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A Beautiful Life – A Tragic Ending

A Beautiful Life – A Tragic Ending.

Imagine my surprise when in the film MONUMENTS MEN, the camera focused on a particular Renoir painting in the Rothschild collection –

one of which I was intensely interested in and wrote about in my blog in December of 2012.    The story of this family is supremely interesting, little known and incredibly sad.  They were not the only family that this happened to, but one of millions.  This one is close to my heart.   A story that is sadly true and should be told again and again for future generations.

A Year Ago Today – Trading “Climbing huge mountains to climbing ladders”

Just a few mementos of one of the happiest and most difficult days of our lives.  As, a year ago today, we climbed the Garlaban in Aubagne France and felt very very happy and proud that we were able to do this.  It was EXHILARATING – after we made it down, that is.  🙂   It was a 5 hour trek, to the mountain and down the mountain.  Sadly, my photos of that day have disappeared, except for the Christmas card.  I have no idea what happened.   But the memory is always there for us.

(Today I climbed a LADDER in the high end fashion retailer that I work for now in the United States.  I had to laugh, it’s not so high, but at least I can still go up a ladder!!! – I’d much rather be climbing mountains, however.  🙂

TWO YEARS AGO  – THIS MONTH – our grands, and my kids visited PARIS and it was the time of our lives!   What fun we had.  Here are a few pictures to capture those wonderful moments and we hope that trip has instilled a love of travel to far and wide places for the rest of their young lives.

Enjoy the photos.   We certainly have……….

A year ago tonight………

……….we were watching a movie at the Cinema in Nice which was the Jennifer Lawrence nominated film “Silver Linings Notebook”.   We came back to our IBIS hotel and caught the OSCARS just in time to see Jennifer Lawrence accept her award – before tripping on the stairs.  We were amazed  at her grace in spite of her mishap.

We also had gone to Nice to enjoy seeing some SNOW in the  mountains and ski areas of the very northern  Provencal areas above Nice & Menton.  I had researched these places and were almost guaranteed a sight of snow – lots of snow – as we were actually MISSING snow living in the Southern Port town of Cassis, near Marseille.  Oh it was very cool, even COLD at nights, but – no snow.   Needless to say, we traveled by several trains  to 3 or 4 alpine villages – all without the huge blanketed snow that we were “promised.”  The highlight of our mis-planned trip turned out to be the Jennifer Lawrence movie!!

Well, here we are in March…….March 2, 2014, another Oscar night……..and so far Saint Louis has had more extreme frigid temperatures  AND snow fall since our return than I care to ever see again.    We’re sitting here wrapped up, watching the Oscars,   with snow falling,  9 degrees outside and a windchill of -15.

Funny how my life is measured, not so much in “Oscar nights” but in what was once important, and wish fulfillment that may be forthcoming, if not but a year later, in your own hometown.

Sunset at the Louvre