A Whirlwind Of A Month Or Two Poem by Deanna Samuels

A poetical travelogue

It has been a whirlwind of a month or two
A time of new experiences, laughter and happiness all the way through
From Niagara Falls and the region's wineries to New York Penn via Amtrak
Four of us had a ball touring the sights and sounds of The Big Apple
From Tootsie to Ground Zero, to Staten Island and The Dead Duck pub
Open top bus rides of down town, Harlem and Strawberry Fields
Dizzy's and eateries of all cuisines, Bloomindales, Fiddler on the Roof
Homeward bound, a few days to plan big July event, prepared for UK and France
London visits to family and friends; obligatory stop at Boots and M & S!
Brighton for the day, loving respects and prayers to long gone Mum and Dad
A photoshot opportunity at bench in memory to parents on Hove Promenade
Last day in UK, a very special family celebration of younger member
Flight to Paris to join Seine River Cruise; a tour of Paris included
The Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Arc De Triumph and fire damaged Notre Dame
All of Paris before us, the monuments, exclusive stores, wide boulevards, history
Cruised towards Normandy with docking stops at quaint towns along the way
Visited castles and chateaux, some tumbled down, others in their glory
Highlights; the Monet gardens at Giverny where the artist lived and painted
Renowned for green bridge, water garden, weeping willows and water lily pads
At Rouen, a farm and countryside tour, tasting creamy cheeses and delicious cider
In the late evening, a spectacular light-show against Rouen Cathedral
Rouen, where Joan of Arc tragically met her fiery death in the Old Market Square
One 12th century glorious edifice partly carved into cliffside at La Roche-Guyon
Used as a bunker by infamous general during WW2 as Allies advanced
Chateau de Malmaison, an elegant historic manor house purchased by Empress Josephine
Where Napoleon Bonaparte spent his final days in France before his exiled death in St Helena
The décor was sumptuous and opulent, stunning original furnishings in his mahogany study
The main highlight of the whole river cruise, a day trip to the Normandy Beaches
The poignancy, the emotion of Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches
The history of those dark days, the rows and rows of white memorials of lost lives
Only the week before, thousands joined the services held to commemorate that time
The 75th Anniversary of the D-D landings, a day carved in the history books of man
The world hoped never again, but nothing learned, so many conflicts since
Retracing waves to Paris back down river, more chateaux and town visits
Docked once again in le Pecq; a Paris night tour ensued
A sparking Eiffel Tower; lit up monuments and famous buildings
Such a wonderfully illuminating end to a perfect and informative great river cruise
With a three day extension together with group of ten, our tour of the Loire Valley began
Firstly, en-route a visit to Chartres Cathedral, took advantage of a melodious organ recital
A stop at Cave de Vouvray Winery with a tour of their extensive cool caves
Hundreds of thousands of various varieties of bottles of wine were stored to age or mature
Arrived at Chateau des Sept Tours Hotel, a fifteenth century stair turreted edifice
Void of elevators or mod-con air conditioning, somewhat stifling in room, made do with fans

Settled in, viewed the extensive grounds and pool area; dinner with group in the Terrace Room
The following day, two full days of touring The Loire Valley began
Firstly, the 16th Century Chateau Villandry, breathtaking vegetable and flower gardens
Laid out in a meticulously designed low maze-like hedge setting
Then the Chateau de Chenonceau, outstanding reproduced furniture and decor of that day
Chateau du Clos Luce, a large mansion, the last visit for us that day
This is the chateau where Leonardo de Vinci spent the last three years of his life
Quite awesome to walk around living rooms of this exceptionally renowned artist and inventor
Knowing, acknowledging he had stepped those very same boards 500 years ago
The next and last day of touring, we visited the extraordinary Chateau Chambord
A 15th century massive structure built by Francois 1st as a luxurious hunting lodge
In that time, was in middle of swampland and claimed hundreds of builders' lives to disease
Unbelievably, Francois 1st used the lodge only about 80 times throughout his entire reign
The building is breathtakingly remarkable, with many turrets and exquisitely furnished rooms
An outstanding feature of it, is its centrally built double-helix marble staircase
Leaving Chateau Chambord, returned to Paris to Hyatt Regency Etoile for last overnight stay
The evening gave opportunity to take in the Paris nightscape and local stores
Took our time to relax over a quiet meal in air-conditioned restaurant opposite The Hyatt
Followed by an hour or so of entertaining jazz by ten piece group in Hotel Concorde nearby
A late morning direct flight from Paris to Toronto, in time to attend grandson's graduation.
Those were amazing, wonderful, exhilarating, informative weeks, but wait, more to come!
A few days to catch up and continue final preparations for early July celebration
Guests flew in, family dinners, a surprise visit of brother and wife from California
The big event, a pool party and special birthday day came, guests arrived
People mingled, joyful of the lovely warm sunny afternoon, a number swam
A duo of violins played popular classics, lots of refreshing cool drinks, wine and nibbles
Birthday tea and cutting of spectacularly unique iced cake depicting back garden and pool
More mingling, guests enjoying the relaxation and catching up with friends
Dinner served with a Greek theme, folk singer Rick Fines played guitar, sang his songs
A highlight too, Gary sang his new song accompanied by Rick - You're So Beautiful
The evening gradually ebbed to an end; time for guests to make their way home
What a great celebration, what an amazing day, what a wonderful memory
Yet still - even more to come!A few more fantastic days with brother and wife
Family lunch on Monday at the CN Tower Revolving Restaurant, espied all of Toronto
Tea on cafe patio in Queen Street, Jazz at the Rex Hotel, dinner with family at home
A pre-scheduled lunch Tuesday with hiking friends at Scaddabush, our visitors joining the group
Drove to the McMichael Gallery, Kleinberg, featured Group of Seven and exhibition of Maud Lewis
Stratford on Wednesday, Billy Elliot, a great show, lots of energy depicting the ‘70s coal mining strike
The evening took us to Tomo's, Richmond Hill for dinner, met family there, a great few hours
Thursday was farewell day, though not before meeting family at Bagel World for brunch
Drove brother and wife to Pearson Airport; sad goodbyes, slowly they walked into Departures
Suddenly, it was all over, all those weeks of planning, partying, holidaying, being on a high
It was time to go home, clean up, put things away as though nothing had happened in between
But something had happened in between, in between, there was Niagara Falls and Wine Country
Amtrak, New York City, London, Brighton, Paris, River Cruise, Loire Valley, birthdays, surprise visitors
Great outings, dinners, company, pool party and the best ever special birthday celebration
Wow - What a whirlwind of a month or two!


Written at Richmond Hill, Ontario - 16th July 2019