Nice VII.V

Nice VII and a half. (is there a Roman Numeral for half?)

Tried very early this morning to get my boarding pass from Air France and they said I could not be processed due to a personal detail … I was able to get Cindy checked in but it turns out that they had me listed as a citizen of Uruguay!  I’m a big fan of Uruguay - they have a fine futbol team, I enjoy yerba mate, the sea coast and beaches are lovely, and the food is swell, but I’m really not a citizen. AF kept asking for my Uruguayan passport number in the booking and said I did not have a transit visa for further travel from the USA to Montevideo so that was that! Nothing I could do at 5 in the morning would correct the issue.  Finally at 8 am I went into my AF account and edited all of my personal data and one hour later, after the computer had digested the facts, I was able to get a boarding pass. AF is strange, given that we have business class tickets but there is no business class on the flight from Nice to CDG.  Rather than giving biz passengers seats in the front of the plane, they placed us each in middle seats and in different rows in the back of the plane.  Had to spend money to purchase exit row seats together, on top of the biz fare. Very weird.  The travel gods are conspiring against us and making sure we know that it is time to leave, even if we have to go to Uruguay first!  

Nice VII 2016

My hair has grown back, which can only mean one thing:  It is time to leave.  We have a 7 am taxi for tomorrow morning and then we fly to Paris and on to Dulles arriving in the late afternoon. Our primary reason for staying here six weeks was to miss bad weather and it appears we did just that, at least in Charles Town.  The past three days here in Nice have been windy, rainy and dark, not the best weather for the last weekend of Carnival. The Niçoises are being punished for having their Carnival during Lent!

I think perhaps that six weeks was a bit too long. We had grand plans to rent a car and tour the area a few times but then it just seemed like too much trouble so we stayed put, except for our adventure to Menton.   Cindy was asked by her dear friend Karen what was different about our visit this time and here is her reply:

 There were small changes in the apartment that were not positive - the kitchen pans were bad (mostly ruined by people who didn't understand teflon or similar) and the landlord had changed all the bulbs to LED and it's way too dim for our old eyes. However, garbage trucks only come in the late evening this year and last year they came at odd hours all through the night, so we slept better.  :o)

We found a fabulous little brasserie 3 blocks from the apt. this trip that has been there all along - family-run, good prices, delicious food - not sure how we overlooked it last year.  But as it turns out they sold it and this is their last week!  This year we became regulars at a little coffee cafe every morning - last year we only went a few times.  Much better to be regulars.

My French "acquisition" (I'll never be fluent) went better this year, partly because I hit the ground running whereas last year we got here just before Christmas and classes weren't available until mid-January.  This year we arrived in mid-January and Alliance Française was in full swing.  Concerts were better this year too, due to the timing (after the holidays) - we heard fantastic performances in the big Opera House and also at a small theatre up the street.

The worst difference (for Wm) was the choice of television shows - last year we had THREE channels that had French cooking shows, and this year none.  Odd - not sure if the landlord changed her cable or the French decided that cooking shows aren't interesting.

We will give Nice a pass for the next few years and opt to explore other cities in France where the weather is mild, but perhaps smaller cities.

We are having our farewell lunch at our favorite restaurant, Voyageur Nissart . It always feels like we are having a Sunday lunch with family and friends, and the food isn’t bad either.  The suitcases are mostly packed and the apartment has been inspected and we received our damage deposit back. It is always so funny to have to pay a damage deposit since we always leave an apartment much better than we found it, but I guess that isn’t always the case with renters (witness the damaged kitchen pans).

In all it has been a great trip with lots of fun, food and long walks. I’ve worn out my sneakers and I figure I’ve walked about 365 miles on this trip. It’s going to be hard to find another city that allows you to do that without crossing streets and is close to the water.

A bientôt,  Cindy and Wm

Nice VI 2016

Our time here seems to have disappeared in a blur of activity and inactivity. A bit more than a week left before we return to West Virginia, and we have a list of things to do and places to eat that will take us at least two weeks!

Carnival is in full swing here in Nice.  For some strange reason this Carnival that has its roots in 1295 doesn’t start until after Ash Wednesday, which seems strange for a very Catholic country. I’m unable to find out why this is true and anyone we ask here thinks we are nuts, it has always been this way is the most common refrain. In any event, for several weeks the town is filled with flower parades, light parades, huge floats and tons of confetti and streamers which fill the streets and dangle from all the palm trees along the parade route. Tonight is the second annual gay parade called, Lou Queernaval, which we are told is a riotous long night of parades and parties.

