Archive for the ‘my life in france’ Category
Wednesday · Popularity: 2% · my life in france
Friday, November 29, 1991
Louis declared it a holiday for Intervoice so David caught up on his reading and I packed for my trip home to the U.S.
Saturday, November 30, 1991
Early AM flight for me to Dallas, excited once again of seeing everyone and being at our real home for Christmas, with David joining me on December 11.
…………………… to be continued
Editors Note
This is the end of the second chapter of My Life in France. Georgia flew home and will pick up the journal again on December 29th on her departure from DFW to Paris. Chapter 3 will cover December 29, 1991 through April 11, 1992. Stay tuned.
Wednesday · Popularity: 11% · my life in france
Thursday, November 28, 1991
Thanksgiving Day - Not celebrated here. David worked most of the day, but, as Intervoice is an American based comapny, Louis and Isabelle hosted a turkey and trimmings dinner at their home. Very delightful.
Friday · Popularity: 17% · excursion, my life in france
Sunday, November 24, 1991
What a way to end a wonderful trip. Coskun and Sema, along with Cavit, took us to a Greek Orthodox Church on the Asian side. The Patriarch or head leader of the Greek Orthodox religion resides in Istanbul, Turkey an dis on the same level of rule as the Pope is in the Catholic religion. Today was a special celebration of the appointing of a new Patriarch. - and we were there! Can’t say we understood any of the Greek chanting, but we did finally grasp the word “Amen”.
A beautiful old Church with as well a beautiful, formal celebration. Very ceremonial. A drive on the Asian side of the Bosphorous Sea for tea and pastry at Hidiv Kastl, and old castle restored as a hotel overlooking the Bosphorous. Departure for Paris on Air France was a show in itself. The plane was packed. People with huge carry on luggage were trying to stuff them in overhead compartments. As compartments were opened looking for space, things would fall out.
One gentleman, who looked Greek, was carrying on his shoulder about a 5 foot artificial plant, and one young man was so loud and obnoxious that the ground supervisors came on board to settle him down. Actually he was kind of frightening. But he settled down and was allowed to stay on the plane. David sensed my nervousness but, of course, he was used to it.
We were body searched twice and our carry-ons opened and the contents checked. Air France did not make everyone sit down before the plane left the gate and if an empty seat was next to you, people were putting their carry ons loosely in those seats. We arrived Paris, loaded our suitcases in the car, began to back out of the parking lot and realized we had a flat tire. Luckily, David had familiarized himself with the tire tool and location of the tire. That’ snot to say it was easy to get to. So, it’s unload the cases and change the tire while I added on another layer of clothing for warmth.
Wednesday · Popularity: 16% · excursion, my life in france
Saturday, November 23, 1991
Finally relaxed with no business calls. Leisurely breakfast and a guided tour of the Dolmabahce Palace. Absolutely spectacular! It was the home of the Sultan Kings who ruled Istanbul until the early 1920’s. We visited the Kings’ rooms and their Harem’s (wives and concubine’s) rooms. The women lived quite well. It’s just that they were not allowed into some parts of the Palace.
The King was allowed 4 legal wives, the one of most importance to him being the one that bore him his first son. The Palace was comprised of 40 tons of silver and 14 tons of gold, chandeliers weighing as much as up to 4 tons. Just beautiful! The Grand Hall of the Palace recently hosted President Bush for a Gala Dinner during his recent visit to Istanbul. The evening we spent in the hotel Casino - losing money, but having fun.
Friday · Popularity: 21% · excursion, my life in france
Friday, November 22, 1991
David goes to work and I slept until noon. I venture to the Taksim area shops in the afternoon. In the evening, more business to conduct but it was an early business evening. We settled into the excitement of watching English movies on the TV.
Editors Note:
This has been one crazy week. I know that yesterday’s post had some typo’s and I haven’t re-read it yet, so, I appologize, it wasn’t Georgia who did that, she who tell me that for sure. Some of the craziness this week has come from the sudden death of a friend of ours at church, Cindy Wall who worked in the Auburn Athletics for 17 years. You can see her post on my blog at Scott Fillmer Photography, just scroll down a few posts or click on her name above. Some of the preparations for her “celebration service” today reminded me a lot of Georgia and how she wanted her life celebrated as well.
Thursday · Popularity: 24% · excursion, my life in france
Thursday, November 21, 1991
I accompanied Sema, the wife of another one of David’s distributors on a tour of the city. She is driving. Traffic is heavy and there are people everywhere. They run in front of you crossing the street expecting you to stop. There are lanes on the streets but everyone ignores them.
A 3 lane road quickly becomes a 5 lane, and they blow their horns at everything. The tuck drivers are especially hazardous as they get paid on how quickly they move goods across the continent and not for what they are carrying; therefore, a lot of them drive without much sleep.
Our first stop was the Grand Bazaar - a shopping area with over 2,000 small shops. The parking lot was full, so a man approaches and says we can park across the street. He had 2 sports on the street that “sort of” belong to him and he charged for them. Sema gave him money and her keys and asked others around if they knew him and they said “yes”.
The Grand Bazzar was really grand. We entered one of the many Mosques in the city, taking off our shoes at the door. The Mosques are very beautiful, large, old buildings, stained glass windows, with only a carpet and maybe a few kneelers inside. The praying is done on the floor. We returned to find her car still there and glad the man was one of the honest ones.
After a delightful lunch at the Sultan Pub we drove to the Bosphorous Sea, stopping at the Grand Hotel Tarabya for afternoon tea. Again, we parked, paying the man responsible for those “few parking spots” on the road. We watched fisherman throwing their hooks in (without bait) and catching minnows.
Minnows are eaten here as common as any other fish. A fantastic evening with Sema and her husband Coskun. They took us on a private yacht across the sea to the Asian side to a seafood restaurant. For starters we had selery salad, lettuce salad, celery pate, fried calamari, muscle relish, calamari and tomato salad, egg plant salad, bread, stuffed grape leaves, pastry puff and wine. The main coarse was fish, and desserts consisting of figs and numerous Turkish delights. Really a wonderful place.
Thursday · Popularity: 27% · excursion, my life in france
Wednesday, November 20, 1991
I visited the stores in the hotel and concluded my Bible Study work while enjoying the beautiful view of the sea. For dinner we were taken to a very Turkish restaurant called “Hanedan”, meaning Dynasty. For starters we had shrimp, egg plant, salad, red peppers, split peas, egg rolls, something that tasted like a Mexican pizza, goat cheese, hot sauce, green leaf stuffed with rice, large loaf of bread fresh out of the oven, and of course, Turkish wine.
The comes the main course. Lamb prepared in several ways along with skewed chicken. WOW!