A Cancelled Trip

My husband and I just came back from our trip to Ohio. Everything went well – we did not miss our flights and our luggage was not lost which happened in our last trip to Paris in May (see this post.) But ten years ago, in September, our trip was cancelled.

Every year I would go to France to visit my mother usually late in September and also in March. My husband would take his vacation in October hunting with family and friends either in North Dakota or Saskatchewan, Canada. That year though we decided that we would go together to France earlier as my husband had not seen my mother in years. Before going to Paris we were to stop in England for a few days to visit the York National Book Fair. The Fair started in 1974 and had grown as the largest antiquarian and out-of-print Fair in the UK with over 100,000 books for sale. Below is the poster for the Fair this year, 2011. In 2001 the fair started Friday Sept. 14. We had booked our flights for Sept. 12, 2001.




It took weeks to make our travel arrangements – reserve the hotel in London, book the bed and breakfast in York, buy the train tickets to York, the train tickets to Paris and so on. My vacation was starting at lunch on Tuesday September 11 so I would have time to finish packing the suitcases. But then early on that Tuesday someone close to me at work told me that a plane had taken a wrong turn in New York and there had been an accident. We searched the Internet but could not get any news until I went to the BBC news site - and then we saw what was happening. The rest of our office clicked on the BBC site and watched in horror the images of the World Trade Center transmitted from the US. I left as planned for home at noon, but kept watching the TV as I packed our bags. Then when all the airports were closed, I started to make the calls to my mother and to cancel all our reservations.

I did go to France in March and September 2002, but my husband could not come. My mother died in December 2002 and my husband never saw her again. After that September 11, I watched television news for hours and read many newspapers, like the French Le Monde which stated in its editorial “We are all Americans.”

Nous sommes tous Américains

éditorial publié le 13 septembre 2001 (editorial published September 13, 2001)


“In this tragic moment, when words seem so inadequate to express the shock people feel, the first thing that comes to mind is this: We are all Americans! We are all New Yorkers, just as surely as John F. Kennedy declared himself to be a Berliner in 1962 when he visited Berlin.”

I listened as the government here told us to travel to New York and spend money. Many tourists were afraid to go there. Hotels, restaurants and theatres were almost empty. So I decided to go to New York as soon as I could. I flew to New York six weeks later on Friday 26 October 2001 – alone. I stayed at the Gershwin Hotel for four days. It is located on East 27th Street and had a special rate then under $100 (which is unusual in New York.) Their standard rooms are simple but clean. Below are their unusual store front and a standard room.

I had been to New York numerous times before and had seen the Twin Towers. I purchased several postcards, too – here are some below. (Postcards photos courtesy Konstantino Hatzisarros, Lee Marshal and Jeff Prant.)




That first afternoon in New York City I visited the Pierpont Morgan’s 1906 Library at the Morgan Library and Museum . That evening I took advantage of the “Relief Prix Fixe” (a fixed price meal benefiting 9/11 charities) dinner at the Oyster Bar and Restaurant in Grand Central Station. I had the New England clam chowder, the scrod filet broiled and a succulent chocolate mousse (I still have the ticket!) It is an historic restaurant which opened in 1913. It has beautiful arches and marble columns – here is a picture of it below. (Photo courtesy Where to Eat.)



The next morning, Saturday, I took the subway to Ground Zero. Below is a postcard I bought on a later trip to New York in 2004.



I was not sure where Ground Zero was but I walked toward the smoke I could see ahead. It had been several weeks since the attack but there was still a lot of ash and smoke making your eyes water and throat raw. I did not have a digital camera then, but I took several (not so good) pictures with my film camera.



You could not get close as the roads near the site had been closed.



There were many trucks driving by, carrying debris.



I sat briefly on a building ledge to take a picture. A worker came close by to sit, too – he looked exhausted. I took a picture of people watching a truck drive by with a large piece of steel – the worker’s face is in the foreground.



I went to another street to see better



but still could not get too close. There was water everywhere.



I stayed around a long time, walking, looking at all the photos of lost ones on walls and flowers pinned to the gates. My heart was filled with grief.