On the days of the parades, hundreds of tour buses from all over Europe descend on Nice with thousands of people filling the bleachers, at a cost of 25 Euros per seat per event (and 11 Euros to stand within the walled-off areas). This is a huge money maker for Nice. An article in the local paper said that they spend 6 million Euros on the events and they bring in 30 million in revenue for the parade, restaurants, hotels and bars.  Not a bad return on investment.

(From Cindy) We truly have a "local" this time - a bar/ brasserie where we are known and we are warmly welcomed.  It's about 3 blocks from our apartment and somehow last year we saw it but ignored it - but this year during our 2nd week we had lunch there one day and we've been back multiple times since.  Already on the 3rd visit, "mama" - who runs the place - knew our drink order.  She doesn't speak of word of English and she is about 5 feet tall and bustles to and fro looking after everyone and everything.  She and her sons run the place (her husband might be the chef; we'll ask one of these days).  We've had a few conversations and I asked her if their brasserie was here last year (bien sûr) and told her we'd missed them last year but we were so happy to have found  them this year.  We go there for lunch a few times a week and also cocktails.  The food is basic delicious wonderful French fare, priced right; the only downside is that they're not open for dinner.

The other night we walked in to have a drink and she was talking to a Scottish couple (as we soon found out).  She pointed to us and then went on and on to them about how we are Americans who were here 5 weeks last year and then we'll be here 6 weeks this year but we didn't find the brasserie until this year. Then she added that we are from Texas - so she had 95% of her story right!  It was so cute - and I can't believe she actually listened (and remembered) our sad tale of finding them so late, right down to the details of how long our stays are.  Like I said, we're warmly welcomed.  Back to Wm ….

We have just returned from Menton, about 30 miles up the coast towards Italy. They are celebrating their Fete du Citron during which they have the same kinds of parades as Nice but all the floats are made with only lemons and oranges. Talk about fragrant. We had a chance to see many of the static floats that are in a park and they are fantastic, as is Menton. The streets are all lined with orange or lemon trees and it is a beautiful seaside resort town. It also is much cheaper than Nice since it isn’t as famous or large. We had great coffee and a lovely lunch during our excursion and the train ride is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever taken since it hugs the rugged coast line and passes though lovely little resort towns.

from Cindy, again:  Our museum-lover somehow forgot a big part of his daily report!  We had gone to Menton for exactly 2 reasons: the lemon festival and the Cocteau Museum.  As it happens we totally missed the museum on our first walk past it, due to the fact that the main building is ultra-modern and I was looking for what’s called The Bastion, a very old small castle built by a Grimaldi back in the day.  So instead we had veered toward the covered market and then spent a lot of time reading menus in anticipation of lunch. After about an hour I noticed that we hadn’t yet found a restaurant but we were awfully close to the train station, and I said to myself, “He CAN’T be thinking we’re going to eat and then get on the train, can he?”  I’ll let you, dear reader, answer that … but suffice to say I got us turned around and back down to the bay and into the museum(s).  The modern one had a special exhibition and The Bastion had examples of the wonderful tapestries and pottery and paintings for which Cocteau is so famous.  And in the end Wm was a very happy camper and glad we’d gone back to find the museum.

Best to all, Cindy and Wm

Nice V 2015

The beaches of Nice are many and all of them have one thing in common: There is no sand, just small rounded rocks that have been deposited by the Var and other rivers. However, for the past two days, due to a combination of high tides and strong winds, all of these rocks have been deposited against the walls of the Promenade and all that is left is glorious, brown sand! It is truly amazing to see this and all the locals are taking off their shoes and walking on a real beach and leaving real foot prints in real sand.  Very cool.

This morning as I was delicately dodging dog doo-doo enroute to the Promenade, I noticed that all of the little dispenser/receptacle canisters for plastic bags to collect and deposit dog waste have been removed.  To the best of my knowledge, they were never used by the dog owners who are perfectly content to allow their animals to just use the sidewalk and move on.  They have made great strides in Paris in keeping the sidewalks clean, but Nice I guess is just too laid back, another example of if you don’t enforce the rules, there are no rules.

