Happy 95th Birthday Tune!

Tunis VandenBerg, 1921-1999. Husband, father, grandfather, a small town physician who was part of the Greatest Generation. . . It won't be steak on the grill tonight but we hope roast beef will be OK!

1991, Grandville, Michigan with granddaughter Melissa

Happy Birthday William J!

The oldest child and oldest boy of the Tunis VandenBerg-Bernice Van Halsema clan, William J VandenBerg 1950-2012 - taken 1955 413 Oak Street, Fremont, MI.

Clear your head and take a deep breath

Please take just a moment to lighten your heart and feed your soul. . .

You're still the greatest dad!

Twelve years ago today my dad passed through that door to see what was on the other side. Thanks for everything, Pop! Steak, baked potatoes tonight and fresh Michigan corn (frozen this past summer, I'll have you know), finished off by Susie's homemade vanilla ice cream and her scrumptious brownies.

Washington Post reports KKK Supports Trump

If you're to vote for Donald Trump among those folks standing with you are the members of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Washington Post, along with the LA Times, NPR and Fortune magazine reported today that the KKK, through their newspaper The Crusader, have officially announced their support for Trump. Read more here.

Oh, and in case you've forgotten, one of Trump's mentors as a young man, and an on-again, off-again attorney for Trump for many years, was Senator Joseph McCarthy's right-hand man, Roy Cohn.

Van Halsema cousins

There was quite the Van Halsema reunion for Aunt Thea's 92nd birthday at Raybrook this past Saturday. I had the opportunity to photograph at least three Van Halsema cousins who hadn't seen each other for quite a few years: Emily/Amahl Van Halsema from California, Melissa Ten Have Loaney from St. Louis and Jennifer Ten Have Galloway from Clear Lake right here in Kent County.

Emily/Amahl and Jen

Susie and her cousin Lissa

Autumn day at Clear Lake

This past Sunday I drove out to the Ten Have-Galloway home at Clear Lake near Rockford. After chatting a bit with Uncle John -- everyone else was away -- I took a stroll around the lake, savoring the quiet, the color and the solitude.

And yes, I tinkered quite a bit with post-processing the photos and experimenting with color balance, tonal qualities, that sort of thing.

Finally, I couldn't resist adding two photos of drop-dead gorgeous trees in our neighborhood.

A slightly colorful update from Grand Rapids

The weather has turned colder, with on-again, off-again rain and the leaves are starting to drop, as they do about this time of year. But a few days ago things in western Michigan were more summer-like, Indian Summer anyway.

Oh, and yes I finished my presentation on Paris Cemeteries at Aquinas College this past Wednesday -- I had an absolutely grand time, a real blast I might've said in 1972, and they’ve asked me to come back for a Part 2 (and 3 if I’m up for it).

Susie will be partnering with Patricia Christopher and now has a temporary license to work out of Patricia's Chocolates in Grand Haven, Michigan. It's a 30-40 minute drive from home to the lakeshore and we only have one car but we're going to give it a go. . . Anyway, she'll probably be out there for a few hours 1-2 days a week working primarily on shortbread cookies and Palmiers to sell in the shop and for special orders.

There's also another venue in Grand Haven that has expressed serious interest in her caramel nut tarts and financier almond cakes. The girl is in demand, but what else is new, eh? (working on my Canadianisms in case we have to leave the country November 8).

Anyway, with the weather being quite nice, last Sunday I grabbed my camera and walked over to Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. Along the way I was able to catch just a glimpse of some wonderful color change in our neighborhood -- plus the mums at Meijer Gardens were spectacular.

our condo, sort of (hidden behind the garages)

just at the entrance to our complex are these gorgeous trees that seem to go on and on

the entrance to the Gardens

part of an indoors exhibition at Meijer Gardens featuring some 11 local artists and their creative views of living in Grand Rapids -- yep, you'll need a program to grasp what they're getting at. . . 

a fascinating untitled bit of metal by Joel Shapiro -- I would have called it ballet dancer but then. . . 

at the entrance to the children's garden

3rd Michigan soldiers in Ottawa County - update 10/28/2016

Since Susie had to be in Grand Haven, Michigan for a meeting I took the opportunity to rephotograph graves of 3rd Michigan Infantry soldiers buried in nearby Spring Lake and Nunica cemeteries.

 The sky was overcast and the ground still soaked from the previous day's rain but it was a perfect time to shoot -- no shadows or harsh light -- and I made the most of it.

In Spring Lake Cemetery (east side):

Thomas Somerset and his family

Orange McClure buried with his brother Jay's family

notice the uncertain spelling of the family name here: McClure or McCluer?

In Nunica cemetery:

Lemuel Ward

Edward P. Davidson

John Nelthorpe

TRAVEL TIP: Renting an apartment in Paris

Over our years of traveling to Paris we've almost always relied on renting apartments as opposed to hotel rooms. The reason is simple: an apartment gives you the flexibility of cooking at home, especially if you're staying for a week or longer. It also has the added benefit of (usually) being the less expensive way to spend your money on lodging, especially in Paris.

