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Showing posts with label Eiffel Tower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eiffel Tower. Show all posts

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Arnold and Newlin: France 1975

Arnie was invited to the prestigious Institut de la Vie science meeting in the summer of 1975. Naturally Newlin accompanied him. Besides rubbing shoulders with the top scientists of the world, they toured many of the sights in Paris. Newlin described a formal and very elegant luncheon hosted by a wealthy family living in a spacious apartment on the Île de la Cité in Paris. They had tours of Versailles and Notre Dame Cathedral.

After the Institut de la Vie conference, Arnie and Newlin rented a car and drove over to see Cologne, and then through northern and western France down to Spain. Crossing into Spain at Bayonne, they are delayed going into San Sebastián because of an ETA terrorist bombing, so they did not do any sightseeing in San Sebastián. They stayed in Madrid and before returning the car to the rental shop, they made an excursion to Toledo. Newlin fell in love with paella and learned to cook that dish as a dinner party favorite on her return to Gainesville.

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Eiffel Tower

Newlin and Arnie, Arc de Triomphe

Newlin at the Arc de Triomphe

Arnie and Newlin at the Arc de Triomphe

Newlin and Arnold on the Champs Élysées

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin walking at the Place Charles de Gaulle

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin at Versailles Palace

They sent postcards only to Eric and Andrew in Gainesville because Joel and Allan were away from home at that time (Joel was spending the summer in Finland).

Honor's Gate of Versailles (postcard)


Versailles Palace and King Louis XIV (postcard)


Versailles Palace (postcard)


Versailles (postcard)


Église Saint-Denis de Sézane, Marne, France (postcard)


"Ma Normandie", Chaumière, France ("My Normandy"; Chaumière means 'cottage' and is a place in Normandy)


Chaumière, Normandy (postcard)


postcard of Cologne with Rhine Park and the Cathedral


1975 photo by Newlin Nevis
Arnold in Europe

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin sightseeing

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin in Épernay, Marne Department, famed for its champagne wines

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin in a hotel room

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin window shopping outside a patisserie 

Newlin was amused in a restaurant in Mont Saint Michel, where Arnie ordered the seafood platter, not realizing it was a dish for two people. Newlin had ordered something else so Arnie struggled to finish his entire plate of seafood. Newlin said the diners in the restaurant clapped when Arnie finished it.

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin outside a restaurant (probably in Mont Saint Michel)

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Mont Saint Michel island abbey

postcard of the old castle (originally started by Foulques Nerra in the 990s) in Angers
Fulk III of Anjou (Fulk the Black/Foulques Nerra) may have been an ancestor of Newlin's 


postcard of the old castle, Bayonne, France


1975 photo by Newlin Nevis
Arnold in Charles de Gaulle Airport

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin in Charles de Gaulle Airport

1975 photo by Arnold H. Nevis
Newlin in CDG Airport

next post  Arnold and Newlin:  1976

previous post  Arnold and Newlin: Joel in Finland 1975

first post in Flashbacks  How the Nevis family came to California

first post in Arnold's Story  July 1943

first post in blog  Leonard's Story: May 29, 1943

Monday, July 19, 2021

Arnold and Newlin: Europe 1969

In September 1969, the Nevises embark on a year's stay in Europe. Passports had to be renewed or ordered. Arnie and Newlin rented out their house to two sisters from Alaska wanting to check out Florida for retirement. (They did not like it and left before the year was up; Arnie had to rent to another family to complete the year.) 

Arnie sold both family cars and purchased a new Volvo. There was a deal whereby he bought the car in the U.S., picked it up from the factory in Sweden, used it for a year, and returned it to the factory for shipping to the U.S. Arnie would not then pay the import tax on a new car because it was by then a used car as it went through U.S. Customs. 

Departing Gainesville, we drove a rental car to the Jacksonville airport and flew to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to stay over night. Arnie had a job interview at the University of North Carolina. (His position in the Neurology Department at the University of Florida had become unpleasant due to a bad relationship with a colleague, so he was looking around for alternative employment. The department at Chapel Hill had a lot of infighting, so Arnie did not pursue it any further.)

From North Carolina we flew to New York City and took a taxi to a hotel by Pennsylvania Station (I think it might have been the New Yorker Hotel on Eighth Avenue). Arnie had to return to the airport to collect several steamer trunks along with our suitcases we brought with us on the planes and deliver them to the pier for lading on the ship. In his absence Newlin took the boys for a walk around the block but found that neighborhood of Manhattan very seedy and grimy, so we promptly returned to the hotel for the evening. 

