Special Guest Blog

Bonjour bloggees !

Monsieur McKeegan has graciously consented to let me fill in the blog for a day or two.
That is unless I’m too boring ..Name an eight letter word for “inhabitants” . If you answer correctly ,there’ll be a prize for you ,crossword puzzlers ,donated of course by Kevin , I’m thinking a pair of those earphones the Airlines give you for movies … Yes, here we are with the McKeegans working a book of fifty crossword puzzles by night and riding the Paris Metro by day.

How totally fun and relaxing! To all of you who live in Oak Park, a warm and hearty hello. If you blog ,Skip, the above question is for you. The weather here in Paris is about as perfect as one can ask for- 16-20 degree C ,no burning days, perfect walking temp.

My wife, Mary, has decided we could live on crepes. She’s undergoing changes to all of you who know her out there and has decided her name is now “Màré”. I’m not sure she knows who I am anymore but that’s another story.

We really enjoy going out with Grace or Monsieur “Kevìn” shopping for dinner. As Grace said,”We’re zigzagging our way home”. One store prosciutto, one store fromage, one store “le vin”and on and on……and on – really rather fun. I told a lady I spoke Farsi today and she rattled off to me for a while … breaking off from her was a bit difficult but I think we both enjoyed our “conversation” nevertheless. All part of the Parisian experience. If there’s a real antipathy towards Americans here I have yet to feel it and I would heartily encourage anyone out there considering a visit to come and enjoy. The McKeegan’s apt. is cozy. Nighttime is spent at dinner, conversation, reading and “blogging”.

The River Seine seems to spend a great deal of time being the key reference point to all walkers. If one is able to find her, figure out what way you’re going ,then just continue walking, one can see a great deal of Paris. What can I say about the shops .Viola! Mary –a.k.a. “Mare” has met many fun, helpful, people. The lady at the famous Cordon Bleu cooking school was a case in point . Australian by birth , she shucked her perfect French to talk to us in English, selling Mare some cards for Bridge in the process. Speaking of bridge, can someone out there definitively explain to me why it is bad to bid one no-trump with a singleton ace and honors in the other three suits ? Could be another pair of earphones for this one . Monsieur Richard Gallivan did it and went down to stunning defeat when his partner showed a paucity of pts. Enough of bridge. I must save my really brilliant material for later. How do y’all know –I could just start writing boilerplate from Oak Park , Ca . Do you think it would take a ph.d to catch me ?

Love and keep blogging—Mark and “Mare”