I don't advertise vacation time anywhere online because I'm told that if I do that, I may as well leave the key to my place under my mat. But it sure is nice to just disappear and come back and discover I've been missed. Very nice, and I love the two of you who have said so. :-D I have had such an heady adventure. I have been an American in France, which went amazingly well. The French are very nice, even when you don't know the lingo. Menus have translations and a phrase book and a lot of bonjours and mercis go a long way. The heady part isn't the joy in discovering I could order food without trouble, but the visits to World War II museums, the walk on Juno Beach, the view over Omaha Beach and the tears I shed walking among the crosses in the American cemetery. It's going to take me a bit to digest all that. It'll be easier sharing photos from Bremen… …And a drive through Paris. We had a brief stop at the TrocadĂ©ro , and my photos of the Eiffel tower