It was horrible to say good-bye to Lisa. She can find beauty under a rock. It has been too long, but it won't be that long again. I boarded the ferry at LeHavre harbour. The sailboats were out. It was a quiet crossing.

Etretat is stunning. To your left as you face the sea is the mammoth rock arch of Etretat. It was a favorite subject for Monet. Turn right, and at the top of a steep climb there is a lovely stone church that looks out to sea. Fishermen's wives sometimes wait there. It was another beautiful trip to the coast and the white cliffs of Normandy. Just outside this picture to the left, where the rock cliff meets the beach, is a massive German bunker.

Beautiful, isn't it? Would you have bought it if: a) built in 1846, it had never been finished; b) there was a ladder leaning in a hole in the ceiling and that was the only way to get to the second story; c) you had 4 little children and lived in another town--which meant constant traveling to keep up with the workers? They bought it. It's gorgeous, charming, striking, fabulous. It was a helluva lotta work.

This isn't a trip about war. But you will find, wherever you travel in England and Normandy, stark reminders of war. Of the loss of those that were loved. Of battle. Of surviving terror. But never of despair. Always of tomorrow. But knowledge of the cost of peace. These are the cliffs of St. Valery. We went for a lovely seaside lunch, and to buy fish from the fisherman at the dock. It was a gorgeous day. Just outside this picture on the right, at the top of th...

Lisa and I were costumers in our early years. It's how we met-at Chicago's old St. Nicholas Theatre, (NOT-Old St. Nick). When she visited me in NYC we went to lunch (I was at Juilliard then) and we were hit by a truck. So those of you that remember, yes, this is THAT Lisa. Ruined by favorite pair of shoes. So Lisa waved her wand, and we were in Bayeux. Imagine two costumers inspecting a 230 foot embroidered linen-storyboard, really. Now imagine it was created i...