AFPF Travelogue

Around the World with Toddy

I left Perth on May 2nd, it was strange to travel 30 hours via Sydney and Los Angeles and still arrive on May 2nd !! Thankfully Keith and Margaret were there to help me negotiate the perils of those trolleys that you need to pay for before "they'll" let you use them !! We managed to get all the luggage into the car, and headed off for 'downtown' and The Golden Nugget Hotel. On the way I asked for my first lesson on how to live in the States.......how much and how often do I need to tip ??

In OZ we don't tip at all, and I knew this was going to be a tough one to get used to.........after all I didn't want to be too generous,<G>, but I didn't want to be a skinflint either. I just knew Keith would be the right one to educate me on this very important part of American life, with his in depth knowledge of money matters <G>

The hotel was wonderful, complete with a massive golden nugget, (found in OZ) which was well protected behind glass, and became our meeting place, when we didn't arrange to eat together !!

We met Norma and had something to eat before I collapsed for the night at 7.30.......jet lag made sure that I woke up every 2 hours, but at least I was finally in bed, and able to relax in my king-sized bed !!

Monday, and after brekkie with Norma, Donna (who had arrived at midnight, and stayed up 'playing' all night,) mj, and Bette, Keith and Margaret came and took Norma and me on a wonderful sight seeing trip around LV, before stopping at the New Orleans.....their local pub !! .....for lunch, and then back to their place where we met Andrew and Daniel (grandsons) and Peter, their Dad........ what a privilege....it is so great to travel and meet with 'locals' who are willing to share a bit of their lives with you, and spend time doing so.

Then to the very important part of the whole 5 days..........dinner with the whole mob at Main Street Station. This was great, we all met up for a buffet dinner, so that if we arrived at different times it wouldn't be so disruptive, special thanks to mj for her organisational skills :-)) Norma, Donna and I arrived together, and spied the rest of the group, minus Beth.....who arrived straight from work a little later. So we sat down and started a wonderful meal with Jack, Bette, mj, Donna, Norma, L'Il Al, Margaret, and Keith.....and eventually a breathless Beth.!!!

We had a great meal and took lots of photos, until I got a message passed down the table......"Keith wants to see you lose your $20 in a flash at the Black Jack table"......."Done" says I, and off we go....well, I couldn't lose !! Keith was so impressed that he had to join in eventually, and he won too.....much more than I did, but then I was happy with a small win, and not willing to risk a loss, after having won at a table in Las Vegas !!

Beth was the noisiest of us all, and made sure we didn't lose each other by having the best fun !! ( mj disappeared, she was concentrating so hard on her slot machine, that we lost her somehow).

Tuesday.......Breakfast at the Golden Nugget again, and alas and alack......mj got the wrong brekky........well you should have seen her, (and the rest of us,) stick up for herself !! She was embarrassed, but we were all terribly impressed with such assertiveness........needless to say mj got the strawberries she originally asked for !!

I tried desperately to get my computer online....with little success, in spite of gallant offers of help from Al, and the girls........they all got fed up with my efforts and left me to get on with it !!......I was successful in the end, but it took some doing !!

In the evening Keith, Margaret, Donna, Norma and I went to a delicious dinner at Phillips Supper House......I was amazed to see poker machines set into the bar, just to catch your change, should you have any !!

It was quite a shock to the system to see slot machines everywhere......and the noise of their electronic 'musak' (ping, ping, ping) will be an abiding memory.... as well as the shrieks of excitement from people who were winning !!!!!

Wednesday.........Norma and I went to the California Hotel to have brekky with Al and Joy, before they left to return to California.......I knew there had to be a reason they stayed there !!

It was sad to say good bye to the last of the group, but it had been a wonderful few days, with lots of laughter, and fun..........pictures with Elvis come to mind !!

I slept the sleep of the righteous (?) on Wednesday afternoon, after saying good-bye to Donna.... and had an early dinner so as to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for my trip to the Grand Canyon the next day.

