Tagged With "Pointe du Hoc"
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Re: November 24, 2016: Enger Tower, Duluth, Minnesota
Did you count the steps up ? Looks like an Olympian task !
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Re: November 24, 2016: Enger Tower, Duluth, Minnesota
Hi Garry I never thought of counting the number of steps to the top of Enger Tower for I was too preoccupied with the beautiful scenery; However, thanks to your question I did some internet investigating and discovered that apparently there are 105 steps you must walk to get to the top of Enger Tower (therefore 210 steps in total to get up and down the tower). You really don't need to be an Olympian to get to the top of Enger Tower. Although the number of steps sounds like a lot, and the...
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Re: November 24, 2016: Enger Tower, Duluth, Minnesota
Thanks Ottoman. Thanks for the reassurance. I did have a fear of a thousand tourists behind me - pushing to ascend the stairway - and all at the gallop. The intervals are all well spaced and welcomed. That's why older people carry a camera !
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Re: Marriott buys Starwood for $12.2 billion...what's in it for loyalists?
Received this e-mail this morning. Today we're excited to share the news that Starwood Hotels & Resorts will join together with Marriott International to create the world's largest hotel company. For our Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG® members, this will mean even more choices in even more places, giving you access to 1.1 million rooms across 5,500 hotels and resorts in more than 100 countries. We will work to bring you the very best of SPG and Marriott Rewards®, two of the most...
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Re: Marriott buys Starwood for $12.2 billion...what's in it for loyalists?
I'm hopeful, since I think the last thing in the world Marriott should want to do is to signal Starwood loyalists that they aren't valued. Wonder how long before SPG rewards will book Marriott rooms...that could be a quick thing to do!
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Re: Marriott buys Starwood for $12.2 billion...what's in it for loyalists?
As I'm also a Marriott rewards member, I wonder when I'll get an e-mail from them.
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Re: Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site, Manitoba (Where Gumbo Was #184)
Boat builders recruited from the Scottish Orkney Isles built the first boat about 1749, for use on the Albany R. In competition inland with the NWC on the Saskatchewan R in the 1790s the York boat offered the HBC a distinct advantage, since it carried twice the cargo of a "Canot du nord"
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Re: Canal St-Martin in Paris/Where Locals and Travelers Mix
The Canal St.-Martin area is also good for food. One of the best-regarded new bakeries, Des Idees et du Pain is on its edge, and there's a great twice-a-week open-air market between the point where it goes underground and Bastille.
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Re: Lighthouses of Lake Havasu – Part 2 of 3
Makes me want to go out, buy an RV and go see all the lighthouses in the world! I love lighthouses, and to have so many in one place, even if they're "just" replicas, is great! Thanks, Samantha.
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Re: Lighthouses of Lake Havasu – Part 2 of 3
Cool idea, lighthouses all over. Do boaters on the lake count on them, or just for fun?
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Re: Lighthouses of Lake Havasu – Part 2 of 3
They are cool to see. Some are just for fun, but many of them do actually light up to help the boaters.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#67)
Sunday evening, and time to post the e-mail responses. This week, there has been one, from PortMoresby, and her guess was correct. Gumbo was in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont in Paris, looking at the Ile du Belvedere. For more about the park, see tomorrow's "reveal" blog. A new puzzle will appear on Tuesday. And again, congrats to PortMoresby!
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Re: Coastal California: The Pigeon Point Hostel
Any travel tale that starts with a road trip following giraffes (nice pic, BTW), includes a lighthouse, the surf, goat cheese and cute granddaughters, is top rate in my book! Can't wait for the lighthouse tour!
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Re: Coastal California: The Pigeon Point Hostel
My life in a nutshell, DrF! I cannot complain. And thanks.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Sept 2, 2014: Luxembourg Gardens, Paris
Thanks ,great to see the Jardin du Luxembourg in different seasons.It is one of my favorite places in the summer for people watching.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, July 30, 2014: Vegetables in Formal Garden, Musee Carnavalet
If you like beautiful food gardens, I think you'd love this one in Versailles: http://www.potager-du-roi.fr/site/potager/index.htm I spent a good part of a day there, not long after the restored garden opened to the public, taking pictures in a drizzly rain. Not what you'd think of for a garden in Versailles, but wonderful.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 9, 2014: Protea, South Africa
These are such amazing specimens of this flower. Beautiful pics...
