February 6, 2025

Lyon, France (06-16 May 2018)

On Sunday, May 6, Drew, Drake, Pat and I boarded the train in Nice for our ride to Lyon. The train was comfortable and fast, hitting 181 mph at some point. We were in the first-class section in the upstairs observation deck, with a table between us. There was a single car between us and the dinning car where we went to pickup snacks to last us until we got to Lyon. Being in the upper deck was great, allowing us to really see the passing countryside. Once at the Lyon Part-Dieu train station, we picked up sandwiches to take …

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Cap Ferrat and Around (22 April – 05 May 2018)

We drove from Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer to the Nice airport. It was a beautiful drive through the countryside, hugging the coastline. Jenny and the boys picked us up at the airport and we all headed to the house we would share for a few weeks in Cap Ferrat. This is a peninsula, jutting out into the Mediterranean, located between Nice and Monaco. As with many, if not most, of the towns and cities in France, the roads are narrow, and in the rental car we drove from Toulouse, and the car Jenny picked us up in, too narrow! These roads were not …

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Andorra (18-19 April 2018)

Pat and I took the 10:30 bus from Barcelona to Andorra, passing through some beautiful countryside, and arriving at Andorra la Vella at 13:45 (1:45 PM). When we reached the border with Andorra, there was no border control. Unfortunately, as with all E.U. countries, we didn’t get a stamp in our passports. Andorra is not an E.U. member country, so technically we should have gone through border control, however Andorra uses the Euro currency and is closely related to the E.U. A bit confusing. We arrived in the Andorra’s capital city, Andorra la Vella, we walked (uphill) from the bus …

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Western U.S.A (01-30 Sep 2017)

We’ve been traveling the world for the last several years (England, Singapore, Argentina, Chile, Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Denmark, Germany and France), so it was time to see more of the U.S.A. and some National Parks. Pat’s cousin Susan lives in La Conner, WA (an hour north of Seattle), we set out for there on the first day of September; but first a long, Labor Day weekend in Franklin, TN, visiting friends we had met in Singapore. When we moved to Singapore in 2014, Susan and Woody took us under their wings to introduce us to life out …

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Paris (7-25 July 2017)

Continuing our adventure that started in Singapore, moved to Copenhagen, on to Hamburg and now, on to Paris… Our AirBnB was located about halfway between Sacre-Coeur and the Louvre. Great location. Observations on Paris: Rue Cadet was a good place to stay, as it was about equidistant from many of the sites we want to see. Pastries are wonderful A large cup of coffee isn’t (see photo below). If you want a large coffee, order an Americano or better still go to Starbucks or McDonalds Good city for walking Crowded with tourists Most French beer is bland People speak English …

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Panama (February 2017)

Our flight to Panama, left Charlotte on February 7. This is the first time we have ever cashed in credit card points for a flight. The only problem with this: the tickets were not up-gradable, so we were stuck in basic economy. For a 4-hour flight, it wasn’t a real problem. Our hotel reservation at the Hyatt Place Panama City/Downtown, were made through booking.com. We arrived there about 11:30 PM and immediately went to bed. February 8 (Wednesday) For our first full day here in Panama City we did what we usually do when we get to a new place …

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London with David, Justin and Meredeth (25 June – 4 July 2016)

25 June – Saturday Pat and I left Singapore arriving very early into Heathrow at 5:10 AM. After landing we spent nearly 45 minutes getting through Immigration and Customs because of the crowds. We topped up our Oyster Cards and took the Underground to the Canada Water station (the closest one to our AirBnB – click to see the listing). Because we weren’t scheduled to meet our AirBnB host until 11:00 AM, we stopped at the Canada Water Cafe, just outside the station, for breakfast. Then we headed for the BnB, just to see if we could find it – we …

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Spain for Christmas 2015!

Last Christmas season found us in southern South America – Patagonia. This was our first trip to this continent so we thought what a great place to spend both Christmas and New Years among the mountains of Chile. Ice cold glaciers filled in for snow covered trees. Good friends of ours in Charlotte decided to spend a year traveling around Europe. Their first 5 months was along the Costa del Sol in Nerja, Spain. They moved into their apartment in November. When we heard of their plans we tentatively asked them if they would like some company in December. I …

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Granada and the Alhambra (December 2015)

Pat and I went to Nerja, Spain, to celebrate Christmas with Jim and Mary Jane Vergin, our friends from across the street in Charlotte, NC. When Pat and I moved to Singapore, they decided to spend a year overseas in Spain, Ireland, and Germany. Nerja is located on the Costa del Sol and the apartment they rented is only a short walk to the Mediterranean Sea. It is also a short bus ride (about 2 hours) from Granada, the home of the Alhambra, a former Moorish fort/palace, with its first structure being built in 889. The name means “Red Castle”. …

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3.14 – PI Day in Phnom Phen

Did you know the Kymer alphabet is based on Sanskrit? And that the written language uses accent marks over other accent marks? Two of the many facts we learned yesterday in our one day blitz in the capitol city of Cambodia. I’m tired just thinking of it today after two Angkor beers and a comfy bed. We saw some amazingly beautiful sights – some very sad and heart wrenching ones, but nothing was quite as amazing as the traffic and driving skills in this town. Or I should say lack of traffic patterns! I saw maybe two traffic lights all …

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