Just about thirty minutes ago I was listening to a local news cast – the topic: changing the names of streets and buildings that use names of confederate persons.  The leader of a well-known group was being interviewed, he said this about changing the names….”….we’ve got to correct history.”   Well, my friend, we cannot ‘correct’ history; we can only begin to change the future.  What is history is just that.  While I can understand that the Confederate battle flag turned into more of a negative symbol than its original intention, I am glad it is not being displayed to create further negative feelings.  I do, however, take issue with changing names of schools and such with, specifically, the name of Robert E. Lee.  And, I take issue with some that have compared him to Hitler.  In no way should that have ever occurred!  Acquaint yourself with history, people! 

Robert Edward Lee was a West Point graduate, a superintendent of West Point for three years, and a lieutenant colonel of the 2d Calvary for the Union, stationed in Texas, until the secession of Virginia and the Civil War.  He had no sympathy with secession or slavery – he loved the Union.  But, it was his tradition and his loyalty to Virginia that came first.  He did resign from the Union army because he didn’t want to fight against Virginia – before that, he was offered the field command for the Union Forces, which he declined.  Later, of course, he became a general in the Confederate Army.  His men loved him.  He was kind, gentle, courtly and an excellent military leader.  He was, in my opinion, subjected to forces of things beyond his control.  After the war, he became president of Washington College.  He was a great man!

My heritage is from the north, I was born in Pennsylvania.  But, I recognize a great person and I honor his memory.  It is appropriate for schools to be named for such a dignitary.  Did you know that he was married to a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington?  She was Mary Anne Randolph Custis Lee – the land deeded to her, is now part of Arlington National Cemetery.  The Lee house, in which she and Robert lived, now sits on the site of one of our greatest national monuments.   So, please before you go off comparing Lee to Hitler, get your facts.  It is a most despicable comparison and definitely unfounded.  If you want to change the future, know your correct history.

In spite of Hurricane Ike, a trip to France in September of 2008 actually occurred.  It was definitely destiny.  Although the week prior to leaving was certainly filled with angst (that’s another story) the skies cleared and the way to the airport was secured (although gas not that plentiful.)  Nevertheless, on Sept. 18th, “Au revoir” was said to Houston, and “Bonjour” to Paris. The flight was most relaxing, and the entry into Paris quite without event, arriving ahead of schedule and waltzing through customs.  Next destination: a train station, Gare de Lyon, and the train to Dijon.

France is just beautiful.  Paris behind us, the terrain opened up to rolling green hills.  Once in Dijon, we found ourselves situated in a homey, yet charming (but no elevator) hotel on a quiet street in Dijon. Before collapsing, though, we put on our walking shoes and began to get acquainted with one of the culinary capitals of the world.   The weather was delightfully cool, no need for A/C; a jacket, though, was needed. First on the order of “business” was finding some food!  Our friendly clerk (“Je parle francais petit peu, parlez-vous Englais?”) was genuinely helpful and directed us to a market area with bistros and restaurants.   We also found a grocery store in the same market area and loaded up on water.  Since this area wasn’t far from our hotel, we would return numerous times.  The next day, after petit déjeuner (breakfast), we set out for a longer walking tour of Dijon discovering a multitude of lovely shops,  wonderful buildings, the Palais de Duc (of Bourgogne) now housing city offices and a museum, the Bibliotheque Municipale, lots of cars, and narrow streets.  Wandering back to our hotel, we had a picnic dinner and turned in.  Our first day in France was over!

Because of our proximity to Switzerland, we took a 2.5 hour train ride over to Lausanne, Switzerland.  Lausanne is right on Lake Geneva.  A town literally built on a hill.  We walked out of the train station (oh, forgot to convert to the Swiss Franc, no cash to spend, places would not accept Euros) across the street to the bottom of the hill of this city and then up, up, to shops and the town center.  Lausanne’s history goes back to Roman days, yet little is left of all the previous centuries.  A medieval tower and some Gothic buildings do remain.  Visiting for a day didn’t give us enough time to really see the city – and since it was a Sunday, most of the shops were closed.  However, the city was preparing for a national holiday the next day – there were several outdoor concerts in progress which we enjoyed during our walking tour.  Before dark, though we were headed back to France.  On the return train, we were told that we were not supposed to use our French Rail Pass from Switzerland back into France – the conductor was quite patient as we discussed this in limited French and English and paid the additional fare.

