Walking on the beach In October

Yesterday Sue and I took a walk on the beach along Beaufort Inlet. This is the entrance to the harbor at Morehead City, a deep-water port in North Carolina. The beach here extends from this inlet to another inlet on the western end of the barrier island called Bogue Banks, and is about 25 miles (40 km) long.

This actually a pretty typical October day. The historical average temperature here in mid-October is about 25ºC (77ºF). Yesterday was T-shirt weather. We walked under blue skies. A lot of people were out fishing and picking up shells, just enjoying the sunshine.

From this beach there are good views of the town of Beaufort — pronounced [BOH-furt] not [BYOO-furt] — which is one of the three oldest towns in N.C., founded in 1710 (Bath and New Bern are older). Sue and I haven't gone to Beaufort yet. That's for Thursday.

Today our plan is to take a 30 minute boat ride out to a place called Sand Dollar Island, on the back side of Shackleford Banks, to gather shells including, of course, sand dollars, which are a kind of sea urchin shaped like a flattened disk. We were told that is illegal to pick up live sand dollars. You can only collect the dead, sun-bleached ones. Sand Dollar Island isn't far from the Cape Lookout lighthouse, which is 10 miles distant in this photo..

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A typical house in Beaufort, N.C. October 2019

As I said yesterday, I'm just too busy. This whole trip in like one big family reunion! Check back tomorrow.

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The port of Morehead City, N.C., seen from an island in Bogue Sound. October 2019.

We are having gorgeous weather, as you can see. I'm really far to busy to be trying to post to the blog.

Sights I saw as I walked along the Seine Wednesday afternoon

Bouquinistes are book-sellers who have stalls along the quays that line the course of the Seine river in Paris. They sell books, but they also sell a lot of prints, drawings, and other printed matter. Their displays are highly colorful.

The Restaurant Lapérouse is the the Left Bank, facing the Îles de la Cité across the river. The restaurant is 250 years old and has recently experienced a "revival" under new ownership, according to this New York Times article. I'm sorry to say that I've never had a meal there.

The old Samaritaine department store has been closed for years now. It's on the Right Bank, across the river from the Square du Vert Galant on the western tip of the Île de la Cité, with it's equestrian statue of the late 16th century king Henri IV.

This is the building where the French académies and instituts sit and deliberate. That includes the language authorities called the Académie Française, who have been writing and publishing successive editions of their "official"dictionary of the French language since the early 17the century.

In front of the Institut stands this impressive statue of the Marquis Nicolas de Condorcet, an 18th century mathematician, philosopher, publisher, and political figure. The Institut is located on the Left Bank.

I'm recovering from my 36-hour trip from the Loire Valley to North Carolina this week. And jet lag. I hope that by the time you see this I will have accomplished a few things.