Thursday dawned a beautiful day, and we took off from LV airport in a 9 seater aeroplane with huge windows to fly to the Grand Canyon. The plane was full, and we had 6 of them all taking off in convoy to arrive one after the other....... the views were breathtaking, and nothing I can say will do them justice.........suffice to say that I took far too many photos, many of which look alike, and I knew I was doing it, and just couldn't stop myself.

It is really awesome, so majestic and magnificent.....10 miles wide and a mile deep, and with incredible colours and texture, that it really takes your breath away.

At one spot on the South rim, there were many tourists from buses, like we were, and all sorts of nationalities, and all I heard was "WOW" . It didn't matter where the people came from......the word was "WOW" !!!!!!!! I saw the views, deer, a squirrel, the mules that take you down to camp at the bottom of the canyon if you want to !!......One called Charlie, the only white one, who insists on walking on the edge nearest the edge of the path, with a sheer drop on that side......making even hardened travellers/hikers WALK up to the top again............Charlie is no fool !!!!!

It was with sadness that we left the area after too short a time.....and made the return flight 'home' to LV for a late lunch and ready to pack to leave for Chicago, and my sister Heather, whose home I had never seen.

This was my introduction the States.........simply wonderful........it is the people that make such a trip worthwhile, and I would like to thank everyone there for making it such a great time........I even learnt how to tip !!

Friday........downstairs early to wait for the shuttle bus to the airport......a white stretch limousine drew up alongside and the driver, in uniform, got out and said "$6.00 for the airport?"....... I was amazed and wondered if this was some sort of trick, but the blokes who were painting the pavement, (or sidewalk, as I learnt to say,) assured me "Only in Las Vegas !!" What an end to my trip there !! A stately drive to the airport with others picked up at the hotel, and dropped outside the correct terminal in real style.

Only in Las Vegas !!

On arrival in Chicago, I was met by my youngest sister, Heather.......after a big hug, and she said " Could you move to the other side, I have a broken elbow " !! Typically, she hadn't told me the day before when I checked that she had remembered that I was arriving on Friday !! It was wonderful to stay with her for 3 weeks in Barrington, Ilinois.......about 45 minutes northwest of Chicago. She has been there for 18 years, and Peter and I had never made it to her home. We were going to, but she always came over to UK when we did, so the opportunity didn't occur. She is 7 years my junior, and my arrival was very timely. she really needed help, not only physical, with her broken elbow, and also wrist, as it turned out later, but emotionally as well.

So she went to work, and when she was able to take time off, or at the weekends we sorted out her worries, and set the world to rights........I only hope she is able to keep to the plan we made, and doesn't let things get on top of her again.

I discovered the weather channel.....how anyone can talk about the weather for 24 hours is fascinating !! and the History channel......a wonderful channel with all sorts of different history stories/documentaries that were really interesting, and did my best to make friends with her 2 cats......declawed.......something that one doesn't see in OZ. They are mainly indoor cats, and were only allowed outside under very close supervision.

I thoroughly enjoyed sitting at her windows and seeing the most wonderful wildlife. Birds, a cardinal, mum and dad, and baby......A really beautiful little blue bird, an indigo bunting,and a fantastic little red bird, a scarlet tanager, with black feathers on its wings, and blue jays everywhere..... American robins, much bigger than either English or Aussie ones................, and red-winged blackbirds .......with their flash of red as they fly by..... chipmunks, hurrying and scurrying and playing up and down her garden steps, squirrels fighting for the bird seed in the feeder........being very greedy . On the lake just down the road, there were swans, gulls, and egrets too,

The first week was spent just recovering from LV, and getting to know Heather's youngest daughter, the elder arrived from College at the end of the week. We had arranged to meet up with Connie and Don and his Bride, Don rang me during the week, and enjoyed surprising me!!

We had a great chat on the phone like old friends, it was so much fun, then the day before we were due to go to lunch Connie rang and told us that Don was ill, and wouldn't be coming to lunch, and would I mind if Dick joined us. I said " Of course not, but who is Dick?" Connie wasn't sure, but he knew us, obviously, so we were delighted that he wanted to come along too.