Our son and his wife gave us a gift certificate for Champagne and Caviar at the bar of the Le Negresco. I wrote to the gentleman that sent the certificate inquiring as to whether reservations were required and he wrote back that they weren’t, but if we could come at 6 pm the following Sunday, he would be pleased to meet us and show us around (his name is Adrien and he is the resident manager).  We presented ourselves in the lobby - in the finest clothes we could muster since we had not planned on anything fancy - and the concierge called Adrien, who quickly appeared. He is a young mover and shaker who immediately impressed us with his warmth, wit and charm, not to mention his mastery of several languages. He showed us into the bar and pointed out all the historical items and then ushered us to a comfortable table. Removing the remaining bits of hay from my sweater that had gotten caught as I fell from the turnip truck, I asked if I needed to show my certificate to the waiter.  Adrien gave us a charming smile and said, “Everyone knows why Monsieur and Madame Byxbee are here.” With that he left, asking us to have the barman call him when we were done so that he could give us a tour.

We then spent the best hour we have ever had in Nice.  The Champagne, Taittinger Compte de Champagne White 2006, was ice-cold and served in monogrammed crystal flutes, and the caviar, Sturia Prestige Aquitaine, with creme fraîche and blinis, was presented with mother of pearl spoons on yet another monogrammed crystal tray.  We were in heaven as we looked about the bar, which was more of a museum displaying lots of Napoleon’s caps and weapons as well as portraits of Louis XIV and his wife and mistresses.   We reluctantly had to admit that we were done and Adrien came to collect us for the tour.

The hotel, founded in 1912, is not the oldest in town, but certainly the most recognized for its pink domes and museum quality artwork. We were shown the fabulous Baccarat 16,309 crystal chandelier which was commissioned by Czar Nicholas II, who could not take possession due to the nasty little October revolution in Russia. (By the way, 16,309 refers to the number of pieces comprising this magnificent fixture.)  The rotunda is capped by a famous glass ceiling and the round walls display art works that are as varied as they are beautiful. We were given a tour of the Versailles Room, which is available for rent for private parties (in case you are interested). The ceiling of this room is all hand-painted angels, forests and rivers and was moved here panel by panel from a castle in Switzerland. There is a ten ton white marble fireplace that is twenty feet tall, ten feet wide and five feet deep. It was transported block by block from a castle in England. Well, you get the picture, it is one fancy room.

It was an evening to remember and we are most thankful to have had the opportunity for such an extravagant cocktail hour!  Cindy and Wm

Below is the Bar and the Versailles Room  

Nice IV 2016

Nice IV

It appears that about six or seven old rock ‘n rollers have gone to the big stage in the sky since our arrival.  I didn’t really know any of them or have any strong feelings about them but since they were about my age, I paid attention. Certainly the world knew about the chameleon known as David Bowie, but again I didn’t really know anything about him until Chris Hadfield sang   Space Oddity.  But one prominent death did resonate with me and that was the passing of Alan Rickman.

Many years ago, while awaiting a flight in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in San Francisco, I heard this familiar voice talking with one of the staff who was trying to fix a computer problem that this particular passenger was having. The agent was stymied and I turned around and offered to have a look.  It was a relatively easy fix but this man was mightily impressed since he really wanted to get that email to his wife. I certainly didn’t know who he was but did know the voice so I asked if he had done any voice-over commercials.  He laughed and said it hadn’t come to that yet but did admit to being an actor. Since I don’t go to movies I really was at a loss but like all really interesting famous people that I’ve met, he had the ability to change the conversation around to the other person, in this case me. He asked how I knew so much about computers and we talked for a while and had some wine and generally spent an hour or so talking about flying, England and other topics, but not about Alan Rickman.  Later that week I spent time looking him up and found that he was a most prolific actor and I’ve tried to see as many of his movies as possible. I suppose he will always be remembered for his role in the Harry Potter movies, but I’ll always remember him as a downright regular guy.

As most of you know, Cindy and I have doctoral degrees and we sometimes think of ourselves as being rather clever. Then comes that moment when the gods sweep you off the peaks and into the mud of confusion and self-doubt. Such as been our fall from grace this week. During our last shopping trip we bought dishwasher detergent, and after doing a full dishwasher load with the new capsules we noticed a very strong and not very appealing soapy smell on all the dishes and glassware. So horrible was it that we had to wash each item again to remove the smell. We thought there was something wrong with the machine, perhaps it needed salt for the water softener, perhaps there was a back flow issue, or perhaps it was operator error!  Today, Cindy carefully read the instructions on the detergent box and lo and behold, we had been using WASHING MACHINE detergent, complete with its own time release fabric softener!  Boy, did we feel foolish.

