"I love Paris in the springtime" -- and next week, we'll be there! Ask me anything.

[Radio_Lady]

[Sanity Claws]

1. Will I fit in your suitcase?

[GoneOffShore]

2. Makin' me jealous here!!!

I want to go back.

And eat lunch on Blvd Arago, then sail boats in the pond at the Jardin du Luxembourg and then walk up to the Moufettard and have a coffee.

[Radio_Lady]

4. Great photos! Thanks for posting. Rain is forecast for our visit.

Ah, well -- we'll be in Paris. I've been singing the few French songs I know (in French) all day today.

Autumn Leaves -- "C'est une chanson, qui nous resemble, toi qui m'aime, et je t'amie...

Nous vivions tous, les deux ensemble...

Mais la vie separe, ceux qui s'aime

Tout ducement, sans faire de -- oh god I can't spell it sound like BREE etc -- = without making a noise.

(I can't remember those verbs for sh*t...)

I'm going to be trying to speak and looking in the phrase book like a complete fool.

So, if you've Gone Off Shore, and you're in Pennsylvania... How did you choose Paris for your anniversary?

Just curious...

[GoneOffShore]

17. To explain

GoS is an old screen name from AOL that I was still using when I registered here - It was chosen to annoy a freep that I got into a year long conversation with on AOL because he hated foreigners. I use the screen name here it's to express my longing to move to France.

I lived abroad for 10 years in the 70's and want to go back - This time France despite the ascendance of Sarko. I used to work in restaurants, knew a lot of French people, learned the language in grade school, and always had a love of France. That plus the wine.

Every time someone says that the French are snobbish (and generally they're not - in Paris it's just the usual 'big city' attitude and if you approach people properly they are extremely friendly and helpful) I always respond - "Wouldn't you be? They live in a beautiful country with great wines, fantastic food, gorgeous people and beautiful lingerie."

[Radio_Lady]

21. We always used to travel with little wrapped candies for the children in any park we went to...

I can't remember whether we did this in France because we haven't been there since the early 1980s. Most of our travel has been to Mexico and Spain over holiday weekends.

In Mexico, at Christmas time, those little treats would break the ice with parents and children. Now, of course, with all kinds of fear of strangers and predators, we haven't tried it much. We don't speak much of any language except English, but we will try at your suggestion to get at least some French phrases down pat before we alight. I know this will be a frustration for me, because I'm right on the edge of understanding a bunch of French words, but can't get into speaking without getting hung up. My husband has much less language knowledge than I do -- studied Spanish years ago and didn't do well. He doesn't attempt to speak and we do a lot of gesticulating and pointing.

In China, the children of more rural Canton (Guangzhou?) at the main zoo were afraid of us. Some ran away or hid behind their parents. Others came right up to us and thrust out their hand and thanked us. We were probably the first "round-eyed" people they had ever seen.

GoS, nice to meet-chu on the DU! I'm putting you on my buddy list.

Now, don't talk to me any more... we have to pack!

[stuntcat]

3. I'm so J.

I'm G with E :mad:

No I hope everything goes smooth and you have a blast!!

[Radio_Lady]

5. What I've said to all the people employed at the radio station...where I now volunteer...

"Please don't be jealous. My husband and I have worked for 100+ years (fifty for me, more than fifty for him) which includes full-time jobs and raising five children. We deserve it, and we're healthy and just a little bit wealthy enough to afford these vacations. My wish for you is that you continue in your life to face all the challenges, and enjoy the obligatory living until retirement, if you possibly can. Try to stay healthy, that's within your grasp, for sure. The wealthy part, not so much, but we certainly don't have a truckload of cash. We also don't have any big debts. The career is living... and traveling!"

From U.K. trip last year:



"I'll speak with you again soon, and until then... peace to you all."

(My signoff on radio programs since the 1970s.)

[stuntcat]

8. SwEEEt picture!

I hope you'll post some from the upcoming trip too!
I've been to France three times before but 2 months after my last trip I suffered a TBI which wiped out most of my memories, so now when I hear of someone going there I want to go too, I mostly want to retrace my steps and get memories back. I'll do it someday but til then I'll just get extra jealous of everyone going x(
I hope everything goes smooth on your trip!

[Radio_Lady]

11. Thanks!!!! TBI -- transient brain injury? Sorry to hear that. I'm pretty good with the pictures.

You can alway check my journal. I keep the permalink up for months. Right now, you can see pictures of Spain posted back aways.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Radio_Lady

Thanks for your post. What happened to you? Is a TBI like a mini-stroke? Did you forget a lot of important things? Did it affect your short and long term memory?

What day is it? What month? Who is the President? (Maybe you want to FORGET that one!)

[stuntcat]

20. traumatic

why they call it Traumatic brain injury I dunno, it seems like Any injury would be traumatic. But I learned to read and walk again and I've gotten a lot better at remembering things and thinking straighter. I keep A LOT of lists and write everything down.
Thank goodness I still know why I'm a Democrat, all it's done is exagerate that part }(
There's a lot I won't get back and I don't let it bug me much, at least I've always kept lots of pictures. But I still get jealous whenever someone says they're going to France, I've gone other places but to Paris the most and it's a shame how little I remember of it. So someday I'll go get it back and until then just envy everyone else who goes.. or takes a trip anywhere really.. like Spain! That's somewhere I'm set on going someday. I have a big picture book of Spain and I've looked at it so much it's all beat up now.
I'm gonna go look at Your pics, thank you for posting them!!