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Re: Nov. 8, 2018: Milano Centrale railway station
Actually, in passenger traffic, it's listed here as #8 in passenger traffic. Perhaps it's #1 in mainline traffic? Certainly #1 Gare du Nord and Gare de Chatelet, both in Paris, have heavy concentrations of commuter and regional passengers.
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches
Thank you, thank you, for this, Dr. F. This is an excellent time (November 11, Remembrance Day tomorrow) to be reminded of the D-Day assault. We were in Normandy in 1994, when they were marking the 50th anniversary of D Day, and one night we were having dinner in a restaurant and struck up a conversation with a young couple. They were a bit rough looking, a couple of Brits who were starting on a tour of France on their motorcycle but they had stopped off in Normandy at the beaches to "pay...
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches
Thanks for your comment, Arion. It's hard not to be moved by D-Day. The vastness of the assault, the staggering loss of life (civilian and military). What most impressed me is that the local people remember. Not French people away from the coast, but those whose relatives went through the assault make a point of teaching their children and grandchildren the price paid to liberate them from the Nazi fascists. The Juno Beach Center, built by the Canadian Beach, really did a great job of...
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches
Thanks DrFumblefinger, It's been way too many years since I've seen the Normandy beaches. Your photos are very moving .
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches
My Father received this from Dwight D Eisenhower at the start of D-Day:
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches
That's an interesting and historic document, GarryRF. Many of those who landed on the D-Day beaches never spoke of this with anyone -- so horrible was the experience, so many wounded and killed among them. I'm curious --did your dad ever share these experiences with you?
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches
Yes - my Dad and lots of other guys told me their stories! My Dad was in the Royal Navy and was taking landing craft full of soldiers from ship to shore - several times - under heavy fire! A guy I was doing work for had lots of photos and souvenirs on the walls of his house. Medals and maps. Newspaper cuttings and Badges. All in frames. I asked him how much he remembered of D-Day. "Every minute of every hour. Me and my mate had been together since the outbreak of war. Nearly 5 years. We were...
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches
Several vets I know say that the Normandy beach landings as portrayed in the movie "Saving Private Ryan" are the way they remember it. Madness, chaos, noise, death, fear, adrenaline, more fear. And yet they ran into the madness. It takes a type of courage that's hard for us to imagine in the 21st century. Thanks for sharing that story, Garry.
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches
When I was a little nipper and hadn't started school we would visit family at the weekend. No TV. No money. 1950's -you get the picture. So socialising with Dad's 9 brothers and sisters was as good as it got ! If you mentioned the War in some homes you'd be out the front door quicker than a Rat up a Drain pipe ! Others would tell you tales to make your hair curl. Tails of unbelievable bravery, absurdity and stupidity. The Ladies would tell the tale of how the American and Canadian GI's would...
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches
Thank you mr fumblefinger for your poignant description and photos. Our family lost my uncle at Omaha Beach. He was one of those young men caught up in the drama of war who did his best in a very bad situation. Several times during the 1980s and early 1990s, I made my way to northwestern France to visit the D-Day landing sites. At that time, I was struck by three things - the immaculate grounds and air of respect, the gratefulness of the French people and the fact that there were very few...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day. September 10, 2013: African Penguins, Boulders Beach, South Africa.
I really like penguins!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day. September 10, 2013: African Penguins, Boulders Beach, South Africa.
Yes, think about what items would fit well for thumbnail images that people could use as avatars. We can create a bunch, and I do have a number of penguin photos that fit the bill.
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Re: The Petite Ceinture, Paris: Where Gumbo Was (#71)
In an e-mail, Jonathan L provides an update—a happy one—on the Gare Ornano. It appears that about a year after I took my pictures, the station was sold, the KFC is gone, and a new cafe+recycling center has renovated the station; a picture below shows a view of the rear very different from the one below the KFC picture above. The site now also hosts food trucks! Thanks to Jonathan L for finding the followup, which can be found at http://www.larecyclerie.com/ It's in French, but if that's a...
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
We must have passed Pigeon Point on our way to see the seals on a February visit to SF about 10 years ago...I wish I had known! Besides the seals, the highlight of that trip was breakfast in a roadside diner surrounded by avocado farms...a product reflected in practically every breakfast on the menu!
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
In that part of the coast, it's more likely to have been artichokes, grown there and all the way down to Salinas/Monterey. Avocados are a Southern California crop.
