The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[MOXOMUMD]

Day Four: This was our day trip to Versailles. We took the RER train out and we were there over an hour before opening. But we were first in line (and the first in the palace), and the couple behind us was from California/Texas. The guy had worked at Disneyland when he was a teenager so we had a good time talking about that.
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As I walked through the empty halls, I pretended it was my palace and then it got crowded. The ceilings of the palace were all so beautiful too.
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Hall of Mirrors, we made a mistake here. Since we were the first ones in the palace we should have booked it right to the Hall of Mirrors to get pictures without anyone but us. But we weren't sure we would be allowed to double back through the other rooms. Turns out we would have been allowed too. Oh well, we still didn't see it at its most crowded so that is good.
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Beautiful. I would not want the job of window washer.

 

[betty rose]

Oh, I forgot to mention, the girl from Barcelona invited me to stay with her in Spain when Intravel that way and she said she will show me around. The girl from Diesengorf (sp?) insists that I fit Germany in my Euro tour and she said she will also house me and show me around. I promised her I would but we'll see. I left without exchanging information with them, so I should go back there. The girl from Hawaii exchanged info with me like almost immediately when we met. I so much want I tell more details. Okay, I'll do it in a spoiler.

Spoiler

Any way, she went on the guided tour with me in Hezekia's tunnel but we didn't know each other then. When I checked in at that hostel, I found out Incould hang out on the roof. On the roof were other people hanging out, including her. She recognized me right away from the tunnel tour and introduced herself and talked for at least an hour! Then, both of us found out we can actually sleep on the roof and we both said "if you switch your bed to the roof, so will I!" So, we both switched out our rooms to sleeping bags on the roof. We were camped out on the roof next to each other, watching videos with my iPhone together. It was nice. After it got dark, it started getting cold and she chickened out because it was starting to get too cold for her, and she switched again back to one of the rooms insides. I stayed on the roof, freezing all night with little sleep.

Nice of people to open their homes to you. Sorry about the cold night!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The cheer size of the palace and its surrounding gardens always awed me.

And at same time it saddens me.
They are the epitome of greed and selfishness of men, who played with the lives of millions like it was a game.

I felt that way too. I kept thinking that instead of trying to play peasant maybe Marie Antoinette should have seen how they were really living, or if they had just given a little back to the people they might have stayed in power longer.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Its clear you are having an amazing time!

I'm really envious, not only for the tours.. but also for the food

We are back now, and it was a great time. I'm just sharing the pictures now because I couldn't get my phone to upload pictures while I was there and most of the good pictures are on my regular camera anyway. I do miss the food A LOT!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Beautiful. I would not want the job of window washer.

No kidding. The whole palace was very clean, I didn't see much dust anywhere.

 

[betty rose]

We are back now, and it was a great time. I'm just sharing the pictures now because I couldn't get my phone to upload pictures while I was there and most of the good pictures are on my regular camera anyway. I do miss the food A LOT!

Welcome back, you had an amazing time. So happy for you and hubby!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

One thing I don't understand about here. Yesterday, I was talking to someone from Netanya and asked him a question about Jerusalem and he said he has never been to Jerusalem. Tonight, I asked several people here in Jerusalem questions about Tel Aviv and they all said they never go to Tel Aviv. With such a small country, how it possible that they don't travel outside their local urban areas?

I think that is just the nature of some people anywhere. I know many people who haven't traveled very far from there home area. Many of my students have never been out of Wisconsin and the border to Minnesota and the area of Minneapolis/St. Paul is only about 45-50 minutes away. Some people just don't feel a need to travel and see things, and that is okay because everyone has different interests in life.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I haven't danced til dawn in forever, I did dance at one of the parties in Tomorrowland with my ds Have fun and I hope you made (make) it back safely!

Me either, I'm lucky if I can make it to 10 pm nowadays without falling asleep in front of the tv!

 

[catmom46]

Going on IASW now. Just went on Peter Pan and 7DMT. I love FP+!

 

[Progress.City]

All dressed up and staying in again for sabbath with my relatives.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Ok, now I'm up to what we did on day 5. Thanks to all of you for indulging me with letting me show my pictures and all the kind things you've said. Anyway, on Day 5 we went to Normandy. We had to meet our tour guide and group at a spot near the Eiffel tour at about 7:30am and it was a long drive to Normandy but we didn't want to drive ourselves so it was a tour group for us. We enjoyed the tour. It would have been fun to spend a little more time exploring but maybe on another trip.

The countryside out of the window in Normandy....it looked a lot like Wisconsin (especially with the cows).


Utah Beach, it was low tide when we were there, the same as when the troops would have been landing on D-day. It is amazing how wide the beach was that they would have had to cross.


There was a nice museum at Utah Beach. We would have liked to have spent more time at it but we had limited time with the group. Luckily, my husband and I are both huge history fans and WWII is a particular interest of ours so we new a lot of stuff already.


I thought these dresses were interesting. They were made by local girls from the parachutes and flags left behind by troops from D-day. It was also interesting how many houses in Normandy flew both the French and American flags, our guide said that people in Normandy are still very thankful for the American help in WWII.


Another picture of Utah Beach


Then we went to a cider farm and sampled calvados (apple brandy) and apple juice. Normandy is famous for its apple products and I guess butter too. It was the best apple juice, not sugary at all. My husband HATES apple juice and he bought two small bottles of apple juice to drink later!


Then we had lunch at in a seaside town. I don't like seafood at all but hubby had the catch of the day and raved about it. I had beef.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Apple tart/cake for lunch in Normandy


Then we travelled to Point du-hoc (the highest point between Utah and Omaha). It was basically left undisturbed after D-day and the war. The barbed wire is original and none of the bomb holes or debris was moved. It was amazing how deep those bombs went. It was also strange to think about men scaling those cliffs under fire, they were brave!






