French Friends

French Journalist from Paris at Victor Hugo's statue in Besancon (May 2005). Hugo's father was a very distinguished general belonging to the high class in Paris, but Victor was born in Besancon about 350 kilometers away from Paris. The question is then why he was born in this small town unknown at that time. The story is somewhat complicated. I asked this journalist whether she could make my story known to Parisians. She said No, and told me French people would not accept my story.
1. French Air Force Officers (1996). They were wearing skirts.
2. French Police Officers at a Paris Metro Station.
3. I like soldiers. I had this photo with French soldiers near the Arch of Tiumph in March of 2017. I was very happy because there were lady soldiers who became happy to have a photo with me. Another photo.
4. French writer at the Closerie Lilas (2012). Ernest Hemingway used to come to this restaurant often. Because of Hemingway's fame, this is a very expensive place. I dined here in 1995 for the first time. Since then, I went there six times. Expensive, but I meet interesting people.
5. French Mother and Daughter above the Montparnasse metro station. I asked them where the Montparnasse cemetery is. They became happy when I told them I was interested in visiting the grave of Jean-Paul Sartre (2012). I asked them whether they are sisters. The mother became very happy.
6. Senior Citizens in Paris on the street connecting the Opera House and the Church of La Madeleine (May 2005).
7. This senior citizen was exceptionally kind to me. One way or another, she and I belong to the same generation. This photo was taken on a bus going from the Luxembourg Gardens to the Eiffel Tower. I did not check whether she could speak English, but we were able to exchange more than enough good wills.
Paris Metro. It is always a pleasure to sit next to beautiful Parisians in Paris metro trains. While I was taking a photo of myself, this lady knew she would be in the photo. She was embarassed, but did her best not to embarass me. When she left, we said good-bye to each other (2000).
1. She was amused when I invited her to have a photo together (2002).
2. French student. I enjoy talking to students wherever I go. She explained to me how the Paris metro system works (2012).
3. French Teacher. This lady teaches high school teacher, and my job is to teach college students. We had many things in common (2012).
Courteous French student at the Frankfurt airport (2002). This young lady stood up from her seat for me when I boarded a airport transfer bus. She thought I was an elderly man. I told her I am young enough to have a photo with her. We were going to Minsk. This photo tells we were both fully equipped to travel.
1. Another courteous student in Besancon (France 2005). This student was jogging and I got lost in a park. She was eager to help, and I was able to find my way out.
2. French student from Lyon working at a swimming pool as a life guard during the summer of 2006. The pool is in a hotel compound in a small city called St. Paul near Nice. Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse used to be among the frequent visitors to this hotel.
3. French Students who liked to have fun photos on the steps of the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Paris (2008).
  Mock Wedding Picture. They wanted to have a mock wedding picture. For these young ladies, wedding is something they constantly think about. Her T-shirt says "I am getting married."
4. A Set of fun-loving French Students at the Place Jean-Paul Sartre in Paris (2012).
5. Two French students at Sorbonne Univ. in Paris (2014).
6. Two French students at College de France. 2
7. Two French students at the Univ. of Pierre et Marie Curie.
French students in Geneva. They came from Nice, the city of artists in France (May 2003). They are studying commercial arts.
1. French Students at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts (2011). They became impressed when I told them I am an expert on Henri Poincare's physics and mathematics.
2. Two French students in Budapest (2013). Very gentle ladies.
3. French student at the entrance of the Al Hambra Palace in Granada (Spain, 2018). We looked so sweet to her friends who came from France with her, they all joined us in this photo.
4. French high-school students at the Cathedral ground in Seville (Spain, 2019). Here is another group.
5. French students on a street in Seville (2019).
6. Four French students in Lisbon (Portugal 2019). Lisbon's Belem Tower is in the bacground. After the photo, they are still happy with me.
Grand Cafe Capucino. This is a very popular spot near the Paris Opera House (2010). I go there very often.
1. at Picasso Museum in Antibes (France 2002). It appears that I was quite excited about Picasso.
  Another photo at the Picasso Museum.
