Yesterday was a busy day for me. I turned on the faucet and nothing came. Called 📞the plumber, and he came confirming what I already knew.

The pipes were frozen.

🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶❄️❄️❄️❄️☃️☃️☃️☃️☃️☃️

Also had problems with the electric and my wonderful female electrician stopped by and switched a few knobs returning the electric.

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In our conversation, she stated I’ll need three days of 30° weather to defrost the underground pipes. While my contractor said he installed insulated pipes they were only 12 inches underground.. Pipes need to be 4 foot underground to prevent freezing.

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Stopped at the local Plumbing store and implored their advice and recommendation for an excavator. Called ☎️ the excavator and he was due today.

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Because I was pretty sure the excavator couldn’t do anything next visited Dollar Tree and purchased 15 🪣 buckets. From there went to the neighborhood stream and filled each of the buckets. At least this will be able to flush the toilet.🚽

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Today when the excavator didn’t arrive, gave him a text. Found his septic line is frozen, so unable to come.

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Fingers crossed that line keeps working for me.

Did you watch the funeral of President Jimmy Carter? It was amazing to say the least. Both he and Rosalyn did so much for the world. I’ve been to Plains, and seen his museum. if you ever have the chance go. The work he and Rosalyn did was beyond words.

Biden gave a perfect eulogy to this man. He spoke of character that which our incoming President, the rapist, lacks. As he spoke, I could not help but watch the grimace on Hillary Clinton‘s face as she knew who Biden‘s words were directed at.

It’s only a 10 minute eulogy and I’ve placed it here. Worth listening to.

Thanks Kamala for the photo of the attendees and the post..

The following day spent some time with my daughter as my son-in-law had to work. After her doctor’s appointment, we went to lunch at a delicious place in Brooklyn, Clarks on Clark Avenue..

My daughter had breakfast and I lunch.

And from here did some retail damage at Lot Less. Bought much for little money and all designer names or Kohl’s, 3.99 Crate and Barrel 👚, $1.99 Revlon 👄, $1.50 6 pack bagels… Have to go here again on my next visit!

We departed in Chinatown after sharing a piece of peanut butter pie in Little Italy.

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Returned to Brooklyn to walk Rocco as my son in law was doing conference calls.

Once the walk ended it was time to wish my son in law good bye as he was joining my daughter at Times Square. In her new job she does events for the City and he was able to be at the venue.

Caveat: She was not drinking, she was working..

Her job began at 3pm,!and arrived home in Brooklyn at 5am. Long day.. oh public service..

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I was the pre planned dog sitter for this time. Rocco and I enjoyed the Brooklyn mayhem of fireworks at midnight, and later snuggled.

What a wonderful New Year’s Eve!

Happy 2025 to all..

Had a NYC stopover after landing in JFK.✈️. Was amazed that no longer do you have to go through customs at JFK. Had 4 checkpoints in Dublin Airport, and guess that is the reason why.

My daughter tells me that this is being done with other EU countries as well.

What a treat to deplane and walk out the door!

Found NYC balmy, and the AirTran working at optimum efficiency as was the Howard Beach Station MTA. Made it to Brooklyn in record speed — 90 minutes!

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Arrived at my daughter and son in laws apartment, and presented them with their souvenirs of Paris, and from there was on my way to Radio City for the Christmas 🤶 Show. (Run on sentence— sorry).

Had snagged a tix for $44., so who can say no to that!

The ticket 🎟️ was a good seat but a gal was sitting in it. She only spoke Spanish and through hand signals understood she wanted to sit with her family. Somehow she screwed up the ordering of the tix..

Guess hand signals didn’t work when she ordered the tix!

Parisian’s were so wonderful to me during my journey had to continue to extend the kindness.❤️

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So as a good American I took her seat becoming a win win for all.

The show was amazing as usual, and a standing ovation was received!

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Sorry, no photos allowed, but if you ever get the chance GO!!!

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And can’t leave Rockefeller Center without seeing the Tree from West Stockbridge, Mass

Remember that blog?

This is the second time I’ve been to Mount Michel, and it never ceases to amaze me. it’s been over 20 years and much upgrades have occurred to accommodate the comfort and numbers of the tourists. It is the second most visited spot in France 🇫🇷 behind Versailles.

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Before you go know there are 330 steps to the top of the church, get there early, and bring food 🍱 as lines are long.