I discovered that Don's hospital wasn't far from the diner, so if it would be all right, Heather and I would love to visit him in there.....Connie said she thought that would be fine.

Heather and I set off for Valparaiso, Indiana.....I had now been to Nevada, Arizona, Ilinois, and now Indiana. We were both excited, Heather wondering if I were sane, and who on earth we were off to meet, and me with the knowledge I was about to meet great people !!

The trip, about 2 1/2 hours, was relatively uneventful, except for having to find 40c every few miles for the tolls on the road....I was amazed at the amount we had to pay, anything form 25c to 40c and very regularly too,or so it seemed.

The city of Chicago had to be negotiated, no problems.......the freeway systems are great, and Saturday was a quiet day to go through the middle of the city. The countryside is very flat, but the fields were planted with corn, and we could see the shoots just poking up through the dark brown earth, giving a green tinge everywhere, and those red barns !!......they are on every farm, and so beautifully designed, just like the old Dutch architecture. We saw a swallow-tailed kite and plenty of redwing blackbirds too.

Lunch !!......well I don't remember what we ate, but I do remember we had some special biscuits that had just come out of the oven.... We were just so pleased to be together, we were laughing most of the time !!

Dick and his wife Barb were there, and it turned out that Dick was 'Flip'......with whom I have spent hours on mIRC chatting and having fun........he sends wav. files saying things like "You are addicted" and "Hello Anne". He can be found on #desert regularly, mostly with the 40+ mob, all great fun too.

He impressed us all with his digital camera, and swore he would delete any that were bad.....I should have vetted them then and there <VBG>, and Barb showed us photos of the grand children and her handiwork.......great stuff !!

Connie is as beautiful as her posts promised she would be, and I felt as if we were really old friends, and could have spent much longer with her. She was very generous, and lots of fun, we laughed a lot, and we found the same things funny !!

Well, we had to get back to Chicago, and she had to go back to work, it was fun meeting other people there, and they were all interested to meet someone from OZ.

We found our way to the hospital, and Don......(who was really Prone), but he was in great spirits, we passed a very pleasant 3/4 hour there.....at least.....only being thrown out by someone who wanted to do yet ANOTHER test. I was sorry we missed Don's Bride, but maybe next time. It was great to see Don looking so well, after not being sure just how ill he was.

Sooooooo, now was crunch time, which way was home? We set off, certain we were heading on the right direction, but went too far, and decided to turn around and eventually took a completely wrong turn and ended up with an unguided tour in this part of Indiana !!

Heather was enjoying the tour, so it was hard to persuade her to stop and ask where we were, but finally we did, and only had to turn around a drive about 500 yards to the main road, which we promptly crossed as if it weren't there at all !!!!

Fortunately there was a youngster there, working on a tractor, and dressed in those denim dungarees that you see in movies, and we stopped and asked him how to get to Chicago ........"Chicago????? Why, you'd have to take the toll road !!" He was amazed that we were so far from home !!

We arrived home safely and exhausted after a very happy day, Heather really impressed with my friends, and me so thrilled to have been able to meet up with them all. It had been a superb day.

One of the highlights of my whole trip was the day we drove right across Ilinois and went to the Mississippi river, we stopped at the tourist town of Galena for lunch, and a wander around. This was where part of the film "Field of Dreams", with Kevin Costner had been filmed, and then on to Dubuque and THE river.....

it was just as I had imagined it....so wide, and with huge bridges forming arches across it. It was so exciting, all that history and all those novels I had read all came back to me. There was even a Casino riverboat moored there too. The river was in flood, and was very impressive, we went around the dredger there, the William M. Black, and took photos and then set off, to the other side so that I could say that I had also been to Iowa !! Much hillier than Ilinois.

We set off back for home on this side so that we could drive alongside the river for a while......well in true Heather fashion, that took much longer than it looked on the map, as what looked like a bridge was in fact just a series of locks which helped the low lying ground when the river flooded.

