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Category: History

FASHION & TRAGEDY, DRAMA & CONFLICT, …CHRISTIAN DIOR & HIS COURAGEOUS SISTER CATHERINE…COCO CHANEL’S DARK SIDE EXPOSED…REMEMBRANCES OF TEXTILE FASHION AND HEROIC RESISTANCE IN PARIS.

Watching “The New Look” on Disney+ was very entertaining, with superb direction and great actors! The fascinating story sent me down a rabbit hole wanting to learn more about the history of the characters and the times. France during the Nazi occupation, the fashion industry, and decorative textiles…

BEAUTIFUL AND FASCINATING AVIGNON

In mid-September I traveled to Avignon for two nights on the eve of a bike tour of Provence with Backroads. Marla and I once had stayed across the Rhone River from Avignon in Villeneuve-les-Avignon at the wonderful Hotel Le Prieure Baumanerie. On that trip we were so…

A VISIT TO A BEAUTIFUL TINY CHAPEL, WE LAY FLOWERS ON MY SISTER’S GRAVE, AND TOUR THE GERMAN UNDERGROUND HOSPITAL, A SOBERING REMINDER OF GUERNSEY’S OCCUPATION DURING WORLD WAR II

When my nephew Steve suggested we drive to “The Little Chapel” I was thrilled as it many years since our last visit. My sister Patty took Marla and I to see it my very first Guernsey trip on a cold and wet January day. The Little Chapel is…

A VISIT TO “HAUTEVILLE HOUSE” IN GUERNSEY WHERE VICTOR HUGO LIVED IN EXILE FOR 15 YEARS AND WROTE “LES MISERABLES.”

Marla and I wanted to show our grandson Paxton “Hauteville House” where Victor Hugo lived for 15 years (1855 – 1870) in exile after he was banished from France due to the coup d’etat by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. The day before we walked by the Victor…

THE WONDER OF THE LOUVRE MUSEUM

On our last day in Paris during our France trip this summer we joined our daughter Lisa’s family for a private tour of the Louvre. Marla and I have visited this amazing museum a number of times, but having a private guide opened our eyes like never before…

BEAUTIFUL EDINBURGH. SCOTLAND, HOME OF MY ANCESTORS

I always wanted to visit Edinburgh so when my nephew Steve married Karen and moved to this beautiful city I knew we had to plan a trip. We finally made it happen. As a bonus my niece Suzanne and her husband Chris from St. Peter Port, Guernsey, joined us. We…

The German Occupation of Guernsey. An Island in Danger.

It is impossible to imagine what the inhabitants of the Channel Islands went through during World War II. On June 19, 1940, the British government demilitarized the Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, etc.), leaving the islands undefended. The newspaper headline above says, “Island Evacuation, All Children To Be…