| The trip started in Paris, where we
find them first playing tourist, getting reacquainted as it were. Here
is Alban on the Champs Elysées, looking west
toward the Arc de Triomphe.
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And here is Daphné at the Arc de Triomphe,
in front of the grave of France's unknown soldier.
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| Daphné also
took advantage of the opportunity to take a journey through her past.
She was just seven years old when she and Alban left Paris: this was
their old school in the 17th arrondissement. Reflecting the current
obsession with security in schools, she was asked to leave shortly after
taking this photo.
 |
Just around the corner, she liked the look of this fountain in the
Square des Batignolles, where the family liked to stroll in the
afternoons. Her mother jumped when she saw the picture back in Santa
Cruz: "that's where I lost my keys when I was a little girl!"
Mother-daughter communication.
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| Mostly, they were in France to visit
family, and in particular their dad. Here he is, Pierre Brun, with Alban
and his French little sister Lou on a promenade on the Mediterranean
shore.
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Here is Lou again (her shirt says "respect, recycle"), this time with
Daphné, older sister Severine and her beau
Gareth. At last, a Brit! Gareth, that is.
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| They also found the time to spend a
few days with their grandfather at La Grée. Lou came too (in front of
Daphné), and Oncle Denis stopped by with his sons
Bertil and Clément (in Alban's arms).
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Of course, they also found time to fool around, this time dancing on
the lawn at La Grée in front of the camera on a timer. |
| Daphné found
the time at La Grée to experiment with the
photographer's art, which made particular sense there because her grandfather is a retired
photographer. She took this one with the timer exploring sun through the
leaves as a background.
On the right, Alban partying with the barbecue at La Grée.
That tattoo brought on a serious disagreement with his mother! The
sailboat behind him is his Oncle Denis's, on the way to the Atlantic for
his summer vacation. |
|
| On to a week camping en Provence,
with Pierre and Lou. Here is the family tent. . . .
|
. . . and here a meal at the campsite.
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| Lou and Daphné
are
sprawled over the rear seat of their dad's rental car, with luggage and
camping gear all around them, on the way to or from
the camp site in the South of France.
|
Back in Paris, Alban looked up Tom, whom he had not seen for
eighteen months, since Tom left Santa Cruz to move to Paris. He found
him with his then girlfriend, Maureen, and spent a couple of days with them and their friends. This
photo, found on Facebook, suggests that they were all entertaining themselves as young
people do! |
| Daphné also found time to
photograph a few of the cultural treasures that she ran across. Here is
a collection of gold ornaments from the Cathedral of Notre Dame de
Paris. . .
|
. . . . and here is some of the decoration
on the Arc de Triomphe. She always has had an eye for detail.
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