We’re not really foolish enough to think we know what is going on. We make our guesses. We take our chances. History tells her story when and how she pleases.
So yes sir. Know the area. I have been to and lived in France during the 70s and returned avec ma famille pendant 2007. We stayed at a fabulous "resort", but simple by US standards on the Seine, literally on the Seine with an adjacent bridge with a Michelin rated restaurant over the river on the bridge and was fabulous. What a week it was! Le Manoir des Deux Amants, Connelles, France. Also had a simple very Norman restaurant across the street run by a cute hilarious and a bit chubby wife and husband who inquired with us DAILY if we were eating "chez Nous?" and we would either say yes (a big smile) or no ( a big frown) then explain why. Usually a trip to Paris (about an hour or so away) or to Rouen and the Le Cemetiere Americains Colleville Sur Mer, Bayeux (which SHOULD be a bucket list item for EVERY American, and I had to wear sunglasses so my children would not see their father weep), and also down into deep Normandy to Monet's home in Giverny on the RIGHT bank of the Seine. Along the way we stopped at every Cathedrale we could find, no google maps and iphones not out yet and used an INTERNET Cafe to communicate with the USA (daughter working on semester term paper for AP History class and her teacher brutal and would NOT give her an extension due to the trip we made, the asswipe liberal that he was....but she got her A and scored a 5 on AP exam (he was one of the authors of the exam nationally), and so we know the joy and fascination and charm and glory of OLD France and the ROLE OF THE CHURCH then and there, now waning and the also saw the beginnings of the INVASION of foreigners, NOT TOURISTS, let in by the new EU rules....and even in 2007 we KNEW not to ride the Paris Metro at ANY hour lest you be mugged or robbed or pick pocketed or just harassed for money. NOT! And we also knew that the FIRST wave of foreigners, then the parents of the ne'er do well teenagers rampaging rioting and burning Paris and other places protesting unemployment, le chomage, were mostly law abiding...so it was their kids who were out of control and now those kids then are married with kids, millions more came pouring in (though Hungary stopped it COLD) and we have a crisis in France.....
BUT GOOD TO SEE THE OLD GUARD,the educated, professional and well mannered and well dressed and well heeled FRENCH bourgeousie.....the BACKBONE of France in Ecoles Superiors and PROFESSIONS, come out for a wedding.
300 is huge. We LIMITED our kids to 150....some of that cost as we provided open bar and four course meals at fabulous dine in resort nearby our home (then) and the kids didnt want 300...saying too big and not wanting to be in the receiving line for hours. Our weddings were epic and SOUND OF MUSIC in quality and glory and tear filled eyes and music and trumpets, Rolls Royces and even a few celebrities we knew (one from ESPN) and so all is well. We love France..always have. Always will. BUT we dont like the EU, and DONT like OPEN BORDERS and the influx of ne'er do wells from horrible countries and what that has done. My first visit to France was 1971 and it was so different then. My high school french teacher lamented the changes THEN.....saying in the 50s France was the BEST..under DeGaulle. Maybe so. I dont know. We also spent a week in the Alpes across from Grenoble....where I spent a year living, to show the kids what dad had done.....and had a blast...though snowed in....eating all sorts of cheeses and foods and had a lovely encounter and dinner with a DGSE agent.....
I digress. I do ENVY Bill having his mini palace in Poitou and going there yearly and being invited to Haute Culture weddings and such. Being with and around the best of the best in France. Who are of similar minds with US....and who reminisce on the Ancien Regime. I have been all over France. And the Cote D'Azur.....in the military, oh the stories and the love affair I had then, and the broken hearts (both of us...her mother cut it off when I told her "Madame I will stay with your daughter and not bolt, but I must return to USA for University" She either didnt believe me or thought I would steal her daughter to the USA forever and cut it off.) I was also young....21. St. Jean Cap Ferrat, Eze, Nice, Menton, Vintimiglia, Roquebrune Cap Martin.....oh my the memories. Brigitte dear if you are still alive, I send you my best and a big hug.
The world has changed everywhere. It is said correctly in philosophy that after each moment passes it becomes the past and we must look to the here and now and the future. TRUE ENOUGH. But memories we wear with warmth mostly and make us who we are in our souls.
What portends us now in America? I dont know. Bill is correct to say NOBODY knows we only guess and use our best skills and tools to discern and plan. And let History and Human Frailty unfold.
Thank you for sharing your story. We have had several visits to France, always too short. Our visit to Normandy was among the high points, staying in Bayeux, viewing the tapestry, attending the American Cemetery nearby, and visiting other markers from WWII. Your story brought back fond memories.
Tom you know better friend. BILL is NOT about stock picking. Dyson and Dan and Jim Rickards services do that. Bill is a Macro guy and he also shares travels and helps us see his world from his eyes and sometimes it hits a nerve and sometimes it hits a common theme and today is one. See below.
Lucky Bill stayed safe in his car so he could make his hasty generalisation in comfort and peace and draw the big conclusion about immigrants from this one incident- having just said ‘if you think you understand what is going on, you don’t know what’s going on.’
Well I have been all over Europe. Many times. I have my favorite places and some I didnt like. Liked Copenhagen but not Amsterdam. Enjoyed Berlin and Munich and Frankfurt (stories there) but overall not a fan of Germany, Austria (beautiful but PECULIAR) and Switzerland (fairy tale on the surface but NOT so underneath the covers) and I adore France, Spain and Italy. Been behind the Curtain when it was dangerous (70s) and so forth. And into Britain...but oddly never to Ireland. All over Scotland. I support Manchester United in EPL football btw. LOL.
