Arriving in France – with a detour

Many hours were spent planning our trip to France. We were flying United Airlines from Atlanta to Chicago then connecting with another flight to Paris. The savings on the special fare made up for the studio downtown Paris I had rented for the last week of our stay. We were leaving Atlanta on Tuesday 26 April to return home on May 19th. On Sunday April 24th I sent an email to the studio’s owner to fix a meeting time. On Monday they replied that the studio was no longer available. So a day prior to our leaving, Easter Monday which is a holiday in France, I had to spend hours trying to find another studio instead of packing our suitcases! But I found one and by 3 am Tuesday morning our suitcases were packed. We arrived at the Atlanta airport in plenty of time but unfortunately, because of bad storms and tornadoes up north, we deplaned in Chicago at 5:40 pm. We rushed to the other terminal hoping to reach our connecting flight in time which was to depart at 6:00 PM.

Click on collage to enlarge, then click on each picture

We arrived at the gate at 5:55 PM, the aircraft was still there but the door was closed – I am sure our seats had been given away. We watched as the plane backed off the ramp and slowly rolled away – without us. It was a terrible feeling.

(Internet picture - no author known)

There was a flight going to London at 9:00 PM we were told, then once in London we could connect to another flight to Paris. This is what we did. The plane had many groups of happy tourists on board flying to London to watch The Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on Friday 29th, but this was not a detour we had anticipated. The 8 ½ hour flight went smoothly and as we approached Heathrow Airport the weather looked fine from my aircraft window.

We had time to catch our Air France flight to Paris so I tried to find some wedding souvenir at the airport shop. The choice was very limited as they were sold out of many items. I did buy some tea though.




When we arrived at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, around 1:00 PM on Wednesday 27th, our luggage did not show up. We made a report then took the train to the little town – about 1 hour from Paris – where my cousins live. The next day we had to go back to Paris to make arrangements for the studio with the owners. We brushed our traveling clothes and went back to Paris – we had no report on our luggage. The new studio was in the Marais area of Paris which I know well since my mother had a flat there for several years. The studio looked OK but had no computer access. The owners invited us to their flat so I could send a quick email to our daughters. I enjoyed taking pictures of the view from their 5th floor apartment. We could even see the top of Notre Dame de Paris from their window.




By Friday 29th we were quite tired and happy to stay home with our cousins and watch TV. My cousin had prepared a special meal to celebrate – I thought it was for our arrival… no, it was to accompany the viewing of The Wedding on TV. We started with my cousin’s special cocktail.



Watching The Wedding had not been in my prepared plans, but then the detour to London had not been planned either. I decided to take many pictures since the television format in France is quite fine and pictures usually look pretty good. In 1942 the US decided to use the NTSC format (National Television Standards Committee) which has 525 lines of resolution. At that time this was good enough for black and white transmission. Europe, Australia and part of Asia selected the competing format called PAL, or Phase Alternating Line. This system was created after the advent of color broadcasting. It has 625 lines of resolution which give better picture quality and color signals truer to the original image. This is the reason that European videos cannot be seen on US televisions.



The pictures were very clear. We saw the ceremony better than if we had been sitting in Westminster Abbey really.




Actually while sipping my cocktail I now realize that I took over 250 pictures – way too many.



Below is a small selection.

Click on collage then click on each picture for better viewing

My cousin told me that Prince Albert of Monaco (the son of the former Grace Kelly) is to wed his South African swimmer girl-friend, Charlene Wittstock, this summer. Here they are below arriving at the Abbey.

I took another sip to wish them both good luck.



Then it was back to the pictures…




I caught “the kiss”



and English high fashion



“the end.”



Now it was time to call Air France to see if they had located our luggage – it had been 3 days already. They had located them… but in Los Angeles.



They finally arrived the following day, Saturday. This was not the end of our adventures though. Now I have to look at all my pictures and will talk about the rest of this trip in the coming weeks.

Blog Intermission No. 12 (entr’acte) Lunch by the river

In my last post “A bridge in Vinings, Georgia” we had parked the car close to Hermi’s bridge. There is a gourmet restaurant called Canoe right there by the banks of the Chattahoochee. I remembered seeing this restaurant almost under water two years ago during the September flood (see my posts here.)




But now the restaurant and its garden looked very attractive.



We decided to have lunch there but first we took a walk in the pretty garden.



It was cool (70 F/21 C) and after the heavy rain of the previous night every little flower had brilliant colors and the Canada Geese were happily munching the shiny grass.

Click on collage to enlarge then click on each picture to biggify

Hermi’s bridge looked very good from the garden and it was hard not to take many pictures. I must have taken about two dozen of the bridge alone.

The views of the Chattahoochee River were lovely too, so I took many pictures from different angles.



I could have stayed a long time taking many pictures but it was already 2:00 PM and time for lunch - just a few more pictures before being seated.




