London and the Dreaded Rental Car

Arrived in London late because of a flight delay, which caused us to reach Elizabeth (Evelyn's great granddaughter) very late. She served us a lovely late lunch of three salmon dishes and we enjoyed gin and tonics! After, we looked through albums and I found new photos for the book. She is a real treasure and I am glad to now call her my friend.

The RENTAL car...reserved an automatic, but they gave it away so I was forced to take a stick and drive on the wrong side of the road!!! We weren't even two mins out of the rental office and the car was smoking and had a bad odor. Tanya was so scared she said, "I really think we should turn back." Not having a lick of sense and a strong determination I was determined to persevere. By the time we got to the hotel we had to call the roadside mechanic. No serious damage, but he was concerned.

My friend Tom, poor soul, waited for me for two hours at the hotel. I felt really bad. We had some dinner and too short of a visit.

Paris

Our journey to Paris via London was 1.5 hours longer because of the volcano. We finally landed in Charles de Gaulle on Saturday. We stayed in a lovely hotel in the opera district. We met my cousin Tanya's friend, Delphine who chauffeured us around Paris. We went up the Eiffel Tower, drove down the Champs Elysses to the L'Arc de Triomphe. Saw Notre Dame Cathedral. Had lunch at an outdoor cafe near the Eiffel Tower. We dined with Delphine's family, including her 80 year-old father, Regis, who was a sweetheart! Sunday we saw the Louvre and shopped. For dinner we bought French bread ham and cheese sandwiches, cherry pastries, and walked back to the hotel Had a French white wine with dinner in the hotel lounge.

Left for London on Monday noon.

Paris

Our journey to Paris via London was 1.5 hours longer because of the volcano. We finally landed in Charles de Gaulle on Saturday. We stayed in a lovely hotel in the opera district. We met my cousin Tanya's friend, Delphine who chauffered us around Paris. We went up the Eiffel Tower, drove down the Champs Elysses to the L'Arc de Triomphe. Saw Notre Dame Cathedral. We dined with Delphine's family, including her 80 year-old father, Regis, who was a sweetheart! Sunday we saw the Louvre and shopped. For dinner we bought French bread ham and cheese sandwiches, cherry pastries, and walked back to the hotel and had a French white wine with dinner in the hotel lounge.

Left for London on Monday noon.

125 Years and 22 Days

It was exactly 125 years and 22 days ago that Evelyn and her husband set sail for America. My cousin and I will be boarding a plane for England tonight. We are filming as well so we can make a documentary about my quest. Turns out Paris is not just for fun after all--there is some theatre research to be done.

I can't say if my journey, which will be about seven hours in a plane, or her journey, which was 10 days at sea is better.

Preparing for Europe

It's a total countdown now. Two days from today I will be heading to the airport to visit Paris and England. Paris is just for fun, but England is where I begin my quest to find more about Evelyn's family and her life.

I will attempt to blog and add photos each day of my journey, so keep coming back!