2. Lalique. French ladies working at the Lalique headquarters store in Paris (July 2002). I bought an item at this store. They were very happy to have a photo with me.
3. Receptionist at the Holiday Inn in Avignon (2017).
4. Receptionist at the Grand Hotel St. Michel in Paris (2017).
French Chef in Paris in front of Cafe Deux Magot, in le martin de Paris (the morning of Paris).
1. French Chef in Hamburg. French cooking is respected throughout the world.
2. French Chef in Nice (2017).
French Lady at the Old Town in Lyon (May 2003). She was casually dressed for a local grocery store.
1. Grandmother and granddauther from Lyon atthe Cafe de Flore in Paris. They are so alike!
2. Two French Ladies from Lyon. I met them at the Orsay Museum in Paris (2012).
Ingrid. While I was looking for a suitable place to eat at the cafe district of Marseille, I spotted Ingrid Bergman. I asked her whether she is Ingrd. She said No. I told her she looks like Ingrid and asked her whether I can have a photo with her. She said "As you wish." I then asked whether I can post the photo on my webpage. She said "As you with" again. She came from the French city of Becanson. When I told her I have been to her city twice, she was somewhat suspicious. I mentioned Victor Hugo's statue at the town center. She then trusted me.
1. French police officers in Marseille (July 2008). Very cheerful ladies.
Matisse Museum. This photo was taken at the entrance to the Mattice Museum (2002). The Museum dedicated to Henri Matisse is in Nice, but this museum does not allow photographing inside the building. I decided to make my own artwork outside the building. This French lady came from from Strasbourg near the French-German border.
1. Receptionist at the Chagall Museum in Nice (2017). Another photo.
2. French lady at the Russian Church in Nice. Russia's Alexander II was quite interested in the Mediterianian Ocean and came to this spot in 1861. Many Russians came to this area. They then built this cathedral in 1912.
3. Two Algerian-French ladies near the Railway Station in Nice (2017).
French Chemists from Nice at St. Peter's Square in Rome (June 2000).
1. Cancun (Mexico 2004), on July 28, I was sitting next to a French lady who was born in Nice on an American Airlines fligt from Miami to Cancun. She was very happy to hear that I am maintaining this Cote d'Azur webpage. We had a photo session after the flight. She manages
  her beautiful family in Versailles near Paris. They came to Mexico for three weeks of summer vacation.
2. Another Beautiful Family from Nice. I met them in Princeton, New Jersy (August 2008). The boy was thinking of coming to Princeton for his college education.
Students at the Univ. of Strasbourg also called Louis Pasteur University. This is their physics building. I went there in April of 2012.
1. This is the Law School Building of this University.
  - I had this photo with the Law School students.
  - In 2005, I met this Turkish lawyer at the Ankara airport, who is a graduate of this Law School. She was going to Strasbourg for a vacation. She was going to see her old school friends there. She is a human-right lawyer.
2. Receptionist at the Hotel Mercure in Strasbourg.
3. Two Students in front of the statue of Johannes Gutenberg. Gutenberg's home base was Mainz (Germany), but he completed the invention of his printing machine while in Strasbourg. Did you know this?
4. Three more students. I like to chat with students wherever I go.
5. Two High School Students in Strasbourg.
6. At the restaurant l'ami Schutz in Strasbourg, I had a photo with this young lady. The name of this restaurant is a combination of both French and German words. The German dish called pig knuckle with sauerkraut came from this Alsacian area. This restaurant is somewhat expensive, and people are somewhat formally dressed. They knew I came from the United States from the way I was dressed.
French ladies in masks. I spotted them in Metz (Lorraine Region). I joined them and produced this photo (2012).
1. Two officers working for the city hall. I met them at one of the restaurants in Metz. They are competent administrators, and they know how people live. We had very interesting conversations on many things in the world.
2. Texaco gas pump. There used to a petroleum company called Texaco in the United States, but no longer. I was very happy to spot this Texaco pump in Metz. These charming French ladies think it is still a major petroleum company in the United States.