The statute of St Michael on top of the spire – gold and over 1000 #. This also required a helicopter 🚁

And with this comes the end of my tour. Hope you’ve enjoyed the ride.

While Tom Wesselmann was the main artist displayed, there was a collection of others of import. Here’s a pic of the pop art group from this era..

Wesselman -examples of some of his work

And nice to see the museum involving children. Never to early to instill the appreciation of the arts.

Lichtenstein

Rauschenberg

Warhol

And some new faces..

Katherine Grosse – she works in metal with varied paint colors. This work hung through several floors in the building. Breathtaking!

And will end with Frank Gehry, the architect, showing a preliminary sketch on how he devised the building.

Amazing what purchasing a pocketbook can create.

Thanks, Louis

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I now know what this man was doing with all the money he acquired from his expensive pocketbook company. He was buying pop art, and creating an imaginative Museum like none you will ever see.

Designed by American architect Frank Gehry, this contemporary artistic creation was opened in 2014 to rave reviews. While many attend to see the art, the building itself is art.

The Building is a unique, artistic architectural experience with interior spaces and exterior 🪴 gardens. To build the design required new modes of building never thought to be possible.

Gehry’s work defies architectural norms.

The following pictures describe the construction better than words can say…

I

The Rooftop Gardens

In the rooftop gardens there is a combination of steel and wood however, the wood is ground with steel and glued to ensure the strongest possible building material. Beam and metal form the construction and were individually soldered.



If you ever get the chance, grab it and put this on your bucket list.

Decided to splurge and have dinner at the Eiffel Tower. Service was good but food akin to my hospital’s, well, actually the hospital’s is better. And daresay won’t tell what I paid. However it’s a weeks worth of Aldi’s groceries. And they didn’t even put me by a window!

Wine was delicious, 2 glasses came with dinner as well as a glass of champagne 🥂.

The first course was cold soup and now I know I can no longer have creamed products.

The next course was a blue lobster in cream sauce with linguine. Another problem.

Dessert

But aside from dinner did get to see the Park under the Tower.

The Park

And since I didn’t wait for the elevator for the exit walked down several 100 steps. Quite an experience! The top tier of the Tower was closed due to fog but made for an eerie pic.

From here on to the Seine boat ride. Passed museums, government buildings, and a Ferris wheel.

Paris truly is the City of Lights.

After my horrific dinner and beautiful boat ride, had to find my way back to the hotel. It was quite a challenge with the trains. The weather had become colder, and it was approaching 10 PM. I also was vomiting up most of my dinner along the way.

After asking the train station attendant for directions I found the 63 bus 🚌 didn’t arrive. After 40 minutes decided to explore on my own as the bewitching hour was fast approaching.

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After finding some helpful tourists, a new train station with a somewhat helpful attendant I was able to maneuver back to my hotel.

So from this experience decided to offer some tips on the Paris train 🚊 system.

Here they are..

• Always know the name of the station at the end of the line in the direction you are going.

• It also helps to know the line number as well. There are several tracks.
• When they say mind the step as you depart the train do so.
• Check the area around your seat prior to departure,
• Take a picture of the subway line on the wall of the train and follow along as the train goes through the various stops.
• Prior to my visit I scoured the Internet for information about the Paris subway system. I’m still looking for this information.
• Parisians are very helpful, especially the young ones, and if you’re older, it helps even better. Unsure how they’ll feel about us once the rapist is in but for another day.
• While I attempted to use an across the chest bag on this journey, I found my shoulders very tired. I will be returning to my classic fanny pack next journey. Female hips can carry the weight better.😆😆😆🤣😂😇😂😅😁
• Pick pockets and beggars are plentiful on the train. As a single tourist, I found myself targeted several times. At one point, I was startled, made noise and the beggar fled.
• Moving your seat helps. At one point I sat near another older single male passenger. I smiled at him and he nodded his head. He knew.
• Always wear a wedding band. No diamonds 💍.

That’s all for now.

I’m loading in for the journey to Mount Saint Micheal as I write.

Stay tuned.

Let’s visit the inside of the Chateau

The Chapel.

Next.. The Gallery, where there is an extensive collection of religious works.

The Library – with a collection of priceless treasures.

More Christmas

The Salons

The grounds of the chateau were also equally beautiful. To visit in summer must be a delight.

Sunset at the Chateau