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Agnes and Lyn (then)

Lyn and Agnes (2 years earlier)

On our arrival back in Paris, we couldn't find a place to change some bills into coins to use to get subway tickets for our return to Francoise's place. Lyn said lets use the subway tickets already had, but they were for the wrong system. Well, those tickets were no problem getting us onto the train, but after our ride, they were rejected when we tried to exit. I climbed over and Lyn tunneled under the gate and somehow our luggage made it through. It would have been a hefty fine and a lot of embarrassment if we had been caught.

Lyn's college friend Agnes, was Francoise nanny. Agnes took care of Francoise' two young children Alexand-5years and Adrian-18 months. The six of us even went to the Moscow Circus. It was a beautiful show with the performs all on skates, even the skating bear! It was a wonderful show with my only regret being that we didn't get better seats. Francoise is a very well educated woman who seemingly has chosen not to marry and yet to have two children. She has grown very attached to Agnes as well. Agnes' papers are not quite right and she lives in fear of being deported. Francoise has looked into adopting this 24 year old "child". It is apparently fine with the French, but the Filipinos look down on adopting a kid over the age of 15. Undaunted, Francoise now wants to move the "family" to the Philippines. Francoise's house was a nice three bedroom, two bath one. Shortly after our visit, they moved into a bigger house that the father of Adrian had bought for her. The father is a famous politician who, as Francoise told us, does want his fathering made public.

We bought a ticket which allowed us admission to many Parisian attractions. We took one of the guided tours of the Louvre and saw Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa, which we both thought was over-rated. In a room with all of these huge masterpieces depicting scenes with many almost life-sized characters, here was this little portrait.

Versailles was interesting - a palace without furniture. The grounds are very beautiful in the summer, but it was too cold to spend much time out there in the winter. In getting there we took the wrong train and a couple of Greek tourists showed us the way. The Arc de Triomphe was a lot of fun. We went there twice and stared in amazement at the chaotic traffic below. Apparently, you keep moving as long as you don't run into another car. This mess looked much like the traffic mess occurring all over Manila. The new Arc de la Defense had a scenic elevator which you could look around 360 degrees as you rode to the top. We saw Notre Dame again and ate in the Latin Quarter as we had done two years ago.

With Lyn and Martial - eating the best burgers in the world - Nancy, France

Nancy, France - Thursday, December 11

On our way to Nancy, we met Philippe and invited him to our home if he ever comes to California. In a step in the right direction, our next hosts, Lyn (I called her Lyn2) and Martial only had one child. Their house had 3 bedrooms adn 1 1/2 bathrooms, was quite spacious, and had a wonderful view of Nancy through huge French doors. We met Lyn and Martial in our small grocery store on our previous trip to Europe and had kept in touch ever since. Lyn and Martial were wonderful hosts and we would like to visit them when we go to the Philippines. Our stay was enjoyable except for the french speaking dinner party.

Their child, David, was much easier on our nerves than Francoise's had been with one exception. I was reading in our bedroom and Lyn2 was in the next bedroom changing David's diaper. Once David was stripped naked he came running into my bedroom, came to a sudden stop and then let it go. Fortunately, the fountain was not directed at me, but splattered on the bare wood floor. I said "stop David, stop David!", but the language barrier bit me again as David just smiled. A moment later Lyn2 calmly walked in with a big smile on her face, wiped up the mess, grabbed David, and only a minute after the fact put on a new diaper.

Martial's last day on his job was Friday as he was agreed to a new job in the Philippines. Early in the next morning he dropped us off in Luxemburg on his way to work. It was another day of inclement weather and at one point, when we saw a movie theater, we decided to go no further and duck in for a couple of hours to warm up. "Tin Cup" was shown in its original english version, but with subtitles in two languages. At an ATM machine I made my second mistake of the trip. I miscalculated the Luxemburg francs to dollars conversion and withdrew $300 worth of currency to spend in our day in Luxemburg. My first mistake had been made in Paris when I waited to long to grab the money and the machine grabbed it back.

I thought this was my ancestors' castle, but later on in the trip we found another Beilstein Castle which turned out to be the correct one!

One day Martial and I were in a bookstore when I mentioned our family castle. Martial was interested and found it listed in a book. It was less than 2 hours away and the next day we were on our way there. We stopped by a pub to ask directions and the proprietor led us outside and pointed to it on top of the hill! After driving up a dirt road and then a short hike we were at Chateau de Bilstein. The only thing somewhat in tact was the inner tower. We ignored the danger, no trespassing sign and climbed the rickety stairway to the top. The view was incredible; we were on a peak with a gorgeous view in any direction. I tried to picture the people, my ancestors, who had used this castle as refuge from murderous invaders. Considering its elevation relative to the surrounding terrain, getting supplies to the castle like water and food must have been quite a hardship. However, it seemed so small. But, as we walked around we started to realize the original boundaries of the castle. Traversing ravines which we originally didn't think it would, its size grew and grew. In the summertime this would be a beautiful spot for a picnic, but in the wintertime it was a hostile environment with the wind, the cold, and the rain. How hard it must have been for my ancestors to eek out an existence protected only by cut wood and stone.

Our favorite spot to eat in France was "Made In France". They made wonderful huge cheeseburgers. The rolls were great tasting french baguettes. The cheese was munster. The meat was just large enough and instead of tomatoes, they used shredded carrots. They were as good as any others I've ever had.

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