American Cemetery (Thankfully I didn't have any relatives buried here, they all made it back from WWII, but it was very moving to see all of the graves of those who died.)

 

[betty rose]

For whatever reason (I won't even attempt to speculate here), they undersedated you. You should not have felt anything.

There was a time that some Doctor's thought patients were getting too sedated. I had another procedure around that time, and little sedation then too. Now, I be sure to tell the Doctor's it takes quite a bit to knock me out. I once came out of surgery, and woke too soon, I felt paralyzed, and remember the nurses yelling Betty breathe, breathe. I thought, couldn't speak, hey I can't move let alone breathe. Then I passed back out.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The Normandy tour was all day so really by the time we got back into Paris at 7:30 pm, we were ready for dinner and we had to pack up. The next day we were spending just a couple of hours in Paris and then heading to Disneyland Paris for a couple days!
Our tour guide said that since we had all been punctual and even early sometimes when leaving places that we had a little extra time so we had enough time for them to take us down to Omaha beach to the memorial there. It wasn't on the tour itinerary, so we were really happy about that. The memorial was really nice, but it was a little disturbing to my husband. He thought it was disturbing because of all the happy beach goers frolicking around. He mentioned something about it at the time, and I thought it seemed a good tribute to the men who died too. I told him after all if the men who died were fighting for freedom isn't this what they were fighting for. (sorry if that sounded sappy.)

 

[Cesar R M]

LOL you are so young. The phone I just got rid of last year was a basic phone no keyboard, just the same buttons that are on land lines. It worked great for MANY years!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only reason it's gone is because I got cheaper service by upgrading (phone paid for itself in 6 months)

I remember the good old Nokia brick cell phones.
could last a week with a single charge, amazing sound and reception.

 

[Cesar R M]

It's not the cooking that gets to me at all, even with all the food my boys go through. It's the mess they leave!

You dont force them to each one clean their platters?

Done!

thank you!

 

[Cesar R M]

Yup, NO upgrade needed. Part of my reasoning has more to do with our throwaway society. I was always taught to take care of things, repair if needed, or eventually repurpose an item, if the original purpose was no longer possible. Things were not thrown out unless they were truly broken. Our landfills now are overloaded with all kinds of computer equipment, cell phones, smartphones, etc.

And it's not just electronic devices either. I know a few women who won't get shoes repaired, but will throw them out when the heels run down, and buy new ones. When I ask them why, they tell me they just buy cheap ones to begin with, so no big loss. I have another friend who buys cheap watches, so when the batteries die in a few years, she chucks the watch and buys a new one. Heaven forbid, she actually just replace the battery in it.

And until maybe 20 years ago, every town had some sort of small, sole proprietor, general repair shop. I recall my mother bringing in broken toasters, radios, blenders, lamps, and various other household items for repair. Shoe repair shops (cobblers, were what they were referred to out here) were also in most towns. There's hardly any of them around anymore.

We've turned into a wasteful society, and I can't stand it. Rant over, for now . . .

oh, I agree with all you said, but not on the cellphones I'm afraid.
older flip phones do not have all the functionalities of the modern smartphone.
hell, because of my job, I have to have a very portable laptop and a my smart phone (I got a Note 4 )

 

[Cesar R M]

On our way to dropping off luggage at Kidani and then to MK for our first FP on Peter Pan! YEEEHAWWWW!!!!

enjoy!!!

I really loved AKL!

I wish I could get space there for my next trip.. unfortunately.. booked the entire thing was booked 100%

 

[Cesar R M]

The thing is though that back then those were big ticket items and there weren't something that you could just go out and buy. Today's economy is based on the throw away mentality. They are built to not only not last forever, but to be practically impossible to repair. However, we have done something that was never done back in the day and that is to have entire industries based on recycling. All those old computers, toasters, toys, phones etc. are used to help not deplete our natural resources at the pace that we did back then. Today's water bottles, which I use only when it is more practical to carry water in an enclosed container (never at home) will be tomorrows car bumper. In the old days it was nothing more the stuff used to fill the landfills. Hording them does not help that process. Couple that with basically much more affordable prices for these items and it really has a positive impact on the environment and a positive impact on the economy.

To me, the good old days were not really that good compared to what we have today. Technology is hard sometimes to adapt to, but, with the exception of those people that have their cell phones operating constantly, head down absorbed in their own little world, our standard of life and our ways of keeping in touch are so much better that it is almost not describable. I was amazed to discover how my smart phone helped me to keep track of exercise, diet and the most convenient being the amazing "shopping list" that now allows me to be motivated to buy the right things, bypass impulse items and stick to a list saving money and useless calories. As I age I am more and more aware of how important it might be to be able to reach in my pocket and, hopefully be able to contact someone in case I have a problem medically or accidentally. To remind me of appointments, obligations or even impending weather situations. I love new technology even though I am not particularly savvy about all the ins and outs and availabilities. I use it based strictly on my needs and the frilly parts are not so important. The built in cameras and flashlights are quite cool though.

Funny thing that it was Apple that started the "throwaway" mentality and "irreparability" with their iphones.
Where they make their devices VERY VERY hard to fix. Most of the things, are glued or bolted down (like the battery).

Now.. almost every device is made to break or start to fail right after guarantee expires.
Even ink cartridges have a chip that says how many prints you can use.. disregarding if there is ink left!
(big middle finger to HP for starting this).

Not to mention other things where throwing "overheads" to keep costs up gets to evil levels.
Like milk companies destroying their excess milk, hardware and camera companies putting their excess of production into the "grey market" (non guarantee import ones from china).. and other annoying things that leads to amazing waste of resources.

 

[betty rose]

Off to the park, and to see Minion's. Have a good day, all!