So yes sir. Know the area. I have been to and lived in France during the 70s and returned avec ma famille pendant 2007. We stayed at a fabulous "resort", but simple by US standards on the Seine, literally on the Seine with an adjacent bridge with a Michelin rated restaurant over the river on the bridge and was fabulous. What a week it was! Le Manoir des Deux Amants, Connelles, France. Also had a simple very Norman restaurant across the street run by a cute hilarious and a bit chubby wife and husband who inquired with us DAILY if we were eating "chez Nous?" and we would either say yes (a big smile) or no ( a big frown) then explain why. Usually a trip to Paris (about an hour or so away) or to Rouen and the Le Cemetiere Americains Colleville Sur Mer, Bayeux (which SHOULD be a bucket list item for EVERY American, and I had to wear sunglasses so my children would not see their father weep), and also down into deep Normandy to Monet's home in Giverny on the RIGHT bank of the Seine. Along the way we stopped at every Cathedrale we could find, no google maps and iphones not out yet and used an INTERNET Cafe to communicate with the USA (daughter working on semester term paper for AP History class and her teacher brutal and would NOT give her an extension due to the trip we made, the asswipe liberal that he was....but she got her A and scored a 5 on AP exam (he was one of the authors of the exam nationally), and so we know the joy and fascination and charm and glory of OLD France and the ROLE OF THE CHURCH then and there, now waning and the also saw the beginnings of the INVASION of foreigners, NOT TOURISTS, let in by the new EU rules....and even in 2007 we KNEW not to ride the Paris Metro at ANY hour lest you be mugged or robbed or pick pocketed or just harassed for money. NOT! And we also knew that the FIRST wave of foreigners, then the parents of the ne'er do well teenagers rampaging rioting and burning Paris and other places protesting unemployment, le chomage, were mostly law abiding...so it was their kids who were out of control and now those kids then are married with kids, millions more came pouring in (though Hungary stopped it COLD) and we have a crisis in France.....
BUT GOOD TO SEE THE OLD GUARD,the educated, professional and well mannered and well dressed and well heeled FRENCH bourgeousie.....the BACKBONE of France in Ecoles Superiors and PROFESSIONS, come out for a wedding.
300 is huge. We LIMITED our kids to 150....some of that cost as we provided open bar and four course meals at fabulous dine in resort nearby our home (then) and the kids didnt want 300...saying too big and not wanting to be in the receiving line for hours. Our weddings were epic and SOUND OF MUSIC in quality and glory and tear filled eyes and music and trumpets, Rolls Royces and even a few celebrities we knew (one from ESPN) and so all is well. We love France..always have. Always will. BUT we dont like the EU, and DONT like OPEN BORDERS and the influx of ne'er do wells from horrible countries and what that has done. My first visit to France was 1971 and it was so different then. My high school french teacher lamented the changes THEN.....saying in the 50s France was the BEST..under DeGaulle. Maybe so. I dont know. We also spent a week in the Alpes across from Grenoble....where I spent a year living, to show the kids what dad had done.....and had a blast...though snowed in....eating all sorts of cheeses and foods and had a lovely encounter and dinner with a DGSE agent.....
I digress. I do ENVY Bill having his mini palace in Poitou and going there yearly and being invited to Haute Culture weddings and such. Being with and around the best of the best in France. Who are of similar minds with US....and who reminisce on the Ancien Regime. I have been all over France. And the Cote D'Azur.....in the military, oh the stories and the love affair I had then, and the broken hearts (both of us...her mother cut it off when I told her "Madame I will stay with your daughter and not bolt, but I must return to USA for University" She either didnt believe me or thought I would steal her daughter to the USA forever and cut it off.) I was also young....21. St. Jean Cap Ferrat, Eze, Nice, Menton, Vintimiglia, Roquebrune Cap Martin.....oh my the memories. Brigitte dear if you are still alive, I send you my best and a big hug.
The world has changed everywhere. It is said correctly in philosophy that after each moment passes it becomes the past and we must look to the here and now and the future. TRUE ENOUGH. But memories we wear with warmth mostly and make us who we are in our souls.
What portends us now in America? I dont know. Bill is correct to say NOBODY knows we only guess and use our best skills and tools to discern and plan. And let History and Human Frailty unfold.
Thank you for sharing your story. We have had several visits to France, always too short. Our visit to Normandy was among the high points, staying in Bayeux, viewing the tapestry, attending the American Cemetery nearby, and visiting other markers from WWII. Your story brought back fond memories.
Interesting but not informative
Tom you know better friend. BILL is NOT about stock picking. Dyson and Dan and Jim Rickards services do that. Bill is a Macro guy and he also shares travels and helps us see his world from his eyes and sometimes it hits a nerve and sometimes it hits a common theme and today is one. See below.
Like my old mentor commonly said, "could be". Cheers
Lucky Bill stayed safe in his car so he could make his hasty generalisation in comfort and peace and draw the big conclusion about immigrants from this one incident- having just said ‘if you think you understand what is going on, you don’t know what’s going on.’
Our cultural diversity is "their" strength...
Well I have been all over Europe. Many times. I have my favorite places and some I didnt like. Liked Copenhagen but not Amsterdam. Enjoyed Berlin and Munich and Frankfurt (stories there) but overall not a fan of Germany, Austria (beautiful but PECULIAR) and Switzerland (fairy tale on the surface but NOT so underneath the covers) and I adore France, Spain and Italy. Been behind the Curtain when it was dangerous (70s) and so forth. And into Britain...but oddly never to Ireland. All over Scotland. I support Manchester United in EPL football btw. LOL.
What's alarming about Americans is this insistence towards diversity as always a good thing.
It's a noun, it is benign until applied.
The manner in which diversity is abused by liberals and immigrants.
It is likely more dangerous to the U.S. citizen than any adversary's military.
Yes sir Its part of their arsenal!!