My first inclination when looking for accommodations this past winer for our trip in September was to turn to the latest craze: Air BnB. While their website certainly offered plenty of options, in all price ranges, the one thing that put me off was they required all the rental charges to be paid up front. Yet the owner would only get their money once we actually showed up. Sooooo, Air BnB would be able to play with our money for five months. And I can just imagine the hassle of canceling. . . That nasty airline business model rearing it's head. No thank you.

Beginning in 2006 and until the end of 2010 we rented from the same person, both when we were living in Paris as well as when we returned for extended stays (such as two or three months at a time). We found her through the excellent local resource FUSAC (French USA Connection) and appreciated being able to meet with the owner in person. Unfortunately, that changed in 2013 and we found ourselves looking elsewhere. Friends from Providence, Rhode Island, had been very happy using the Parissharing website and so in 2013 we followed their lead. When we returned earlier this year to perhaps use the site again, we learned that prices had gone way UP so we thought to look elsewhere.

I recalled in years past a wonderful set of accommodation guides by Alistair Sawday called Special Places To Stay in France (or Ireland or Italy, etc.). I went to their website and before long had found just the place. It was very reasonably priced, quite spacious and a 10-minute walk to Père-Lachaise Cemetery in the 20th arrondissement! We were sold. I emailed the owner, she called me, I called her back and we shook hands on it, in a manner of speaking.

As it turned out our hostess was a lovely British woman who had spent the better part of her adult life in France. After we arrived in Paris and made our way through the Metro to the 20th arr. we quickly found the apartment. Anne was waiting for us when we arrived at the apartment and this was one instance of when first impressions -- even those made by internet and phone -- proved spot on. She was charming, engaging and full of life.

The apartment was nearly perfect with a 10-minute walk to the nearest Metro stop, a grocery store (Franprix) right up the street, an open-air market just 10 minutes away by foot and the neighborhood quiet. We spent 11 wonderful days in Anne's home.

TRAVEL TIP: Suggestions for dining out in Paris

La Factorie: one of their specialités is chou farci or cabbage roll with a side of mashed potatoes, a bit of rich beef juice and a lovely simply salad with radishes - I can't begin to tell you how delicious this was!

Eating out in Paris can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. This last trip in September of 2016 we were lucky to find quite a few places that worked just fine for our appetites and budget. And we didn't use a guidebook, just our sense of a place. If we can do it you certainly can.

(We did return to two places: Noodle and Cuisine de Bar. Cuisine was the only bad apple in the barrel and I didn't include it in our list.)

I've listed all the places we ate either lunch or dinner while in Paris. Any of these are a good bet, with reasonable prices and pleasant food.

Sapporo - 37 Rue Sainte-Anne, 75001 - Ramen noodle
Noodle - 54 Rue Sainte-Anne, 75002 - Ramen noodle
Bistrot des Vosges - 31 Boulevard Beaumarchais, 75004 - cuisine from Aveyron
Cafe a la Contrescarpe - 57 Rue Lacépède, 75005
La Billebaude - 29 Rue de l'Exposition, 75007
Le Lithographe - 234 Boulevard Raspail, 75014
Le Bistrot de la Galette - 102ter Rue Lepic, 75018 - Puffed pastry plays a huge role here
La Factorie - 42 Boulevard de Ménilmontant 75020
Royal Fata - 237 Rue des Pyrénées, 75020 - Asian

TRAVEL TIP: Transportation in and out of Paris

Paris is an incredibly accessible city; easy to get around and you can see nearly everything or everyplace right on the ground, that is by walking.

If you have to cross the city for whatever reason, meeting a friend or having dinner in a distant arrondissement from where you're staying, using the Metro is a blessing. And if you're staying in the city for any length of time, say longer than a week or ten days, you might want to consider picking up a Navigo Pass.

The Navigo allows you to just swipe and go through the turnstiles; and you can use any of the buses as well as the RER and trams that run around the inner periphery of Paris. You will need a photo (notice all those Photomation machines in the larger Metro stations?) and you’ll have to have a passable grasp of French to speak with one of the service reps. But once you have the Navigo, off you go! We've had our passes for quite a few years now and just top it off when we return.

The other Metro option is to purchase the “Carnet” or 10-pack of tickets. There’s also a 1-day pass but we didn’t find that as cost effective as the 10-pack. Still the 1-day might work for you so check it out before you buy.

Whichever way you opt to go, you’ll probably only need to buy tickets for zones 1-3; zones 1-5 will get you all the way out to the airports, Versailles and Fontainebleau, way out of the city in other words. . . Again check your needs before you buy. (The Navigo pass is good for all 5 zones.)

