Hello from France.

None of us got where we are
solely by pulling ourselves up
by our bootstraps. We got
here because somebody -
a parent, a teacher, an Ivy
League crony or a few nuns -
bent down and helped us
pick up our boots.
- Thurgood Marshall

This is my traveling partner, and outstanding friend for over 60 years, Jeannie. We’ve just arrived onboard our Viking cruise to Bordeaux and having a nice lunch. She didn’t really drink all that wine. But she could have.

This is a tartine monsieur. It was way too much food but tasty.

It wasn’t easy getting here. You’ve got to want to travel to put up with long airplane jaunts, long custom lines, hoisting luggage onto trains, amongst other nuisances. But we both love traveling to far-off lands, you know, like France. Had a lovely unusual casual dinner (“tartine monsieur” - a new one for us) with two nice cocktails in Paris, spent the night in a cramped hotel room, and took the train to Bordeaux, where we sit on our ship waiting to depart to wine country.

Not sure how this will post; not everything seems to be available to me to design it, but what the heck. Just want to touch base with you, hope you are enjoying the last days of summer (I fervently hate to see summer pass. )