Newlin's passport photos

Arnie's passport photos

As thin as Arnie was (155 pounds at 5'10") and physically active, he suffered from hypertension and took medication to control it. He consulted a specialist before the year in Sweden.


The next morning we boarded the S.S. United States, the largest and fastest passenger ship ever built in the United States. It was super exciting to sail by the Statue of Liberty through New York Harbor and then start exploring what the ship had ot offer. There was a movie theater and indoor saltwater swimming pool and gym. Allan and Joel tried shuffleboard on deck but it was too windy and cold. 



Here we are at Pier 86 excited for our five day Atlantic crossing:

left to right: Andrew, Allan, Newlin, Aric, and Joel

Dining was a special occasion; Andrew, Allan, Joel, Arnie, Newlin, and Eric in the cabin class dining room

This photo shows our muster drill. Joel is holding his arm that way due to a recent surgery. (While the family was packing for this trip, the sliding glass doors between the family and enclosed porch were closed and Joel, running and jumping, crashed into one, shattering it and severing his left hand ulna nerve. The cast was remove shortly before our departure from Florida and Arnie has to exercise Joel's hand and fingers daily. It was painful and Joel always shed tears. The rest family was not allowed to be present after one session when everyone was crying and Eric begged Arnie to stop hurting Joel. Joel continue physical therapy in Sweden throughout that year but with professional physiotherapists.)

Muster drill on the S. S. United States: Allan, Arnie, Andrew, and Joel, September 1969

Here is a photo of Pier 86 I snapped one night in August 2013. Since 1982 Pier 86 has hosted the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum as well as the renovated USS Intrepid. 

August 11, 2013, photo by Joel A. Nevis y Flores
Pier 86 with "United States Lines", August 2013

In 1969 the United States Line suddenly discontinued sailings on the S.S. United States on account of declining sales; the age of ocean liner travel was over. We sailed on the second to last round trip voyage that ship would make as a passenger ship. We returned to the U.S. in 1970 by airplane.

Disembarking in Le Havre, we took a train to Paris. We visited the Eiffel Tower at night. Then we flew first to Denmark and from there to Gothenburg to pick up the new Volvo. From Gothenburg we drove to Uppsala and moved into a rented furnished four-bedroom apartment overlooking the Fyrisån River. 

The family was amused on our first day in Uppsala, breakfasting in a hotel restaurant, because Newlin ordered tea, and emphasized "tea, tea"; the waitress understood immediately and brought her a bottle of beer. Apparently it sounded like Newlin was trying to say "tee tee" (or T-T in Swedish), the nickname of a brand of beer called Tre Torn (three towers). Newlin was never partial to the flavor of beer, but she valiantly sipped her T-T during breakfast. And she never made that mistake again.


next post  Arnold and Newlin: Sweden 1970

previous post  Arnold and Newlin: 1969

first post in Flashbacks  How the Nevis family came to California

first post in Arnold's Story  July 1943

first post in blog  Leonard's Story: May 29, 1943

Friday, June 18, 2021

Bill and Hazel Nevis in Europe: October 1957 Paris and Versailles

Bill and Hazel visit Paris next, seeing the Arc de Triomphe, the Moulin Rouge, the Red Light District (!), the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysees, the Paris Opera House, and the gardens of Versailles.

Arc de Triomphe, Paris

Arc de Triomphe, Paris

Rue de la Paix, Paris

Le Moulin Rouge and Brasserie Cyrano, Paris

Red Light District, Paris

1957 slide by William E. Nevis
Boulevard des Italiens, Paris

night life, Paris

the Seine River and the Eiffel Tower, 1957

1957 slide by William E. Nevis
Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1957

Champs Elysees, Paris, 1957

Paris Opera House, 1957

Palace of Versailles, 1957

1957 slide by William E. Nevis
Fountain of Latona, Palace of Versailles, 1957

Fountain of Latona, Palace of Versailles, 1957

1957 slide by William E. Nevis
Fountain of Latona, Palace of Versailles, 1957

next post  Bill and Hazel Nevis in Europe: October 1957 London

previous post  Bill and Hazel Nevis in Europe: October 1957 Monte Carlo and Nice

first post in Flashbacks  How the Nevis family came to California

first post in Arnold's Story  July 1943

first post in blog  Leonard's Story: May 29, 1943