After we crossed the river, eventually , to get back to Ilinois and home again, I took over some of the driving, as Heather was tired after driving all that way.......this was an adventure, as I hadn't driven on the 'wrong' side of the road for many a long year, and I was a bit worried about it.....but all went smoothly, even through some of the smaller roads as we reached home, and I had to negotiate left hand turns etc. Fortunately Heather is a great back seat driver, so I got lots of help I was good at throwing money at the tolls too !!!!

It had been a wonderful 3 weeks, with getting to know my 'little' sister again, and her 2 daughters, who are beautiful, and a delight to be with.........they laugh at my jokes<VBG> Of course one of the fun things we had to do was go to the mall and SHOP!!!!!

However, the meeting of the garden friends was about to get under way and I was off to Canada, to join in. Having packed and re-packed my suitcase 3 times, on May 26th I set off for Toronto, en route for London, Ontario, to meet Patsy and John with whom I would be staying.

May 26th.........In order to avoid long drawn out tearful farewells, Heather dropped me at the airport, and drove off without a backward glance........I hope :-)

The trip to Toronto was uneventful and comfortable, on arrival, I found that I had to walk the whole length of the airport, to get to the part I needed to get to, to get my forward flight to London, Ontario !!

This was the biggest problem I had throughout all my travels alone...... coping with carrying my stuff alone, especially when the laptop is SO heavy, and trolley carts are not available.

However I arrived safely in London, Ont. and there all waiting for me was a group of friends I had also really been looking forward to meeting........my garden friends :-) I met all these people on www.garden.com in the chat room, and they were the first people I had ever met on the net.......4 of them were there to greet me, and like meeting the ng friends it felt as if we had known each other for ages.

We settled in the nearest diner....a big one...had an enormous early dinner and then set off for Ridgetown, Ont., where Patsy and her husband John live. They had been very generous and I was invited to stay with them until the 30th. We had Thursday and Friday together getting organised for the invasion of chatters who were to join us, we were 11 in total.

My first night I spent throwing things out of my suitcase trying to find my nightdress......it was a new one, and I had bought it, while shopping with Heather at Pier 1 especially because I wouldn't be with 'family' or in a hotel, so felt I needed something 'respectable'. I couldn't find it !!......Not only that, but after pulling out the couch and making a very comfortable bed, Patsy told me that they didn't have a door on their sitting room !! ....HELP!!!!! I improvised, and stopped worrying about not looking respectable...... who does in those circumstances !!??

The next morning there were gentle enquiries about what I had been up to, so late....and lots of laughter...... fortunately they have a door on their bedroom !!

Patsy and John took me to Lake Erie, very windy <G> and to a farm where they had buffalo and camels, and all sorts of local wild life......even some Aussie cockatoos !! It was fun, and we saw a bear that Patsy had held on her knee as a fur ball when he was a baby. He is now HUGE.....and not someone I'd like to get too close to !! We also saw a cross between a buffalo and a cow..... a beefalo ?

On Friday night some of the chatters arrived and we all ate a wonderful dinner that Patsy had prepared, and laughed and teased, as if we had known each other for years. The next day everyone arrived, and we had a great time inspecting Patsy's garden, which is a marvel.... for those of you who are interested these are the addresses of her web pages.........well worth a visit.

https://members.tripod.com/~patsy_3/patsy_page2.html

We all had dinner together in a local restaurant, and much fun was had by all, especially Milt, who LOVES his Cool Whip!! This was made even more obvious the next morning at brekkie, when he ate a serving with nothing but strawberry jam (jelly) to flavour it !! YUK!! What fun we all had !!

After brekkie Milt and his wife Mary Grace took me back with them to their place in Arcadia, Michigan.....a 6 hour drive. On the way I learnt to play their favourite long journey game: "Spot the golf course" !! I even spotted one before they did, and they do this drive on a regular basis !!