We shared the appetizer which was called Canoe’s House Smoked Salmon with Crispy Potato Cake and Vermont Goat’s Cheese. Very tasty. This was followed with Panko crusted George’s Bank Cod with whipped potatoes and baby spinach on caper brown butter for me. As we ate, it was lovely to look out to the colorful garden.



My husband was often distracted by the antics of the Canada Geese and a variety of birds flying to the feeders.




My husband had the charred steak salad with romaine hearts and shiitake mushrooms on toasted sour dough bread and Caesar dressing. We finished with the Valhrona Chocolate & Salted Caramel Grotto with Pretzel Hazelnut Dust. What can I say – delicious contemporary fare in a comfortable yet classy atmosphere while overlooking a perfect setting with garden and river views…..



Spring in Atlanta with all the majestic trees, the dogwoods in bloom, the azaleas and other brilliant flowers soothes the soul – and a good lunch in a local restaurant soothes the palate.

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Blog Intermission No. 11 (entr’acte) A Bridge in Vinings, GA

Two weeks ago in my post “Spring in Atlanta” I ended by saying that we were driving away from the affluent Buckhead area of Atlanta and going toward the Chattahoochee River. We followed the West Paces Ferry Road to the small unincorporated town of Vinings, GA.



This area has a long history as the markers show.

Click on collage then on each picture to enable easier reading of the markers

As you can see from the markers above during the retreat of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, his forces used a pontoon bridge here in July 1864.

General Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891) as pictured in Harper’s Weekly on October 5, 1861

In the South and other places there will be sesquicentennial commemorations, from April 2011 to June 2015, to mark the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. This conflict started on 12-13 April 1861 in Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina, when the Confederate troops defeated U.S. federal forces. The Confederates demanded that a Union garrison surrender the fort and fired on it at that date. Union forces surrendered two days later but this event launched the four-year war resulting in a total of 646,392 dead or wounded. Troops would also cross the Chattahoochee River on horseback in the shallower areas of the river.

The little town of Vinings was officially recognized as a community in 1904 and a one-lane bridge was built across the Chattahoochee River (until then a man named Hardy Pace operated a ferry-boat there.) This one-way bridge was in great use and even though it was quaint, it was decided in 1972 that it should be torn down and replaced by a two-lane concrete bridge.



A couple who lived in the area, Cecil and Hermione (known as Hermi) Alexander, did not want this bridge to be torn down because of its history. They petitioned the Fulton County Commission arguing that it would be more cost effective to leave the bridge in place and build the new one alongside it. This was done. Then Hermi led an effort to raise money to keep the bridge as a pedestrian crossing. The bridge found new life as a pedestrian walkway. Tragically in 1983, not far from this bridge, Cecil and Hermi’s car was struck, head-on, by a car driven by a drunk teenager. Hermi was killed. Local officials renamed the crossing “Hermi’s Bridge” in her memory.




A dedication ceremony took place and as Hermi was very active in the Civil Rights movement and had been the first female jury commissioner in the county, a plaque was installed which states: “ Hermione Weil Alexander. She built bridges across gulfs of prejudice and ignorance.”



In 2006 Hermi’s bridge was deemed unsafe for pedestrians and closed. There had only been minor repairs and a new coat of paint applied in 1916. Cecil headed up an effort to raise the funds necessary to restore the bridge to its former grandeur. He had flyers printed outlining the history of the bridge and his late wife’s contribution. Cecil is a retired architect whose firm designed the Atlanta Fulton County Stadium and the Coca-Cola World headquarters. In 1957 he designed his and Hermis’ house, a round house. Life Magazine in a 1959 issue described it as “a modernist showpiece.” In March 2010 the house was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places.




Cecil Alexander was a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Marine Corps during the war flying 60 dive bomber missions in the Pacific. He was in the movie “Driving Miss Daisy” and was the basis for one positive Marine character in Pat Conroy’s book “The Great Santini.”

Book jacket of the Great Santini by Pat Conroy

Cecil fought in the Civil Rights movement. With GA US Representative John Lewis, Cecil who is Jewish, formed the Atlanta Black Jewish Coalition. He has received many letters of thanks (from Marthin Luther King, Jr. and other dignitaries.)

Cecil Alexander, courtesy Stephen H. Moore photography

Cecil was successful in raising the $1 million needed for the restoration project and on 23 November 2010 Cecil Alexander, now 92 years old, attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly rehabilitated Hermi’s Bridge.

Ribbon cutting ceremony on 23 November 2010 (photo courtesy Trio Media Group)

We parked the car and crossed Hermi’s bridge.

We stopped a minute to look at the Chattahoochee River flowing below.




Once across we followed a path by the bank of the river, which happens to be on the grounds of a leading Atlanta private school, the Lovett School. Much vegetation and flowers were on the path. We also found another historical marker, on the old Paces’s Ferry Road and a fountain in front of a school building.




Through the overgrown vegetation I could distinguish Hermi’s bridge. I came close to the river to get a better view.



I took one final picture of the Chattahoochee River



before we crossed back over Hermi’s Bridge



then walked back to our car.

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