When given the opportunity, I always like to recommend hiring a private tour guide when traveling. Whether you cruise to distant lands, hoof it on your own using the trains, or grab a car and take in the sites at sixty miles per hour, a private guide is always worth it and frankly, not that much more expensive than the cost of those cruise excursions. Everyone has a different interest but trust me, there is a guide available for each and every one of us and our particular passion. Sandy and I travel for history so naturally, we focus on finding guides who are experts in tours which focus on the historical subjects we want to dig into. Some folks are foodies and depending on the city you’re in, there are guides who can accommodate your tastes (pun intended). If you’re into fashion or shopping, I guarantee there are guides in Paris who specialize in those areas. The good guides will take you to offbeat places and get you into buildings and rooms no one is allowed in (I’ve mentioned in previous blogs about some of our exploits with Raphaëlle in Versailles and Paris).

So, today I’d like to tell you the story of Jacques and the day we spent with him in Normandy France many years ago.

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Did You Know?

Did you know that clocks and watches use the Roman numeral IIII rather than IV? It’s a classic design but look at the four on your watch dial (assuming it uses the Roman design). We were all taught to use “IV” to denote the Roman numeral four (if you weren’t paying attention in school, I’m confident you at least learned this by watching the annual NFL Superbowl games). I know this question has been keeping you up at night even in the modern era of “Googling.” Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not because of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The original Roman way to represent four was using IIII while the number nine was represented by VIIII. The “modern” version of four began to be used in Rome as part of the sundials and yes, even pocket sundials. By the thirteenth century, technology had advanced with mechanical clocks displacing sundials. Medieval clock makers decided to retain the Roman numerals but since the majority of people had no education, including rudimentary arithmetic, they decided to use IIII. The symbol IV required basic math skills – namely, subtraction – and that was considered too complex. So, we may ask, why was IX used since it presented the same obstacle? Actually, there are several theories to explain why IIII is used but I see my time is running out and I only have IIII more minutes to finish this blog. By the way, Big Ben uses IV ⏤ the English have always had a dry sense of humor.

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Our Trip to Paris 

Sandy had business in Hamburg, Germany and she suggested I fly from Nashville (we had just moved there from Southern California) and meet her in Paris at the tail end of her trip. Starting to sound like the beginning to a Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie? So, I flew over in early September and we stayed in a wonderful small hotel on Rue Cambon next to Coco Chanel’s original retail store and her apartment (refer to blog Coco Chanel: Nazi Collaborator or Spy? [click  here to read]). We were there a week and I planned a day trip to the Normandy beaches since Sandy had never been there. My last visit to Normandy and Paris was thirty-four years earlier in the summer of 1973 when I backpacked through Europe with a high school friend.

One of the decisions I made was to hire a private guide to take us around Normandy and highlight the D-Day sites we could realistically see in one day. I actually found Jacques through American Express Travel. Sandy and I took the afternoon train from Paris to Caen and stayed at the Hotel Ibis Caen Centre. We were in the middle of the city and it was quite convenient for walking to the castle. The next morning, our guide was to pick us up in front of the hotel. Read More “Jacques & the Normandy Beaches”