I had a fantastic 4 days with them, they were great, and showed me around their special place, a beautiful garden, of course, but also fantastic wild life to see....white tailed deer, wild turkeys, lots of birds. There was a humming bird too, but I just missed seeing him several times:-(( Mary Grace arranged for me to have hair cut (I was getting desperate !!), and took me to a Mexican restaurant, where I had a MARGARITA!!!!........it was raspberry flavour , and I had the salt around the glass, and I really enjoyed it.....another new experience !!

They took me on evening drives to see all these things and also to see the beautiful countryside, the surrounding woods and all the little lakes as well as Lake Michigan, but I couldn't see the other side where I had been with Heather <VBG>

We left at midnight to drive to Sarnia, in Canada, for me to catch the train to Toronto to catch the plane to the other London, this time in UK........I had to do this in order not to go 'backwards' as a Round the world ticket insists that you keep going in the direction you started from, and I had gone 'backwards' to London Ont. as a separate part of my trip, not part of the original ticket, they drove all through the night to get me there at 5.00am, for the train that left at 5.25am !! Brilliant timing !! Not just brilliant timing, but very special people, who took me into their home, and made me feel part of the family, meeting their daughter and her husband and two daughters, and really put themselves to some inconvenience with this train business <G>

I learnt to throw a frizbee for their dog, Jean Marie, an Australian Shepherd, an American breed I had never heard of before. All in all a wonderful part of my trip. I cannot over-emphasise how generous and kind my garden friends were. I am a very lucky person. The train to Sarnia was comfortable and only cost me $30 !!. Mary Grace had arranged this some time before I had got there. I arrived in Toronto at about 8.30am, and left my luggage at the station, before going across, underground, to the Royal York Hotel for breakfast, which I was really ready for !! I then went to the Concierge in the Hotel, and asked what I should do before I left for the airport to travel to UK, and how to get to the airport too !! He told me to go to the CN tower, the tallest free standing building in the world. So off I went, passing and chatting to a homeless bloke at the traffic lights......(too lazy to work was the impression I got !!) and bought a ticket to get to the top of the tower. It is really incredible to get so high and get a wonderful view of the city. The whole tower was buzzing with activity, lost of school children on their 'end of year' trips and lots of foreigners too.

It is a very spread out flat city on the edge of Lake Ontario, so the views were just great. They also have a spot in the tower which has a glass floor, so you can stand on it and look down on the world scurrying around below..............I didn't stay there very long, I felt as if the whole thing was swaying in the breeze !!

After this adventure, I went to find some coffee, and wandered around the central part of the city for a while until I felt as if I could no longer keep my eyes open......apart from about an hour in the car, and 1/2 an hour on the train I had had very little sleep since the morning before !!

So I had lunch, got my luggage, and some help to get it across the road to where the shuttle bus left, bought my ticket, and sat there vegetating until we got to the departure terminal, and after a bit of a wait, boarded the plane for London.

I was awake for a while, but once the trolley came around with drinks before dinner, I had had enough. So leaving dinner and drinks to the others, I slept the whole way, until we were woken for breakfast at 5.00am. This was good !! I had had 4 hours uninterrupted sleep and felt much better !! We landed safely, and I caught the "Hotel Hoppa" to get to the hotel to pick up my hire car..........

Having arrived in London and got to the Hotel to pick up my car, I set off for the M4 and Southampton.....however I missed the turning for the A3, and found myself in Central London......Kensington High Street !!

You may well ask how I managed that. I have no idea. !! After enquiries about finding the right road, I astonished myself by driving into Richmond Park. !!!! I spy a lady, dressed in the almost compulsory tweeds, who has just finished a walk with her 2 retrievers and a Labrador, and ask her if she could possibly tell me how to find the A3.

"FOLLOW ME " !!!!!!

I did, and was extremely irritated, and not a little relieved, to find that it was 'just around the corner'. This little exercise had taken me 2 hours !!

My 87 year old aunt A.D., in Chichester was worried sick, and I couldn't get the mobile phone to work. I stopped at the first available loo, and fixed both myself and the phone, and rang my aunt, who was relieved to hear I was all right, she thought I had flown from Perth to London, and had been in contact with my daughter in Perth........"Where's your Mum?" Helen replied that she had no idea, but that I had flown from Toronto and that I must be on my way <G> So instead of brekkie, I arrived in time for lunch, and a very long afternoon sleep !! I did have time to notice that a parcel had not arrived from Barrington, Ill.......not unexpected.

