I'm not sure how much we will be carrying on this conversation of ours over the next two weeks or so.
This Saturday, Nicole and I will be flying to London for a scientific conference (hers, not mine). We'll spend six days in the United Kingdom and then a week in France, first in Nice and then in Toulouse.
I usually write these posts from my desktop computer, which of course is not portable. I have a laptop, which I will be taking with me, but I don't know what my Internet access will be like. I have unlimited access through Verizon, but I'm pretty certain that's only good in North America.
It's quite possible I'll have access at our hotel, and if I do, I'll try to post at least two or three times a week while we're in Europe.
This will be my fifth trip to Europe, although the first one lasted almost two years and cost me a marriage. I actually lived in Vienna from the summer of 1976 till the spring of 1978, and we did some traveling around while we were there.
Nicole and I went for the first time in 1994, although that trip was only to Paris and Toulouse. It was on that trip that I first met my in-laws, and I was actually given a bottle of French wine by a neighbor caught up in the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landings. He thanked me for saving his country, and I accepted on behalf of FDR, Ike and all our troops.
We spent a couple of weeks in Oxford, Paris and Toulouse in the summer of 2001. One of the things I remember most about that trip was French relatives and their friends sincerely trying to understand what it was Americans saw in George W. Bush.
My last previous trip across the pond was in May 2003, when we spent 10 wonderful days in Venice. Nicole generally goes to Europe for one conference or another at least once a year, but 2003 was the last time I went along until this year.
I'm looking forward to it, and I'll try and come up with some interesting things to share with all of you.
An update -- and an apology -- on delays
12 years ago
Posts
4 comments:
Good luck, Mike. Have a nice time.
Evelyn
Whew.
I personally wish you were still state-side, Mike, and could provide commentary on the handwringing and remorse following Michael Jackson's death.
It's terrible when a fairly young man of fifty dies, but isn't this the same fellow that fell from grace with a series of child abuse allegations? Yes, he was talented. More so than the great majority of his peers, but he was just an entertainer. He wasn't a scientists or some statesman whose decisions affected everyday life for millions of people.
He was a singer and a dancer.
I don't understand this. But then, I didn't understand the phenomena following Elvis Presley's death, either.
Ernie
I miss Mike.
He leaves and Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays die.
Mike would've found some way to make sense of it and make us smile at the same time.
AMY
Amy, You forgot David Carradine.
Jeff
Post a Comment