The sun has returned along with the blue skies that we have become so used to here in Nice.  It is time to walk some more since we didn’t do very well yesterday but really did enjoy the rest and the rain. Hope you all enjoyed the Super Bowl, we of course missed it but it sounded like it was a snoozer anyway. We’ll leave you with a picture of the Old Port. On one side of this three sided harbor are the really big mega yachts and on the side next to the bars and restaurants are these old but functional fishing boats.  Very lovely.   Best wishes, Cindy and Wm

Nice III 2016

Nice III

We are at the half way point of our six weeks here in France and nature has decided to clean everything up in our honor.  It has been raining all night and all day removing all the dirt and sand and dog waste from the sidewalks. The palm trees along the Promenade are glistening and waving madly in the 20mph wind, which is also frothing up the surf. All quite lovely and we are well provisioned and have no need to brave the elements today.

In the three weeks we have been here Cindy has cajoled, threatened to withhold favors and intimidated me into attending at least forty musical events. I’m sure she’ll insist that it has only been four, but you get the point.  We went to the Opera House for a concert last Saturday and were looking forward to being in the main hall. On screen, when ordering our tickets, it appeared that we were in the first balcony towards the center, so we anticipated great seats.  Instead, we were on the fifth level of the hall (5th story - each level is very high), firmly in the left corner, sitting on hard benches with fabric as thin as a square of French toilet paper. We were in the first row and there were no backs to the benches so the people behind had their knees firmly against my back. I could not see the entire violin section of the orchestra without leaning precariously over the small rail, which gave me a bad case of vertigo, so I was condemned to look straight ahead while gripping the rail. I seem to remember it being a nice performance with a good soloist on piano, but the minute the house lights came up for half-time, I was a goner!  I raced out of the building and across the street to the ocean and just stood there taking deep breaths until all the panic subsided.  Cindy understood perfectly and like the trooper she is she went back and enjoyed the second half without having to worry about me. We have been back two more times; Cindy used her French to get us better seats and the experience was infinitely more enjoyable.

On one of our walks we commented on how beat up many of the cars seemed to be, not unusual for city driving, but the number of damaged cars seemed high. So, we did a scientific study. We walked down one street and examined each car looking for damage.  Out of fifteen cars, we did not find even ONE that wasn’t damaged, and we are talking about serious damage here. Since we were now attuned to cars we began to notice lots of things that could cause damage. The first, and perhaps the most amazing, is the simple fact that the French do not know how to park!  Certainly they can’t parallel park, and in fact some of the most fun we have had is watching someone try to park. They block the traffic and they pull in and out and hit the car behind them and then in front of them and still can’t do it, despite the fact that the space if big enough for a car and a half.  Living this close to Italy, the Niçois have adopted some of the finer aspects of Italian driving and parking.  Parking in crosswalks seems to be a favorite, and double parking is the norm. It appears that if you have your flashers on, it must be legal since we have never seen anyone get ticketed or asked to move. In fact the only time we have seen any enforcement of any laws is watching the bus police get on buses at stops and checking to make sure everyone has a valid ticket. Judging from what we have seen, many do not!

Our fish monger, or poissonerie, had some lovely looking oysters at a price we could afford, so we got a dozen. The plan was to have the oysters on the half shell followed by a fish soup, very famous in Nice. The plan was foiled by my inability to open a single oyster! Now I’ve shucked oysters with the best of them but these darlings eluded all of my attempts (I had the proper tool), so when the sea gives you incalcitrant oysters, make Oysters Rockefeller.  I got the oven up to about 375 and slipped the oysters in for about fifteen minutes. I then made the filling using the traditional ingredients, which we luckily had on hand. I fried up some sausage we had picked up at the butchers and was ready for the final assembly.  The photos do not do justice to how good this dish was and we certainly did not need fish soup after this feast.  Cindy/wm  

Hubris Nice 2016

It appears that I have been remiss in my writing.  Several of you wrote emails of concern regarding all the snow that we received in West Virginia. At our house there was 32” and a half hour northwest they got 42”.  We followed the warnings and the newscasts closely, however at a safe distance.  We are in our second week of a six-week stay in Nice, France!!  With luck, I’ll not see any snow this year.