The official Metro site can be found right here: http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_21879/visiting-paris/ Another very user-friendly site in English in Paris by Train: http://parisbytrain.com/paris-transportation-zone-map/

As for travel out of the city -- like we took to Giverny and to Lille --  you might find a small challenge in purchasing tickets. The official French railway company, SNCF, makes it very easy to purchase tickets online BUT if your credit card has a magnetic strip, which most American cards have, you won't be able to use the self-serve kiosks at the train station. That's right folks, you'll have to stand in line to get your tickets. Go figure but go prepared.

Finally, for getting to and from any of the airports -- we usually go in and out of Charles de Gaulle -- we used Paris Bleu Van shuttle this time. We’ve used them in the past and never had a complaint, although if you opt for the (cheaper) shared service you might find yourself in the dark early hours driving around and around Paris picking up other passengers. A 35-minute trip then becomes 60- or 90-minutes. . . You get the point. You can find Bleu Van online at http://www.bluvan.fr/

Our final 48 hours in Paris

We’re back in Michigan where the colors are starting to change, the nights are quite cool (in the high 40s F.) and the days sunny.

We miss Paris but it is good to be home again.

Our last 48 hours in Paris were wonderful: the days were sunny and warm but not hot, the evenings pleasant and slightly cool. We had no real objective in mind other than to wander the streets, soaking up the feel of the city, and just savoring being there.

Susie showed me the new Les Halles development project (they’re at it again apparently) and it certainly looks impressive. Whether the city will ever get this space right remains to be seen. Perhaps it’s all those ghosts from those bodies that rested deep on the same land for so many centuries in Saint-Innocents cemetery that won’t let go or maybe it’s just been poor planning that has prevented the space from being truly useful and enjoyable.

October 2 was a Sunday but not just any Sunday - it was museum day. The third Sunday of every month is when all state museums are open free to any and all. And believe me, I think pretty much everyone within 100 miles of Paris was in line at the Louvre. I had such hopes to see Théodore Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa but that wasn’t going to happen this trip. I also wanted to see the French Sculpture Room which houses, among many other things, tombstones from the late Middle Ages. You know me and Paris Cemeteries — that’s on the list for next time as well.

So we strolled through the Tuileries, browsed through W. H. Smith bookstore and made our way home. That night we dined at the Royal Fata restaurant in our neighborhood near the Place Gambetta. Good food and quirky but friendly service.

Monday, our penultimate day in Paris, we both headed out mid-morning - Susan to visit the new Le Cordon Bleu school where she enjoyed a brief tour of the facility and me to the old cemetery Neuilly-sur-Seine--- right off of the Metro line 1 -- to do a bit of grave sleuthing. I had been emailing back-and-forth with a fellow in California who was looking for a particular family that he believed to be buried somewhere in Paris. So far I had not been able to find them at any of the major cemeteries (Père-Lachaise, Montparnasse or Montmartre) and thought I would try Neuilly since the family had apparently lived there. (No luck there either.)

Susie and I met up early afternoon and after a disappointing lunch at an old favorite Cuisine de Bar we made our way to the Jardin du Luxembourg one last time. It's such a wonderful place to walk, or just hang out. We watched several large groups of petanque players in one part of the garden before settling down to soak up the shade while many others opted for the sun.

That night, our last in Paris for 2016 we returned to rue Sainte-Anne and ate supper at Sapporro. The street is home to quite a large number of Asian restaurants, many of them noodle bars or sushi joints and almost all of them packed.

After our last meal we scrambled to get to the Trocadero just in time to see the lights twinkle on at the Eiffel Tower. We noticed that the city has cut back the twinkle session, though, from 10 minutes every hour to just five minutes.

As we neared the end of our stay I had arranged for a Paris Blue Van shuttle to pick us up and take us to CDG airport. Apparently my mind was elsewhere when I scheduled the pickup online because early Monday morning I received an email from our shuttle service saying the driver had waited as long as he could and was now gone. A day before we were to leave!

I called them straightaway. Within a few minutes we straightened out the mixup — we were leaving the next morning, Tuesday not Monday. But since it was client error we would have to pay an additional fee, of course. That was close.

Before we knew it our time in Paris had run out.

Our shuttle picked us up, we breezed through security (we pretty much breezed through security everywhere except London, going out and coming back), and now all we had to do was wait. Our flights were on time, uneventful and after spending the night in Boston right near the airport, we finished our final legs of the journey. Susie’s mom picked us up at the airport and before long we were home.

Librairie Gourmande: one of Susie's favorite spots, a bookstore devoted just to cooking and baking

open air market near Saint-Eustache in the Les Halles neighborhood

The planned jardin at Les Halles (will they get it right this time?) - a work in progress

the huge new shopping concourse

Lines for free museum day were waaaay too long for us

oh and here's our apartment

The Hungarian Institute of Paris on rue Bonaparte

boules playing in the Jardin du Luxembourg

Jardin du Luxembourg

A bientôt, Paris! Wish you were there. . . life is short.