Going shopping did not feel right so I spent my money on some souvenirs – postcards to send to family, friends and for my collection.






I also purchased a star pin and a special edition of a small Statue of Liberty figurine draped with a flag (you can see the Twin Towers on the box) and a little pewter souvenir figure of the World Trade Center.




For my husband I purchased a tee-shirt and a key chain with the profits going to the New York Fire Department.



I purchased a red white and blue scarf which I wore all the time those few days. I placed it now around my little painting of the frog, which I purchased later – proceeds going to 9/11 charities.



Leaving this tragic area




I walked in the neighborhood some more. I saw the bronze Charging Bull sculpture – I think near Wall Street. I am not sure about all the streets I took.



I arrived at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. A ferry was ready to leave the pier, so I went on it. I made the round trip without walking on Staten Island. On the way back I took a couple of pictures showing Manhattan, and the empty area where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center would have been located.





Many theatres on Broadway and other places were offering extremely reduced tickets. I took the subway and purchased a ticket at the Imperial Theatre. That evening I saw “Les Misérables.” It is a spectacular musical inspired by Victor Hugo’s book.




The next day, Sunday, I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There was a special exhibition of Paul Signac’s paintings. (Luckily I wrote all this down on my pocket diary, that is why I can remember it well.) Paul Signac (French, 1863-1935) had met Monet and Seurat in 1884 and liked their painting methods. Signac was a friend of Vincent Van Gogh and went on painting outings with him many times. Signac developed the pointillist style (paintings made of little points) with Georges Seurat. Below are some representative paintings.



Outside the museum were artists selling their art. I purchased for my husband a small drawing of stark trees from an Oriental artist. The picture below shows the artist and the painting in its larger size.



For lunch I went back to the East Village and ate at Angelica’s Kitchen. It is a vegetarian restaurant serving seasonal food. I shared a large table with several other women. I don’t remember what I ordered but it was very good. What I do remember though is that I started speaking with a couple of the women in front of me. They were from New York and asked where I came from. I told them I came from Atlanta to show my support to New York City. Everyone at the table stopped eating and smiled at me and said “thank you.” I still get teary eyes when I think about it.

Photo courtesy Civil Eats.

Then I walked to The Strand bookstore and stayed there browsing books for a long time. On Monday I wandered into Indian Village and ate lunch there. Someone in the street was passing out some pamphlets. I took one. It was called “Fallen but not forgotten.” Inside it had pictures of 9-11.

The introduction article said “hate cannot win.” (My scanner is old and shows a yellow line on the picture.) The introduction ends by saying “gazing upward our hearts were broken.” They were.




Our hearts were broken for all the loved ones who lost their lives – not just Americans as there were twenty-two different nationalities in the Towers. Since that trip I have been to New York several times, twice during September 11, in 2004 and 2007. I saw remembrances of the day such as paintings by children.




One September 11th in New York I watched Mayor Bloomberg on television paying tribute to the fallen.




I just read an article by James Der Derian, professor at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in the 9 Sept. 2011 issue of the German newspaper Der Tagsspiegel : “Ten years on, there is much to remember about 9/11, of the loss of innocent lives, the sacrifice of the first responders, the coming together of communities – from the local to the global level – against the terrorist attack on the US. But there are also moments we might wish to forget, forged in fear, trauma, and vulnerability, of a disastrous, unnecessary war in Iraq, indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, illegal wiretaps, surveillance and suspension of civil liberties in the US, an abiding suspicion of the non-American, and a search for justice that became indistinguishable from a desire for revenge.”

postcard photo courtesy Charles Ziga

Ten years later I have forgotten my cancelled trip, but I have not forgotten what I saw in New York City that October 2001. Even if we did not know anyone personally who lost their life that day, we felt we lost family members. In our corporation one of our co-workers was a passenger on one of the fatal planes with his wife going on vacation to Los Angeles, but I did not know him. Our office sent contributions to his family. I think that the legacy of the 9/11 events will stay with us – they will for me, always. But I hope that the sense of unity I felt in New York City that October 2001 can also be recovered and be with us in the future.

Postcard photo Alfred Mainzer, Inc.