October Sunset at the Beach Going to the beach in the fall season is great. Most days are warm enough to enjoy, but there is still a crisp in the air in morning and evening. But the best thing is most everyone is back at the office. The crowds from summer are gone and the beach is yours. The rates for lodging are cheaper too. But don't tell anyone. I don't want the summer crowds to find out. Otherwise, I'll have to go in January.

German Gun Embankment It was July 4, and it had just started raining hard when we left the American cemetery at Omaha Beach in Normandy. The bleak weather was kind of fitting to the somber mood of that national memorial. Our last stop before returning to Paris was a German gun embankment. While most everyone waited on the bus, a few of us ventured out into the rain. The umbrella in my backpack proved useful that afternoon.