Bonne Année

Happy New Year and Bonne Année to all of my friends, family, and loyal readers. I wish you health and happiness in 2012.

Happy Birthday Philippe

Today is my son Philippe's 36th birthday. I'm sorry I won't be in Portland to celebrate with him and Rachel, but we'll be thinking of him and sending love.

Last year I featured some photos of him as a youngster.
Here's a more recent photo of Philippe:


Philippe and Rachel have a special connection with Paris - this is where they became engaged in 2007. Philippe and Rachel came back to Paris in May, 2011 and they returned to the site of his proposal - the Pont des Arts - to seal their love by attaching a padlock to the railing and throwing the key into the river below.









Patrice and I went back to the Pont des Arts last week to look for their padlock.

The bridge continues to attract lovers and padlocks.

Face to face

Patrice received a slide scanner for Christmas. He has thousands of slides taken by his father and himself over the years. One of the first slides that he scanned was this one of his much younger self:


We went to the Bois de Vincennes to take a more recent picture
and voilà - his doppelganger

The Louvre

A rare December blue sky led us to the Louvre for our most recent photo expedition.








Patrice enjoys playing with the camera controls and post-production special effects:


p.s. Oops, it's hard to see the birds in the tiny video window.
Here's an enlargement.

Happy Birthday Sonia

Today is Sonia Martin's 79th birthday. We have been friends since 1961 - 50 years! I wrote about Sonia last year here.

In October, 1956, Sonia Stromback married William R. (Bill) Martin. Here they are on their wedding day.


Bill was older than Sonia, and yet they were married for almost 49 years when Bill passed away in July, 2005. Here they are in 1957.


Now, Sonia's live-in companion is Owen, a rambunctious* Airedale that Sonia rescued a few years ago. (Rambunctious = turbulent)



I'll be thinking of you, Sonia, and sending love from Paris.

McDonald's in Paris

What? Elaine agrees to eat a BigMac?? I thought she preferred oysters, foie gras and champagne? Yes, she does prefer French food and NEVER goes to McDonald's - until yesterday. We were out on a photography expedition and after spending a couple of hours on bicycles and on foot, we were tired and hungry. And it was 4 in the afternoon - certainly not a proper time for a meal. I decided to put aside my prejudices for the sake of exploration.


Yep, a BigMac tastes about the same anywhere in the world.

Réveillon de Noël

The traditional French Christmas eve dinner (réveillon de noël) gathers friends and family around a table that often includes oysters, foie gras, champagne and other delicacies.

Patrice and I were invited to réveillon at the Cabane a Huitres. It was a private dinner with Francis, his wife Régine, son Frédéric and a couple of family friends. Dinner included champagne and plenty of oysters - of course!