We take journeys as part of our lives. Internal ones that bring us closer to who we are. External ones that expose us to the world around us.
We must keep our eyes open. Move forward. Bring pieces of these journeys with us always. And share our journeys with others.
The new Travelgirl will launch this summer. We'll weave together stories of how our journeys have changed our lives and the lives of others. What journey have you taken that created positive change for you or others?
We stayed at few nights at the Hotel Eldorado on Rue, 18 rue des Dames, off the Place de Clichy (that we later found out is known as Paris' "red light district." That explains the blocks of XXX businesses.)
The hotel reminded me of inns I stayed in with my family in Amsterdam. Long, twisty, warped stairs leading to small rooms with smaller bathrooms, older fixtures, eclectic furnishings.
We didn't have a portable crib, so baby slept in a suitcase.
Our room overlooked the "garden" which turned out to be the garden of a restaurant, so we were serenaded each night by loud laughter and the clinking of glasses and silverware on plates.
But the price was right, and the location was convenient to a Metro station. Within walking distance we had our patisserie, laundromat and what became our favorite little cafe on the Place - Le Petit Poucet (translation: The Little Thumb, or so we were told).
On the first evening, we decided to walk to Sacre Couer (Sacred Heart) on the top of Montmarte. The walk was a slow climb up a gradual hill along winding cobblestone streets...
This is just the first entry of a series of posts about our travels with baby...Stay tuned...
I visited New York City two years after September 11th, in October of 2003. This was a big step for me. I had been driving back home to Manhattan and was at an RV park in the middle of Nebraska on September 11th, 2001.
At first, I headed to a friend's mother's house in Kansas instead of continuing to the East Coast. A few days later, I headed to Richmond, VA to stay with my sister for a month. When I did go back to the Upper West Side to pick up a few personal items from my apartment on 72nd Street in October 2001, it was on the day that they discovered anthrax at the NBC building.
I was struck by how normal everything seemed on my block, other than the black jets screaming overhead.
Photos from New York City, a month after September 11, 2001
72nd Street, business as usual...
Fairways, business as usual...
I couldn't bring myself to traveling downtown to see the aftermath. I just couldn't do it.
Photos from New York City, a year after September 11, 2001
One year later, I had the opportunity to attend the Internet World conference in New York City and after much debate with myself, I decided I needed to go to see the hole at Ground Zero. Here are a few photographs from that day.
Memorial fence.
Blank space where Towers stood.
Before and after.
In Memorium.
Through bars.
I thought I would be more emotional when I was at Ground Zero. I remember being so quiet inside, staring into the space, thinking that my friend who was with me had never seen the Towers before, never been inside of them, so he had no idea how much emptiness there was before us. How the open space was so unnatural...
While on my RVGirl Road Trip, I took a business trip detour into New Orleans for a speaking engagement. Here are some photographs from my trip. I just remembered I had them.
I wish I had similar shots of the World Trade Centers but while I was in New York City, they were such a fixture that I never thought of taking photos of them.