[Radio_Lady]

23. Sure, We'll have lots more pictures to post. Meanwhile, if you Google for

IMAGES instead of choosing WEB -- you'll find all kinds of photography on the Internet.

http://images.google.com

Keyboard in "Paris" -- and away you go! (Voila!)

[mark414]

6. hey...i might be there soon

i'm flying into ireland in early june for a couple weeks, then down to france via london...and after that no idea - i have a couple months to just roam around...i am looking forward to it

[Radio_Lady]

12. I've never been to Ireland. We come from Boston, which has a large Irish population.

We're of Russian and Eastern European descent, but our daughter married Michael Foley, and we have three Jewish-Irish grandchildren.

Have an EXCELLENT trip!

[alittlelark]

7. Will she be in jail - or just one of those ankle thingies?

What's her credit card max with and without the ankle thingy? Are you gonna make a vid w/ her? If you do send it to me - I'll market it harder and faster than Norah O'Donnell or Nancy Grace ever could - You know what I mean..... call me

[MilesColtrane]

9. Be careful....

I advise some protection. A lot of people have been "in Paris", if you know what I mean.

oh....that Paris.

[Radio_Lady]

13. Well.... that depends what context you mean "in" in...

My husband's been fixed, so no chance of conception.

Hey, I'm going to a sexually liberal country. What's good for the French is good for me! Isn't this Election Day? I saw both candidates on TV last night, and I'd love to vote in that sort of an election -- male vs. female.

Psssst...! Go to www.fleshlight.com and you'll see what I'm getting my husband for Father's Day.

Au revoir.

Radio Lady in Oregon

[DFW]

10. I'm there every 2 weeks for work, have an office there and all...

It must be great to get excited about that city. I've been
there so often, it's familiar ground and has been for a long
time, now, but hey, have fun! If you have the time (I never do
anymore), it's a city of nonstop discoveries.

Si vous avez le temps pour en profiter, allez-y! S'il pleut, bein, et alors?

[Radio_Lady]

14. Hi DFW! So, you travel the world on business! I don't know what kind of work takes you there,

but if you want to tell me, please PM. My husband used to be the West Coast Manager for some East Coast companies. He would take me along to computer trade shows -- San Francisco, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, and others. In the 1990s, we turned the tables! I did the trade shows and he came along as the spouse to my trade show (medical practice management equipment show) in San Antonio! So, we've been to quite a number of places on this continent. Now, we're trying to cover some of the others continents.

Yes, we will have a good time -- the itinerary is Paris, Brussels, London, and Edinborough.

My French runs the gamut from French love songs by Edith Piaf and more modern folks -- to lullabies -- to getting most of the dialogue in subtitled French films.

And then there's "cootchy-coo" stuff such as:

"Voulez-vous coucher (sp?) avec moi ce soir?" (Oh, oh, I better watch it there.)

Comme j'aurais bien volu (sp?), changez mon nom pour le tien. (That never went anywhere.)

I used to be able to say some swear words in French. 'Batard' with the little hat on the "a" is what I recall.

Courtesy of my first boyfriend -- he is/was a French-speaking Belgian boy who emigrated from Israel. I'm still in touch with him in Miami. He told me on Thursday that he speaks seven languages! I'm SO jealous! I believe strongly in "plural marriage" -- but this time, let's try it FOR WOMEN! I need a husband who can cook and TRANSLATE for us! :sarcasm:

Here we were on Sanibel Island, Florida when I was just 15.

[DFW]

15. I will not be going into detail about my work here

I'm not CIA, but enough right wing lowlifes must troll this
board that I'm not going to try for a junior version of Valerie Plame.
I do have family on both sides of the Atlantic.

As for Brussels, THAT town is quickly done. The Grande Place. End of
story! LOL Except that you MUST go the Caé-Tasse store on the Rue Maché
de l'Herbe (right near the Grande Place) and try the mini white chocolate
bars with finely ground coffee running through them.

Also, in 30 years of working over here, I still never have taken the short
trip over to Bruges (Brugge in Vlaams), but it's supposed to be the most beautiful
spot in Belgium, and it is only 45 minutes or so away from Brussels by train.

[PassingFair]

16. I have been to Bruges...

It is like a Fairy Tale.

The colors have stayed in my mind's eye for decades.

I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

[DFW]

18. My younger daughter has been there, too, and she said Burges was

Absolutely beautiful.

One of these days, I gotta play hooky and run out there.

As for your ex-boyfriend: I am not jealous. I can only
cook a little, but my wife is a master chef, and I speak
nine languages, so between the two of us, we manage!

[DFW]

19. My bad!

Makes that Bruges!!

[Radio_Lady]

22. Well, it doesn't sound the final "s," so saying it is no big deal. Hey, it's only one letter away

from BURGER which is only one letter off from BUGGER, but I'm not going there.

(I like the Scramble puzzles in the newspaper and was one of the first to work with Scrabble itself.)