vezelay, they had no English Menu… so it was time to utilize our special electronic translator.  It seems that there was “Laminated Asparagus” as part of an entrée!   Thankfully they really were NOT coated in plastic…. (Actually quite delicious as can be seen in one of the pixs.)   There is one photo of an interesting building that contained a history of the evolution of communication basically- First it was used for POST (regular mail), then TELEGRAPHS and finally it was used for TELEPHONES; We visited a winery that was accessed by driving a car DEEP into a mountain.  The limestone from which had been utilized hundreds of years in the past to form buildings in Paris such as Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Arc de Triumph and Pantheon.  Then it had been used as a place to grow mushrooms prior to being used to produce WINE (8 million bottles at a time!)  Down below there, what could be seen to be growing REALLY well was lots of mold and mildew- as is evident on several of the “Dirty Girl” sculptures faces and bodies.  Also pictured is a quaint old town in France, Vezelay (On the worlds UNESCO list.)  Another awesome old town was Autun also shown.  Ilea can be seen rubbing something on the wall outside yet ANOTHER church called Notre Dame (This one in the town of Dijon France.)  What is noteworthy is that she rubbed it immediately we were approached by a dead guy (rolling down the alley way in a hearse!)  In Mulhouse, France, there was an extraordinary Car Museum with many cars as far as you could see stored INDOORS… (one pictured.)   Lastly are some beautiful photos of a trip we took in Switzerland to an incredible old restored lakehouse.  It belongs to the family of Philine- who, for any who did not know, was an exchange student from Germany who lived with us way back in the 90’s in Cortland, NY.  To get to this place from Zurich, one needs to take a tram, two trains and then a boat (no cars can get to it….)  One of the shots shows Philine and her family waving to relatives on shore as we depart by boat for the lakehouse; another shows Ilea & Bill near their vineyards (we enjoyed several bottles of THEIR OWN WINE!); another shows a view of the pathway we had to walk along for 30 minutes to get to their place; and another shows the bunch of a neighbor’s sheep that are permitted to graze on their property.  

...

Severine & Charles – A FRENCH WEDDING!!! And some history…

We were very fortunate to have been invited to Severine’s Wedding (For anyone who does not know, she was a foreign exchange student from France who stayed with us in Cortland, NY back in 2001)…. One odd requirement of the dress code was that the guys had to wear BOW TIES!!!  This is the one and only occasion in his entire life that one will witness Bill in a bowtie…….. Also pictured is a drinking giraffe that attended the wedding;  a very strange couple of huge (9ft X 12 ft) portraits did hang in the church where she was wed (the presentations of severed heads on platters!!!!! Is that supposed to be some sort of symbolism of marriage in France?? Getting your head handed to you on a platter…..);  The wedding reception started right after the church at about 4pm and did not conclude till 6 AM IN THE MORNING!!!! It was held at a charming converted ~Convent Farm- the tables were arranged inside the barn where the cows ate and were milked centuries ago!! other shots include Ilea admiring some of the many wild flowers on the Island of Ferns (I’Les De Re); on same island at the beach, we stumbled upon some old WAR BUNKERS from ~1939-1944 that were utilized around the time of the storming of Normandy up the  coast a bit North of here; also shown is what appears to be a castle that is located at the beautiful old port of La Rochelle, France (this is the nicest town in France 

Reposted vids PARIS....

No Pants in Paris, after walking around their many Parks! Bumping into a MEGA-MOVIESTAR, & Visiting Dead Rock Stars….

For your viewing pleasure…. Some statues in some of the beautiful Parks in Paris that we walked around (Average of 20 miles a day); A bottle of local beer which is called “Sans Culottes” which means Without Pants!; a picture of the Hole in the Ground at the Hotel we stayed at… History is that the building is where the King housed his mistress, and this hole actually goes all the way to Notre Dame…. And the king would sneak here thru the tunnel and hole to meet with his mistress (after first having gone to church at Notre Dame!); the bridge railings covered with a zillion locks (Pont De Art…. Leads  to the Louvre); a vid of how close we were staying to Notre Dame; Arc du Triumph; our tired feet resting at the park; arms reaching out of a grave at the same cemetery where…… Jim Morrison of the Doors is buried;  bumped into Daniel Radcliffe (for realzzz) at his premiere of movie HORNS in Paris; and also a picture of the Sienne River flowing thru Paris.

Burning Underwear, Jewish Cemeteries and some dead animals in Prague…

Visited the historic Jewish Cemetery in Prague… where they were buried up to 12 deep, one upon the other over time to save space- on top many of the stones were some cute snails (one pictured);  One thing there is a shortage of in Europe are the Do It Yourself laundries!  Resorting to washing things in hotel rooms, it seems that lighting fixtures become terrific dryers(…. Unless you leave them there too long, and they BURN…. Honestly honey, that brown spot on my undies is NOT what you think it is!.....) ; went to a café that was frequented by Albert Einstein (the Louvre Café in Prague); we did lots of walking as usual, and climbed to the top of the historic “Powder Tower” (where they kept gun powder) and one picture shows Ilea looking out from the roof, another shows the view of part of Prague, and yet another shows a warning sign for those who get to close to the edge!!; comfortable serpent or dragon seating for Ilea’s tired legs; lastly- some dead animals: a common site of a pig roasting as you walk down the sidewalk, a statue of a lamb with a golden arrow along with the golden crucifix held above it…. And then there is an apparent way OUT of death around here for some of the animals- as demonstrated by the deer that donned a golden crucifix attached to the top of its head in a statue; but, when they are dead, they sure do taste good in sausages!!!!