Jen and Me in front of Notre Dame de Paris
I’ve been to Paris four times: in 1963, on my own after leaving a bus tour through several European countries; in 1986 and ’87, with Michael and Jen; and in 1999, just Michael and me. There were no cell phone photos during those visits, so I used my iPhone to snap a photo of this photo which was taken by Michael using a regular camera. This and one other taken at the same time are the only photos we took of this famous cathedral.
Sad to see Notre Dame burning. The speculation that the fire was caused by a spark during renovations to what is a wooden structure immediately reminded Michael and me of the fire at the Auberge Hatley, in Quebec. From the mid-1980’s until 2005, we went there each August and several times in the fall (including celebrating my 60th birthday). They were building a brand new wing which we were scheduled to stay in during the summer of 2006. However, in March, a spark during renovations in the original wooden building (ironically at a spot outside our regular Room 22) started a fire that raged out of control, and the entire Auberge burned to the ground. It was never rebuilt.