3. Two French ladies at a pastry store in Metz. French pastry stores are like art museums.
4. George Pompidu Center is the major art gallery in the Lorraine region.
5. At the Pompidu Center, it It was a pleasure to have a chat with these two artists and have this photo. They are in charge of putting up exhibitions at the Center.
6. This receptionist at Metz's Ibis hotel is saying Good Bye to me.
Two French (left) and two Romanian
ladies in Heidelberg, Germany.
French police officers vacationing in Munich, Germany (2014). They came from Marseille, and I told them I have a photo with two of their female colleagues in Marseille (taken in 2008). I asked them whether they go out with their female colleagues for their patrol duties. They said "Yes," but only for official duties.
1. Two French (left) and two Romanian ladies in Heidelbergy, Germany (2016). When I mentioned George Enescu, the Romanian ladies became impressed, while the French ladies became lost. When I said he died in Paris and was buried there, the French ladies asked me "La Chaise Cemetery?" I said Yes, and told them I have been there twice. Indeed, I have a photo of myself at Enescu's grave. Those Romanian ladies never heard about this this cemetery. I was so proud of myself.
2. French gentleman working at a hotel breakfast room in Dalyan, China (2016).
3. French lady working at a hotel restaurant in Qingtao, China (2016).
4. Two French ladies at an old palace in Seoul, Korea (2017).
5. Two French ladies in the breakfast room at the Couryard Hotel in Seoul, Korea (2017).
6. Two French ladies after breakfast at the Hotel Fernando III in Seville (Spain 2019).
AirFrance Office in New York. AirFrance used to maintain its sales office on New York's 5th Ave. It was a stylish place. Because of internet and financial squeeze, airlines, including AirFrance, cannot maintain sales offices even in New York. This photo was taken in 1975, and is of historical significance.
1. This AirFrance lady was in charge of the business-class section during the flight from Paris to Washington (July 2000). Due to the Airline's overbooking policy, I had the pleasure of being moved to the business-class cabin.
  This French lady was also forced to the business class. We of course enjoyed all the benefits of this special class. She comes to the United States often to visit her friends. This photo was taken while we were on a transport bus at the Dulles Airport.
2. Two Years Later (2002), the AirFrance uniform became simplified, oriented toward comfort and convenience. This photo was also taken in the business-class cabin. Again, I was lucky enough to get kicked up to the business class.
3. Chinese Lady working for AirFrance at the Orly Airport in Paris (July 2002).
4. AirFrance sets the style for all other airlines. Here is
  another AF lady. These two photos were taken during the Washington-Paris flight on April 30 (2005). It was a very pleasant experience.
5. AirFrance (2001.11.5). You would expect a taste of France when you board an AirFrance plane, and it depends largely on the way you are treated by the flight attendants. You can see why I take AF flights most frequently whenever I make trans-Atlantic flights.
6. Three Years Later (2004.11.18). AirFrance dress code became liberlized. They seem to follow the American trend. AirFrance ladies in the past used to look like dolls, but they are now dressed like passengers. This lady travels with her husband. Every trip is their honeymoon trip.
7. Another AF lady dressed in the new convenience/comfort-oriented dress code.
8. In New York (2005). There are many French citizens of Moroccan origin, and some of them work for AirFrance. This photo was taken at the Novotel Hotel New York. The Novotel chain is owned and operated by a French company, and AF crews stay at this hotel when they come to New York.
9. Two more AF ladies, during a flight from Paris to Washington (2004.11.25)
10. AF flight from Washington to Paris (July 2008).
11. AF officers at the Paris CDG Airport (July 2009).
  - I decided to join them. We took turns to shoot the camera resulting in
  - another photo.
12. AF flight from Paris to Washington. Flight attendants at rest (July 2009).
13. Sheraton Stockholm (June 1010) ready to fly back to Paris.
  - They look better without me.
  - with one of the pilots.
14. AirFrance check-in officer at the CDG Airport near Paris (April 2012).
15. AirFrance A380 in the first-class cabin on the second floor, during the flight from Washington to Paris (June 2014).