Thomas journals

11oct22 story of Covid: I flew to Des Moines for a mini-reunion of Thomas cousins; flew back on Monday the 3rd.  I did not wear a mask.  Evidently I should have worn a mask, as I later came down with Covid.  The infection could come from anywhere, typically airborne virus shed by someone in the communicable phase of the disease.   Throughout my airport and flight experience was quite calm and uneventful, so my guess is the most likely vector for the virus was the deplaning time – people are really eager to get out,  they are talking, pressing close together, straining to grab bags from the overhead compartment and coordinate with their partners, thus breathing heavily.  Very few people wore a mask.  I do not remember anyone coughing or sniffling or breathing heavily around me, but that deplaning process is always rather hectic.  I did not press to go quickly, but I did not want to delay my windowside seatmate, so I joined the crowd.  As it was, when I arrived at baggage claim, my suit

 Notes on passport issues, written 08July22, after our trip to QRO airport: July 2022, from our personal experience: Warning/advice for tourists entering Mexico:  When answering the question, “How long will you stay in Mexico?” add lots of extra days – answer “120 days” or even “180 days”. (The maximum number possible is 180 days, but the passport officer now has broad discretion.)  T he passport officer will grant you that specific number of days to be in country. That's all, no extensions. Up until recently, a tourist visa for US citizens was automatically 180 days. But now it is defined by the admitting passport official; they note a specific amount on your  Forma Migratoria Múltiple  paper that you must return later to the official when you exit the country.  There is apparently no way to change that form, the  FMM .  However, you can “lose” your  FMM  and buy a new one at the airport office of  Migración , for about USD30 each. Our story: When we entered the country, we answer

  Medellín the city of eternal spring The last week of May we spent in Medellín Colombia, at my insistence, after hearing so many nice things about the climate, the food, the safe surroundings, the great exchange rate.   We reserved an airbnb relatively close to the metro, in a recommended neighborhood…but probably should have stayed in a quieter area.  The view was wonderful, but it also looked out over a public square and several night clubs.  The climate is so perfect you don't really need cooling or heating – but open windows bring noise as well as breezes.   I loved the city, the vibrancy, the climate, the excellent public transportation and plentiful Uber service.    A highlight of our visit was a cable car ride up the neighboring hill (going from 6500feet to 8000 feet altitude!), to a huge public park and botanical garden.   Barbara was a bit afeared of the crowds and beggars downtown, as well as the echoes of the cartel battles of the 90s.  But the shopping malls and apartm

  My impression, after our six weeks:   Prices in France, compared to US, from much cheaper to more expensive than US: Notably less expensive:  wine quality bread & pastries public transport Slightly less: groceries restaurants (sales tax + tip are included!) lodging More expensive: imports from US gasoline price is double! Travel details: Our time in France, from 21feb-09mar, 20mar-08apr: We were gone 48 days (just shy of 7 weeks); 4 travel days + 9 days in Doha = 35 days mostly in France = 5 weeks in France. 11 beds/Nights: 1 Toulouse; 10 Beauville; 5 Pompertuzat; 1 Doha Holiday Inn; 10 Doha; 1 Heathrow; 4 Montpellier; 2 Hasparren; 5 Bordeaux;  4 Limoges; 3 Versailles Costs?  Total spent 22feb-09april = $6000 Doha: we spent total $500 while there CovidTests for: $90Doha + $40US France: Plane tickets between US & France were points, plus about $300 for taxes. Lodging: HolidayInns on points; + $1200airbnb + $450Versailles Transport: $500trains + $150Uber&taxi + $130Gas&

  Freezing outside, literally.   We bundle up at noon and walk to La Cuisine de la Croître ,  the gourmet restaurant next to the old Bishop's castle... They offer a tasting menu today, 48euros each for three (official) courses.  Actually received 6 sets, all photographed by Barb: beginning chips, amuse-bouche of hummous, entrée of very-soft-slow-boiled (64degrees for 1 hour!) egg in special sauce, main plate of lamb confit surrounded by seasonal vegetables+polenta, then dessert: galette of mango-rhubarb plus pineapple sorbet with dried pear slice, then financier + mango jelly cube.  Two full glasses of 3 types of great wine (I appreciated that the sommelier selected them for us, appropriate for each dish, and gave us the last two halves as credit for one:  white Languedoc Pays de l'Or, then spicy red  CotesDuRhone with the lamb, then sweet Gros Manseng (my favorite, an unusual white) for the dessert. Walk around the corner to Le Musée de la Résistance, very comprehensive with g

  A 11heures, je vois sur la chaine FranceInfo, le meeting de Marine LePen <<La France Qu'on M!>>  Je comprends un moitié des phrases, surtout les phrases typiques des politiques.  <<Nous sommes prets! Notre projet est ambitieux. Il est moderne, il est nationale, pour la France.  Avec un état protecteur.   Des prédateurs en bas, comme les prédateur en haut! Nos filieres en peril.  C'est vous que payer la fraude!  Une immigration anarchique. A l'étranger que vient de nous, respecter nos lois!  Le peuple francais est un peuple généreux et amicale, mais  c'est en eux de décide qui peut rester, que peut etre francais.  ...  Nous voulons un France en paix.  Nous en avons le courage, la volonté.  Notre économie sera protégé, enfin.  Des choix philosophiques. Avec nous, léconomie restera au service des gens.  Les couts de confinements, la politique sanitaire, cette pénurie appliqué sur nos société.  Qui a justifié la désolation sociale? La France est pour tou