I have to explain that my aunt is like a second Mother to me and my brother and sisters, and is a very special person. We have a wonderful relationship, and spend a lot of our time together laughing and joking about silly things and generally behave much as we do in the ng <G>

By the Saturday morning I had a raging toothache, and she rang her dentist who was out surfing in or around Chichester Harbour, and the wind died !! He eventually returned our call, and said to be in his rooms at 7.30pm..........he took one look, gave me Penicillin, and said "Come back on Monday" !!

This I did, and we started the round of root canal treatments that were to go on for the next three weeks....on and off !! With the pain having settled a bit, I went 'up north' to my brother in Cumbria, and stayed with him and his family for a week.

When I arrived there I was beginning to show surprise when there was no parcel there for me from Barrington, Ill. This necessitated a phone call to Heather to ask her to send on my nightie to A.D. (Aunty Dorothy), so that I would have it when I got to Paris...... and points north <G>

Heather was out, but her daughter very kindly promised to do just that. Heather hadn't known what to do about it. !! Even though I had just spent 3 weeks with her, and she knew my itinerary.............. I think the thought of my going to stay with people in Canada whose telephone number I didn't even know, and who only have a PO box address had her really worried <G>

She shouldn't have worried, she met Connie, and Flip and Barb, and also Don.....and loved all of them :-) I had a great week with my brother, travelling around the Lake District to the beautiful towns nestled in the valleys between the hills, Keswick and Penrith. Grey towns, but really busy with summer crowds, and people looking for climbing and trekking equipment, like Ian, who was off to Peru for 3 weeks. We went to a circle of stones which looked like a mini version of Stonehenge, but was only built in the 16th century as a market place for the local farmers and traders. The weather was beautiful, unusually so, for the North East of England, and we made the most of it !!

However I had to get back to the dentist !! I talked to Peter's brother, and his wife Dorothy, whom we have now all met, and arranged to drop off the wedding presents for their son and his Bride-to-be about an hour down the Motorway , M6, and we met in an hotel carpark, and chatted for about 30 minutes before I continued on to Burridge, near Southampton, to stay with some friends of Peter, and who, since his death I had got to know much better than before. They, and Peter's brother and Dorothy were tremendous support for me at my son's wedding just 3 months after Peter died.

I was only about 30 minutes from the dentist should I need emergency treatment, and I felt much safer !!

We had a wonderful time, with one of the highlights being a trip around the area, taking all the back roads, to Salisbury, Marlborough, and another ancient town, Stockbridge(?). This was a wonderful day, and I saw the Cathedral in Salisbury while a service was going on, so I heard wonderful singing from the choir while I wandered about doing the tourist thing :-) Outside the Cathedral grounds, in the Close, there is a magnificent statue of an owl, standing about 6'6" high.....made out of bronze, I think. I love owls, and this was a special find :-)

We also had a great time coming somewhere in the middle at a quiz night for the local Rotary Club..........do you know how many back toes a frog has?

I knew though, that this had to end, and I had to go back to the dentist and A.D............and a parcel from Barrington, Ill !!!! So I was on the move again, and had an easy trip, past Eastleigh and Mick and Wendy, to Chichester, not that I was able to talk to them until later on in the week. That was fun, we had a great chat, and I am pleased that we did make contact :-) A.D. and I had a great time, visiting my cousin in Petersfield, and catching up on the last two years' news.

We also did the (little) Times cross word each day, and went for short walks around her garden, and down her drive. She talks a lot about her youth in Baghdad, and the family stories, it is great to hear how they grew up, and how they went to school in Italy, and their lives in 'the old days'.

The dentist tried valiantly to do another root canal treatment on my rotten tooth, but after a week end of tooth ache, he decide that I had had enough, and that he had too <G> so he decided that he had to remove it. I had about 3 days to recover, before I headed off to Paris and to my sister Jackie.

