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!!!!

Last of VEINNA…. On to PRAGUE, Czech Republic….Land of Cobblestone, Castles, Flying Boob cafes and NON-STOP Hot dogs….

Our last night in Vienna, we had an amazing dinner at Griechenbeisl… a restaurant that has been in existence since the 1500’s in a building from the 800’s!  Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert and Mark Twain all frequented the joint in their time!  Exceptional EVERYTHING…. Goulash, wiener schnitzel and atmosphere!  On our bus ride over to Prague the next day, we passed an amusement park that had an interesting restaurant…. (Made from a plane that had impressive paintings of naked women on the outside); In the city of Prague, of course there were many things to note…. Such as the : Non-stop HOTDOG shop; the communist museum; all the constantly pattern changing cobblestones (which were a royal pain to pull suitcases over 2/10 of a mile); an enormous statue of a woman in a kneeling position – who is just about to give birth! ; Some very fancy ornate statues at the entrance to an apartment building;  a family of three examining the HUNDREDS of LOCKS that have been placed on railings (an apparent nostalgic tradition in Europe…. Like leaving your mark on a location without resorting to graffiti or urination?) ;  the entrance to Charles Bridge(With ARCHED MONUMENT), with the view of the Prague Castle in the background; walk along the Charles bridge, and you can see many statues lining the sides of it;  some of the statues on the bridge apparently grant you good luck if you rub them- such as the one of the dead saint that ILEA IS RUBBING; a view of the Charles bridge- looking down from the Prague Castle previously shown….(NOTE- how packed full of people the bridge is at this time.) ; a sculpture of a dog seemingly upset that his owner has been locked up in a dungeon; a stand that sells “KRUSTA”, which is a sweetbread that is cooked by BBQ (rather tasty BTW); a view of some balcony window ledges within the castle….back “in the day” they apparently practiced DEFENESTRATION.(nothing to do with neutering people) It actually has to do with literally THROWING PEOPLE OUT OF THE WINDOW to their deaths!  This was done to politicians when people were fed up with them;  inside the St. George Bascilla, there was this shrine to an important person….complete with a glass window which allowed you to see the very artistically arranged bones of that person!;  a viewing of some old time weapons had the one with the personalized porn on it emblazoned in our minds; not to mention the statue of the young boy who most women felt obligated to rub (in a certain spot which was especially shiny.) ; lastly was the guy who should be on America’s Got Talent show (or maybe Europe’s Got Talent)…. He was a one man band playing LED ZEPPELIN (Stairway to Heaven)… Blowing on the harmonica, strumming a guitar, one foot doing drums and the other the cymbal  AND – check out the photo- he has a “third hand” attached to his leg, which plays a keyboard!  Very entertaining!!