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
When I lived in So California, an acquaintance was an avocado farmer. He informed us that at the time about 10% of the avocado crop was stolen each year -- probably higher now. The most stolen crop in America, and impossible to trace I love old lighthouses and their setting on the roughest places on the coast. Thanks for sharing this one with us, PM.
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
I'm not surprised about the avocado theft, guacamole being one of the CA food groups.
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
I didn't mean to imply purloined produce...just that as a local product, they had a high place on the menu. From the conversations around us, it appeared that many of the others were growers...
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
PHeymont -- did not mean to imply that your restaurant proprietors were thieves. Just to point out that the crop you were surrounded by is a target of theft.
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
Gentlemen, I think you missed my point somewhere above. Artichokes grow in Northern California, avocados in Southern California. As far as I've observed, never the twain shall meet. Just to confirm, is this it? If so, not avocado.
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
No, really, we know the difference. And we saw the avocados and ate them. I haven't found production figures yet for San Mateo County yet, but it is significant.
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
I see no mention of avocados: https://agwm.smcgov.org/sites/...26%20PDF%20Print.pdf
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
Great. I will be in Santa Cruz in a couple of weeks with HS friends and suggest we go thePigeon Point lighthouse! thanks again for a wonderful journey! Denia
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Re: Help with Provence Itinerary
Nearest St-Remy: - Don't miss Les Baux . The village is touristy but the castle complex on top is fantastic and the views are to die for - you don't need to be a fan of scenery to appreciate them. - Roman ruins of Glanum , walking distance from St-Remy - Arles for more Roman ruins (but I think you've been already?) Farther away: - Day-trip to the Luberon for unmatched scenery and charming little villages full of vernacular architecture - what people build themselves, without an architect.
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Re: Charlottesville, Virginia: Land of Presidents
I've spent many days exploring the early times of the Du Pont family around Delaware and Pennsylvania. Explore the old homes and gardens of the American chemical giants. Really fascinating. Chateau Country Route 52 passes thru Delaware’s Chateau Country. Many DuPont homes and estates are tucked away in the areas surrounding Greenville, Delaware and Centerville Delaware. Local residents have managed to preserve the rural character of Route 52 by controlling development. Twin Lakes Brewing...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Apr. 2, 2014: Looking Across Time
Seeing this picture, I somehow assumed that the Gare d'Orsay was the location of Martin Scorcese's movie 'Hugo'. But now I read that the station in the movie was actually a composite of "Gare Montparnasse, the train station where a major part of the film’s action takes place...the Gare du Nord for its façade and the Gare de Lyon for its geographic location and clock tower, an important plot element in Hugo ." Momentarily disappointed, I read on, "... the Gare d’Orsay, provides another...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Apr. 2, 2014: Looking Across Time
I've been wracking my brain for the 6th, did not cheat, promise. Besides the ones above, Gare du Nord, Gare de Lyon & Montparnasse, there's Est & St Lazare. So if Bercy counts, then that's 6. I've left & returned from Bercy but have never been sure about it. Now tell us, please.
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Re: Agritourism Bed and Breakfast in Normandy
Definitely visit the Mont St. Michel (island) after the tour buses leave. So a great time to head out to the island is mid afternoon (ie. get there by mid afternoon, don't leave Bayeux at that time). By the time you get to the old island itself the crowds will be thinning. It's a bit of a climb up to the monastery, but the views are incredible as the great history and beauty of the place. Just be sure you don't delay visiting the monastery too long (believe it closes at 6 pm but double check...
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The Loire River Valley
Many find a visit to the Loire Valley to be the highlight of their visit to France, as did we. When we were planning our journey I discussed our itinerary with my friend, Wayne. Wayne and his wife had...
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The Medieval Fortress and Town of Chinon
There are few places in France of greater historic importance than Chinon. You wouldn’t know that by what you see when you drive thru it today as it seems a small sleepy rural town. You’ll see little evidence of...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Dec 18th, 2014: Longwood Gardens, Penn.
Longwood Gardens created by Pierre S. du Pont,(1870-1954) is one of the premier arboretums in the USA, if not in the world. It consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania , in the...
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Gallery: Longwood Gardens, PA
Longwood Gardens created by Pierre S. du Pont,(1870-1954) is one of the premier arboretums in the USA, if not in the world. It consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square,...
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Saguenay Fjord — Deep and Long but not very Tall
I’d heard as a schoolboy that the Saguenay Fjord was one of the longest in the world. Years later someone told me the area around Tadoussac was pretty, sparsely developed and inviting. Given a spare day or...