Buy Insurance

I guess you need insurance no matter what you drive, or where you live. On the streets of Paris there are 50 scooters and bicycles to every car. Everything is chained up but that didn't help this bike owner. As we toured the city with a driver for an hour, it reminded me a lot of San Francisco. There are beggars and homeless people everywhere. Even though the city provides shelter for these people there still are ones that climb into tents, sleeping bags and under tarps to sleep on the streets. Our driver showed us several famous and interesting sites. He also took us through the underpass where Princess Diana was killed. Her car was going 90 mph which was probably double the speed limit. Now we are back home in England. I have to get my golf lined up for the week, Blog you Later!

Mona Lisa

The number one art attraction in the world is the "Mona Lisa". We fought our way through the crowds and got a picture of the original. After getting our second-wind we took in the Paris night life. The Moulin Rough was a real treat. It's considered the most famous cabaret in the world. What a great show. So we crowded four days of sightseeing into two days. This is a city that you need a couple of weeks to see the sights.

Paris

How about an Easter get-away in Paris. We spent Saturday and Sunday in France with about a billion other tourists. Traveling on the Eurostar international rail service, Julie and I went from central London to Paris in a little over 2 hours. The train travels at 186 mph, and goes under the English Channel so it's a rather quick trip. We have lots of pictures so I'll through in a few. Here is a picture of us at the Musee Du Louvre (Museum), and the Eiffel Tower at night snowing. We celebrated Easter dinner in the Tower restaurant and watched the snow fall. While we were eating our daughter Brooke called from Arizona where she was laying by the pool at 85 degrees. We spent the day walking the Avenue Des Champs Elysees, where the most expensive shopping in the world takes place.

Harrods

Harrods is the ultimate shopping experience. Located in central London, Harrods attracts tourists and big spenders from all over the world. It is owned by the father of Dodi Fayed who you might remember, was killed in an auto crash with Princes Diana in 1997. Shown here are the girls outside of Harrods, and Brooke signing the memorial. It is amazing to see the best of the best for sale. All of the top brands of men's and women's clothing, jewelry, and food displays that you couldn't even imagine. Even going through the gift shop, I still had trouble finding something that I could afford. But not the women. They were burning holes in the credit cards like you wouldn't believe. I should have played golf in the rain instead. I hate shopping!

Hurricane

Yup the big one hit the UK. 80 MPH winds, a ton of rain and we are in the middle of our first hurricane. There was a lot of flooding, road closures, trees blown down, and some building damage. London Heathrow airport canceled about 40 flights, and Gatwick also canceled some. After barely surviving an earthquake two weeks ago, then comes a hurricane. How much can a human take. I never thought I'd get beat down so low. The rain was so bad, I had to hire a caddy to hold an umbrella over me while I lined up putts. If you believe that, and have any feelings at all, please send relief funds to my local golf club, Clandon Regis, in my name. We really need the help.

More Family

Almost a family reunion. Here Nephew Charles joins our guests at dinner Sunday night. Charles is one of 10,000 US Air Force service people stationed at Lakenheath Air Force Base north of London. It was a two hour drive to Guildford, for Charles. We had a great visit as we spent most of the day together.

Visitors

Here is our daughter Brooke (left) and cousin Vicki from Arizona. They showed up today to visit for a week. Of course we will lay low for a day, so our first US visitors get adjusted to a 7 hour time change. It's nice to have family here for the first time. This is the first European trip for both.

Farmers Market

Every Friday and Saturday the local farmers bring their produce to town. This is quite nice for the cook, that would be me, getting fresh produce weekly. This is very popular here and brings people from many other villages. Not only is there produce but a huge selection of fruit, beef, chicken, lamb, fish, and even flowers. So we got no excuse for not eating good.

BMW Towncar

This BMW motorcycle comes very well equipped. With the high cost of fuel, narrow roads, and just no place to park, we're seeing more of these on the roads. These fully covered bikes are ridden year-round in any weather conditions. I don't see very many bicycles in use, even with high fuel costs. There just isn't enough room for autos to get by a cyclist in many places, with no hard shoulders anywhere. Many city roads don't even have room for someone to walk safely, with shrubs and rock walls on the road edges. I can sure appreciate the wide open spaces I grew up with.

UK GOLF

While Julie was off having fun at work today, I joined a local golf club. The club is called Clandon Regis. It is a 18 hole, par 72 course, and is the nearest course from our flat. Only a 10 minute drive on the wrong side of the road, and I'm playing. It will be a while before I put on my Arizona shorts, but the golfing isn't to bad with a light jacket. Now I can meet a few chaps for golf maybe twice a week, and hit the gym 2 or 3 times a week. After typing up a few blogs the week will be over. It's going to be very exhausting trying to adjust to this lifestyle, I'll give it my best shot.

LEEDS CASTLE

Every castle needs a King & Queen: How about this good looking couple! Friday Night Julie hosted a recognition night for several "best of the best" employees in her region of 180 branches. All spouses were included, as special guests so I got to go. This took place in the south-east England area of Kent. We spent a fun overnight at the Bearsted Marriott. The awards presentation was a formal dinner, within the Leeds Castle walls. The construction of the castle started over 900 years ago, during the reign of Henry 1. Over the years it has been a royal residence for six of England's medieval Queens, a palace of Henry V111, and a retreat for the powerful and influential. Toady it is preserved by a foundation for the enjoyment of the public. The Castle is very well known for hosting weddings, and concerts. We got to tour the entire property which was a real treat. It is considered the most beautiful castle in the world.