  Bordeaux: [31mar22] lazy start, to Tourist Office at 11:30 to buy a Bordeaux CityPass (31euros each), intending to visit both the Cité du Vin and the nearby Bassins des Lumières, as advised by earlier tourist info person.  Catch tramB and arrive at Cité du Vin just before the 12noon deadline.  The museum is a museologist's dream, with beautiful architecture and varied interesting exhibits and props, most of which actually work, and excellent visuals and a well-designed audioguide.  Particularly impressive were the aroma samplers, large belljars with rubber bulbs that would blow the aroma through an eartrumpet so you could sample it!  The belljar contents must get refreshed every day or two!  A wide variety of educational exhibits, even including about drunkenness and negative effects of alcohol; however mostly positive wonderful descriptions, even a lounging couch with inset loudspeakers to enjoy music & imagery associated with wine!  I learned that the classic Bordeaux bott

Bordeaux Vielle Ville   Walk around Place Camille Julian, then to the river, the nearby Place des Bourses.  I walked right over the famous Miroir d'Eau (no water during winter!).   Visited the city of Bordeaux free museum there, then walked to the main tourist information office and had a quiche and sandwich (delightful fresh baguette, ham & butter) at an outdoor café facing the Grand Théatre.   We hoped in vain for some performance at the reportedly beautiful Grand Théatre.  We instead purchase boat-tour tickets at the tourist office, then walked further, following our host's suggested walking trail, through the Quinconces Garden, then tired and returned home. Out later to Place Camille Julian for some escargots , of course

  Daylight Savings Time begins in France, so we lose an hour of sleep.   Beautiful sunny weather awaits us at breakfast, then a drive through the big village of Hasparren and Utxurru with a visit to their Church of St.JeanBaptiste, with its 3 wooden galleries along the side, characteristic of Basque churches, where the male choir typically stands and sings.  Then coffee at the Café Atakara, back home for another lunch from chef Maxime: spanish ham & olives, followed by mashed potatoes and stew of wild boar (cooked CV, Cuit à la Vin : chilled, marinated overnight, then slow-cooked for three hours).  Then of course the cheese plate, followed by a replay of the Tarte Tatin .  Sitting and chatting, then driving to Bayonne station, where Maxime helps us with the suitcases as there is no elevator connecting the platforms, and our TGV InOui train is a double-decker (voiture 17, sièges 111 & 112). Arrive at Bordeaux, a few minutes delay waiting for the platform, quite a large crowd ex

  Le Grand Tour : big breakfast with toast, yogurt, muesli, fruit, apple juice (from their own apple tree).  Into the car for a drive to Espellet, then St.Jean de Luz, to view the very old church where their daughter married, and where Louis XV married Infanta Marie-Therèse of Austria; and the residences built for them in the 1600s.  Drive north toward Biarritz and Anglet (pronouced ahnglet), where Dominique spent some early years.   Lunch in Bidart, at Restaurant Tantina de la Playa , a surfside seafood place, very popular, with a snack bar on the side.  We had a difficult time finding a parking place, as the cliffside road was barricaded, so we drove around to another parking area then walked down the cliffside to the beach.  No signs, so we  assumed the snack bar was the place, but telling the waiter that we had a reservation made him point to the nearby tablecloth restaurant!  Maxime ordered chipirons grillé (typical Basque grilled squid) and poivrons farci (stuffed peppers wit

  [25mar22] De Montpellier à Bayonne: Easy morning, clean up the apartment, walk the suitcases to Place de la Comédie , take Tramway one stop to the train station, get breakfast (regional specialties), train first class car #2 to Montpellier, changing trains is Toulouse.  Second class is 2X2 seating while first-class is 2x1 seating with a bit more legroom and slightly nicer seats, but otherwise not much different.  Fortunately these intercités trains have good wi-fi.  Arrival at Toulouse is a bit delayed; Jeff runs to the ObjetsTrouvés office seeking his eyeglasses.  Fortunately the office is open, the guy helpful; he shows me his box of found eyeglasses.  Mine are not there.  Disappointing, yet it's somewhat reassuring to know for sure that they are truly lost.  I run back to Track #3, where our next train is boarding—we (and others) struggle to identify car #13.  Even other passengers cannot find #13.  Eventually I ask a worker, who tells me the passage through the train cars

  [24mar22] The day for the beach.  Tourist office and guideblogs both said Palavas-les-flots is the main beach town accessible by public transport.  The blog referred to rental chairs and beachside cafés somewhere.  We take the tramway to the end, at Etang d'Or, Golden Pond, and wait for Bus #1.  Separate ticket, but only costs 1euro each, long wait, 15 minute ride to the town—some locals assure us that the Hotel de Ville is the best beach spot, with lots of activities there.   Yes, beach, but nothing happening, no services available, no chairs, no beachside café.  We walk into town to get a fresh baguette and quiche Lorraine, and Orangina, then walk back to sit on the sand – clean sand, wide shallow beach area, wave action small but just enough for a few surfers; and lots of shells to collect!   We walk along the shore and back, disappointed in the lack of amenities – only one beachside café obvious along the way.  We catch the 1:13 bus back to the tram.  We had thought of atten

  [23mar22] Another walking day: to the A rc de Triomphe , passing through quaint quiet attractive old neighborhoods, particularly the P lace de Marché des Fleurs.  Arc de Triomphe is spectacular, next to an equally impressive Palais de Justice , and the Promenade de Peyrou that has a great view of the surrounding hills and the aqueduct built by Peyrou to supply the city's fountains.  The Jardin des Plantes – oldest botanical garden in Europe – opens at noon, so we walk around to the Cathedral St.Etienne, with its obscure side entrance, but huge interior space, really huge and rather stark, in keeping with its 13 th century origin – though of course several later kings and bishops added chapels, stained-glass, and organ.  While there, the organ started up, providing appropriate sonic accompaniment to the surroundings (ref. My video).   We return to the garden to await its opening, chatting with some Chicago tourists (go Bears!).  The garden is very nice place for sauntering, and