However the night before I left, I had to take the car back to the Forte Crest Hotel, I had decided to stay a night there, and take the Hotel Hoppa back to the airport the next morning to travel on to Paris. Finding the Hotel is easier than it sounds...... you can see it from the M4, but unless you take the exit before, you have to go on to the next exit, and drive around the outside of Heathrow to get to it...if you know which way you turn out of the airport....I didn't... LOL

At this stage I stopped at a barrier in front of some big offices, and asked the security man how to get there....thankfully he knew, and I arrived safely......no trouble with the car, which was great the whole trip.

My nursing friends, whom I had met in 1961 came to the hotel and we had a great dinner, catching up on the news, and generally behaving like we did when we were 18 !! They are the most loyal friends, and everytime I go back to UK we manage to meet up somehow, and somewhere.......we are lucky to have each other :-)

So on I go the next morning......on to Paris, I have week end to spend with Jackie, and then the mob arrives from all over to Meet up at the Hotel Ibis !!

As I arrived in Paris, and was picked up by a taxi arranged for by Jackie, through her company, she left and flew to London for business meetings. Returning just in time to go out on Thursday evening !! ......This is a typical occurrence in my family, so no one is concerned !!

Her daughter, Victoria,(12) met me at their home, and we went to the Chinese restaurant just next door for lunch. As neither of us was hungry, we ordered a plate of special rice and a glass of wine for me, and a soft drink for her. It was fun to talk to her, and hear how much her English has improved this last year.

As we leave, she is roundly told off by the proprietor for asking for rice alone, and as I had not attuned to the language yet, I had no idea what was going on.....we left it at that, and decided that we'd mention the fact that we were neighbours and regulars, the next time we went there.

Isabelle, Jackie's eldest daughter, and Jemma, her daughter, came round that night...with lots and lots of Lebanese food. It was delicious and we all had a good feed, and lots of laughter. I got to know Jemma, whom I had met 5 years ago when she was a little baby......she is a darling, and we had great fun with my French, and her teaching me things to say !! The next day, I wandered around, trying to find a bank that would give me some money.....my Visa card wouldn't work.....it took me a while to realise it was out of date <VBG>

Jackie was too busy to take me into town to find a Citibank to use my Diners Club card, so she lent me some money for the rest of the trip..............how wonderful it is to travel and stay with family!!

A.D. rang to make sure I was all right after all the dental work, and while chatting to both of us, wanted a quiet word with Jackie......."Don't let Anne wear her shorts in Paris, it just isn't done !!" We had a wonderful laugh, and agreed that I wouldn't do such a thing..... LOL.

The next evening we went to a party ........"just casual, after work".....well you should have seen the chic people there, and what a flat (apartment)......I was chatting to a woman, who is Yugoslav, and has sisters in Serbia, when I saw this amazing shape over her shoulder. When I decently could, I left her and went to see for myself........

It was the Eiffel Tower, and I felt as if I could touch it !! As the evening went on and it got dark, about 10.30pm, the lights came on, and the count down to the year 2000 was clearly visible, Victoria, who had made a fuss about going to the party, now made us stay until midnight to see the number of days change !! The food was superb, and they had caterers all dressed up in gold livery serving champagne and food.........Lebanese food !! They also had a huge round loaf of bread with all the bread cut out, and made into the thinnest smoked salmon sandwiches you have ever seen!!!

Friday, Victoria went to stay with her Father, and Jackie and I went to the Opera (Don Carlo) at the Bastilles Opera House. This was amazing .....they had subtitles above the stage, in French, so that everyone could understand the Italian they were singing......This Opera House is only about 10 years old, and they have all sorts of technology to make it so much more enjoyable.

There was a great decision to make before we went though......what to wear????? The weather was hot, and we decided that I'd wear a sleeveless dress, but as I don't like showing off my arms, I'd need an overshirt of some sort.........something that would tone in just right with the colours on my blue/purple dress............ we found the very thing..........