We have fallen into a relaxed routine here that involves lots of walking, some running for Cindy every morning, modest but excellent meals with late morning wake-ups and early goodnights. We have averaged about 8 miles of stepping per day according to my pedometer. One day while Cindy was in one of her French classes, I walked to the airport in addition to our normal walks and got in 11 miles. Of course, I couldn’t sleep that well at night since my hip was killing me. Not sure if it was from the walk or the three flights of stairs with heavy bundles of wine, water and groceries. In any event, I’ve cut back on the uber long walks.

Backing up, we had a quiet holiday period after the cruise, which ended on 22 December. We enjoyed the cruise but we are not Caribbean people. We don’t like beaches, heat, humidity and sun so we mostly stayed on board and danced at every opportunity.  Cindy and I had our traditional Christmas Eve meal of Champagne, caviar and smoked salmon and we had a huge feast on the 27th with Colin and Meagan, Patrick and Hannah. Tons of fun, multiple simultaneous conversations and lots of laughter.  (From CCE: for the first time ever, I watched William try to get a word in edgewise - Byxbee conversations do not have pauses!  It was hilarious for me since I have been in that situation so many times I don’t even try to join the conversation any more - I just sit back and listen while marveling that they all seem to keep track of what the others are saying.)

We have noticed a few little changes here in Nice since last year.  The most obvious is that our little Italian friend Maria, who ran a small snack shop with excellent espresso, is now gone. The shop is now an Indian Snack shop, with tea rather than espresso, and the food looks and smells awful.  There are more beggars then we remember. Mostly Romas (pre-PC known as Gypsies) who sit in front of grocery stores with one or more little kids requesting donations. If the kids can talk, they echo the solicitations.  Other beggars look like homeless young folks.  There seem to be more North Africans, Tunisians, Sudanese, Moroccans and others.  You can walk for long periods of time in some neighborhoods and only hear Arabic.  However, there are no signs of any refugee camps or settlements in the city.

Most of our old favorites are still around and we have discovered a few new spots that are just swell.  One is a place that is right around the corner called Chez Faty. The Faty we think is short for Fatima, the Portuguese woman who along with her French husband run the place.  Only open for lunch, Monday-Saturday and only room for about 22-25 people packed together at small tables. On the Friday we went it was so crowded that we had to sit at the tiny bar for twenty minutes nursing Kirs until there was a spot for us. The clients are all locals, not a word of English spoken or encouraged. I had the traditional Aioli Provençal which is a plate of poached cod with boiled carrots, potatoes, green beans and a huge bowl of Aioli.  The latter is the key to the dish, garlic with enough mayonnaise to make it spreadable and you eat everything with a healthy dollop of the stuff. Oh my!  Cindy had Gambas a la Plancha, large shrimp pan seared in the shell. She had to have lots of my Aioli or else she would not have been able to be in the same apartment with me after lunch. It was a wonderful meal, very inexpensive and a lovely cultural trip.

As they say here, à bientôt, literally until soon.  Cindy and Wm

Nice I January 2016

It appears that I have been remiss in my writing.  Several of you wrote emails of concern regarding all the snow that we received in West Virginia. At our house there was 32” and a half hour northwest they got 42”.  We followed the warnings and the newscasts closely, however at a safe distance.  We are in our second week of a six-week stay in Nice, France!!  With luck, I’ll not see any snow this year.

We have fallen into a relaxed routine here that involves lots of walking, some running for Cindy every morning, modest but excellent meals with late morning wake-ups and early goodnights. We have averaged about 8 miles of stepping per day according to my pedometer. One day while Cindy was in one of her French classes, I walked to the airport in addition to our normal walks and got in 11 miles. Of course, I couldn’t sleep that well at night since my hip was killing me. Not sure if it was from the walk or the three flights of stairs with heavy bundles of wine, water and groceries. In any event, I’ve cut back on the uber long walks.

