“PARIS CON’T”

……………….We stayed in a charming boutique hotel on the right bank, not far from the Arc de Triumph. It was just off the Champs-Elysees, and Chanel was further down the street. Our room had ceiling to floor French doors, and the view of the roof tops was wonderful……….as all the views of Paris are. We tried to see everything in that short week we were there….One day we would go to places I wanted to see and the next we went to visit Jac’s old haunts that she used to go to when she modeled there……We literally walked our feet off……When we went to Versaille she told me a sweet story. Remember she was only 17 or 18 at the time……Versaille was a cold dank place, and the models that were there doing the show had to suffer the cold, the lack of food, and the lack of enough bathrooms……When they weren’t rehearsing Jac would sneak away and have a cigarette….She was alone in one of these magnificent, though run down rooms having her cigarette when two men walked in. They too were going to have a cigarette, but didn’t have a match or lighter so they asked Jac for one…..She shyly lit their cigarette and they went to another area of the room to talk…..Later on during the French segment rehearsal…this handsome ballet dancer came onto the stage. Jac recognized him immediately as the man who wanted a match….She asked one of the models if they knew him, and they said are you kidding…that Rudolph Nureyev….Jac never forgot that chance meeting with the famous ballet dance……….Paris is truly  the most beautiful city in the world……..We had the best time, and said we would return to the City of Lights.

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“L’OPERA”

……………………….They call Paris “the city of lights”, and it truly is…..Every night we went to a new restaurant and 98% of them were fabulous. Jac and I loved the movie, “Something’s Got to Give” with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. At the end of the movie they all go to the restaurant “Le Grande Colbert” which is an actual restaurant in Paris. In the movie it looked wonderful so Jac really wanted to go. We asked the concierge to make us a reservation. With a raised eyebrow he said “bien sur”…..Oh Oh what did the raised eyebrow mean? He had suggested many wonderful restaurants to us, but this was one of our picks?! From the outside of the restaurant the huge glass windows all looked the same as in the movie…but…..as we went through the front doors there was a big poster of the movie on the window! Oh no, this is not the sign of a chic elegant restaurant. It was obvious as we entered that the restaurant was “dressed” for the movie….It just wasn’t quite the same, and the food was just OK….We had a good time in spite of our disappointment that it wasn’t exactly like the movie……..a lesson learned. The rest of the restaurants either Jac or I knew, or the concierge recommended. He made all of our reservations so he knew the type and quality of restaurants we would like…..He was spot on with his suggestions…They were all fabulous……One of our stops was a visit to the opera house in Paris….the scene of the “Phantom”…..what a magnificent building filled with history. It was just beautiful. You could just imagine in days gone by the elegantly dressed men and women filling the theater in their sumptuous gowns and tuxedos…..The building is a living fantasy……Our trip to Paris was coming to an end, but we created so many more wonderful memories…….memories to last a life time.

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“A FAMILY PICNIC”

…………….During this bitter cold weather here up north….in the teens today!!!…I thought I would bring a little summer back……..I took Jac on a family picnic! It was the first time my family were meeting her, and likewise Jac was meeting them. I had brought very few girls home to meet my family…..two to be exact. In the past when I had it only started trouble, and too many questions…..mostly from my mom and sister in laws!  Jac, however would be the last one I would bring home. We weren’t an official couple yet, but you couldn’t make my family believe that!!! She was still a BABY…..I think 20 or  21 in this picture, so we had already known each other for THREE to FOUR YEARS. Jac was pretty shy, and a little nervous about meeting my family, but she soon became very comfortable, and as I recall when she wasn’t with me she stayed pretty close to my mom…..who immediately loved her…..After this picnic my mom would often ask me, “when are you inviting Jac over again?”….and so it started……..Of course my nieces and nephews loved her…..especially Chris….my little rival……I was smoking as you can see, and my mother always gave me a dirty look when I lit one up…….My hair was very thick and on the long side, and always fell in my face. Jac would brush it back with her fingers……This became our ritual……..My thick black hair is long gone :[….just a memory now.

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