Monday dawned – we resumed our Dijon “walking tours”, but, by mid-morning it was decided to take a short train ride down to Beaune, the center of the Bourgogne region (just south of Dijon).  Getting the ticket was a challenge; since the station was being renovated we had a bit of fun finding the correct ticket window!  But we hopped aboard a late morning train for the short ride.  The country side was spectacular, vineyards galore! Beaune is fabulous; charmingly quaint, gorgeous limestone buildings with colorful roofs, wonderful outdoor restaurants, parks and oodles of wine shops!  Once again, hunger pangs were answered first.  After déjeuner, we wondered through Beaune and discovered many caves (wineries) – one was selected for a lovely tasting.  This was the first formal tasting in the Bourgogne area and what a great choice – the product was most enjoyable.  All too soon it was time to head back to the train station.  (Tip:  be sure to pay attention to which side of the track the station is on when arriving – else you might end up on the wrong train and have to get off to wait for the right one in the opposite direction!  Ho hum!)

As a change of pace, a guided tour was booked for the next day.  We had the morning, though, to traverse Dijon so we returned to the Bibliotheque Municipale.  When we entered the building we had discovered on Saturday, a studious quiet enveloped us.  Going directly to the two catalog computers we noticed as we entered, we found the ILS very user friendly. We managed to navigate through the system with our minimal knowledge of French.  We found that the Dijon library system had popular authors like Patterson and Crichton.  The branch we visited was the research branch (this building was constructed in 1622, and restored in 2004) with large study tables, traditional lighting and alcoves of books off the main study area.  The research location was also an archive.  There were three branches in the downtown area “Centre-Ville”: the research location, one for adults and one for youth.  Several other branches were located in the outskirts of Dijon.  Should you have a desire, here is the website: www.bm-dijon.fr.   What a perfect place to study, but we didn’t tarry too long as the time to meet for our tour was approaching.

Upon making the connection with our tour guide, we found that being transported in a comfortable van was a treat as we followed the curves of the Bourgogne Canal in the Ouche Valley.  One of the stops was at a medieval town and castle, Chateauneuf en Auxois, which was situated high in the hills of the Cote de Nuits.  After visiting the castle, the tour took us through some of the most gorgeously green wine country in the world.  This then led to the highlight of the day (for me), a tasting at Clos Vougeot, one of the most famous wineries in France.  After the tasting, we drove past a vineyard near the Clos which was being harvested.  In one of the small towns also associated with Clos Vougeot, we stopped at a place where some grapes had just been pressed.   Only the pinot noir grape or chardonnay grape is supposed to be grown in this region.  When we returned to Dijon, we began preparations for departure.

The next day, goodbyes were regretfully made to Dijon.  Back at Gare De Lyon in Paris, it took just a few moments to become acclimated and find the taxi stand.  Once this was done, the trip to our hotel was fairly pleasant – over the Seine, past Nortre Dame and then arriving at a small hotel on a quiet street not too far from Arc de Triomphe, on the northern edge of the 8th Arrondissement.  With our bags stowed in our temporary abode, off we set to explore the area.  Once again in need of dinner, we asked for guidance.   We strolled the Champs Elyssés, and then found a grocery store to purchase our picnic dinner.  So ended our first day in Paris.  In the next two days, we found our way to various places.  First we walked to the Tour d’Eiffel, then through some lovely gardens nearby, and then returned to the hotel.  After lunch, we found the Musée Rodin and delighted in all of Rodin’s wonderful sculptures including “The Thinker.”  The Musée du Louvre was next on the list.  So the next day we walked down Champs Elyssés once more, crossed the Place de la Concorde and went through Jardin Tuileries.  In itself, the Louvre would take days and days to really tour thoroughly.  There was some confusion about admission tickets; however, upon solving that issue, we began our self-guided tour. With map in hand, we did manage to find the Mona Lisa, Napoleon’s chambers, a wing depicting history of the Louvre (viewing the subterranean medieval foundation) and  a wing with several sculptures including Venus d’Milo.  After a delicious lunch at one of the Louvre’s elegant restaurants, we finished our tour.  Even though slightly exhausted, we managed to find our way to Notre-Dame.  This is truly an inspiring cathédrale, awesomely spiritual even with hundreds of people traipsing through. The evening found us strolling the Champs Elyssés one more time as we bid farewell to Paris.

Although the trip to the airport was uneventful, the line at the airline check-in area was very long.  It took over an hour to get properly checked in and to process through security.  Then, a long trek to the gate, we did manage to take advantage of duty free shopping.  We just had a short wait for our flight to board.  And finally, after a nine hour flight, arrival in Houston was accomplished.  “Au revoir Paris, Bonjour Houston.”   Although the travel was over for me, my friend’s saga continued, almost ‘ad infinitum’.  Thanks, good friend, for being such a marvelous travel companion and really good sport.