Figure 1.-- Here I, Robin, Dad, and Rink are checking out ice skating for the first time. Our chateau (lots of land) is behind me.

We actually visited France on our way to live in Italy. Here is a family snapshot in front of the Eiffel Tower. We arrived in March of 1958, when I was 7 1/2 years old. It was a 22 hour plane ride. The U.S. did not have commercial jet travel at this point, so we sat backwards in an Air Force cargo air plane with no hot food. We also lived and traveled in France. We didn't spend as much time in France as we did in Italy. The weather was colder in France. While it never got cold enough to freeze, when we lived in Aviano, Italy, Toul, France was a different matter. We lived close to the German border, on the Mosel River.

Arrival in Europe

We actually visited France on our way to live in Italy. Here is a family snapshot in front of the Eiffel Tower. This photo was taken in March of 1958, when I was 7 1/2 years old. I'm not sure why we boys weren't wearing ties, but had buttoned up our shirts to the top. The noticed differences in clothing as soon as we arrived in Europe. We were amazed at the French boys our age wearing very high cut shorts and berets. We certainly stood out as foreigners. At this time we'd had about 6 hours of sleep after a 22 hour plane ride. The U.S. did not have commercial jet travel at this point, so we sat backwards in an Air Force cargo air plane with no hot food.

Travel

We also lived and traveled in France. We didn't spend as much time in France as we did in Italy. The weather was colder in France. While it never got cold enough to freeze, when we lived in Aviano, Italy, Toul, France was a different matter. We lived close to the German border, on the Mosel River. Here I, Robin, Dad, and Rink are checking out ice skating for the first time. Our chateau (lots of land) is behind me. There is an interesting story here. My dad seemed to collect interesting friends. Our landlord was a general in the French Army, and was one of the men that protected President DeGaule during the the Algerian paratrooper mutiny. Dad traveled a lot right at that time, and I remember having live machine gun barrels shoved in our car by the flick during the mutiny. I never got the full story, but the General unexpectedly stayed with us during that time, and we had to leave the country shortly thereafter. In all, I liked living in Italy a lot more. Perhaps having to leave all my friends behind when we left was a factor here.

Created: 3:32 AM 2/9/2006
Last updated: 1:27 AM 11/12/2006