Backing up, we had a quiet holiday period after the cruise, which ended on 22 December. We enjoyed the cruise but we are not Caribbean people. We don’t like beaches, heat, humidity and sun so we mostly stayed on board and danced at every opportunity.  Cindy and I had our traditional Christmas Eve meal of Champagne, caviar and smoked salmon and we had a huge feast on the 27th with Colin and Meagan, Patrick and Hannah. Tons of fun, multiple simultaneous conversations and lots of laughter.  (From CCE: for the first time ever, I watched William try to get a word in edgewise - Byxbee conversations do not have pauses!  It was hilarious for me since I have been in that situation so many times I don’t even try to join the conversation any more - I just sit back and listen while marveling that they all seem to keep track of what the others are saying.)

We have noticed a few little changes here in Nice since last year.  The most obvious is that our little Italian friend Maria, who ran a small snack shop with excellent espresso, is now gone. The shop is now an Indian Snack shop, with tea rather than espresso, and the food looks and smells awful.  There are more beggars then we remember. Mostly Romas (pre-PC known as Gypsies) who sit in front of grocery stores with one or more little kids requesting donations. If the kids can talk, they echo the solicitations.  Other beggars look like homeless young folks.  There seem to be more North Africans, Tunisians, Sudanese, Moroccans and others.  You can walk for long periods of time in some neighborhoods and only hear Arabic.  However, there are no signs of any refugee camps or settlements in the city.

Most of our old favorites are still around and we have discovered a few new spots that are just swell.  One is a place that is right around the corner called Chez Faty. The Faty we think is short for Fatima, the Portuguese woman who along with her French husband run the place.  Only open for lunch, Monday-Saturday and only room for about 22-25 people packed together at small tables. On the Friday we went it was so crowded that we had to sit at the tiny bar for twenty minutes nursing Kirs until there was a spot for us. The clients are all locals, not a word of English spoken or encouraged. I had the traditional Aioli Provençal which is a plate of poached cod with boiled carrots, potatoes, green beans and a huge bowl of Aioli.  The latter is the key to the dish, garlic with enough mayonnaise to make it spreadable and you eat everything with a healthy dollop of the stuff. Oh my!  Cindy had Gambas a la Plancha, large shrimp pan seared in the shell. She had to have lots of my Aioli or else she would not have been able to be in the same apartment with me after lunch. It was a wonderful meal, very inexpensive and a lovely cultural trip.

As they say here, à bientôt, literally until soon.  Cindy and Wm

San Juan December 2015

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Our ship has come in, literally, our ship has come in.  It docked this morning at about seven and we are scheduled to board her at about two. It is right across the street from our hotel and she is  a sight to behold as you can see from the photo. The Silver Wind is one of the smaller ships in the Silversea collection accommodating only 296 guests.  We’ll be embarking on an eleven-day journey which is officially titled the 70th Birthday Bash.

We arrived on Wednesday, very late at night.  We flew with JetBlue - something we had only done once many years ago - and we were mightily impressed.  The planes are clean, bright, and have large screens on every seatback. The staff seem to really enjoy their jobs and they actually serve you snacks and drinks with a smile. We spent about two hours in their JFK Terminal 5 and it was a wonder to behold. It is actually designed for travelers and thoughtfully laid out with passenger convenience and comfort in mind. Wide walk areas, tons of good food options, banks and banks and banks of computer hook-up areas for personal or business use.  The monitors also have the option to order food that can be delivered right to your workstation.  

San Juan is still a very beautiful city, especially for an island that is bankrupt. After twenty years of silly spending, corruption and indifference, the fiscal realities caught up to the island and they have had to make lots of changes which are not going down well.  Right now the sales tax on everything - clothes, food and services - is 11.5% and next year that will go up to 16.5%.  The island has lost 1.6 million people in the past five years as all those who have marketable jobs have moved to Florida or New York, leaving government workers, wait staff and taxi drivers to run the country.

If you ignore the politics, it is still one of the gems in terms of old architecture. Lining the streets are old colonial buildings painted in vibrant pastels that have been around since 1640 (the buildings not necessarily the pastels!). The people are lovely, friendly and willing to go out of their way to help you find an address or shop. There are two huge forts, one on either end of Old San Juan, both under the protection of the US National Park Service and both worthy of a long visit. There are green parrots flitting between palm trees and breathtakingly beautiful flowers everywhere which takes your mind off of the 85 degree heat and high humidity.

Time to get organized and dressed for our departure.  We’ll write as time, connections and sobriety allow!  Best wishes,  Cindy and Wm