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April 1999 - A Chance Meeting in Chile & Tierra del Fuego
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Sometime in the beginning of 1999 I saw a good price for a cruise from the
tip of Chile to Argentina through the Magellan Straits
(Tierra del
Fuego) and a tour through Patagonia. I was excited and there was a 
great group of people on the tour. A few nights after we sailed
from Punta Arenas Chile the ship's Captain had a cocktail part
y and dancing. I saw
someone that looked like she would like to dance so off I went, Mr.
Personality. I found out her name was Viviane and she
informed me that she was busy, didn't dance and was chatting up the Captain. I of
course, was irritated. So off I went and decided we were not
going to be an item.
A few days later we stopped at Puerto Williams and
that evening a young boy asked if a few of us would like to go on a
private tour with him. I said yes and so did Viviane. Well
we
had a great time checking out the beaver dams and woods and so on.
Then we finished the evening with drinks at the local pub owned by the
young man's aunt.
A few days later the ship stopped by a mountain and
one of the guides was a woman who said she had gone to
Monterey
California to learn the science of Oceanographic and the oceans and heard
Viviane and I were from California. So she decided we could lead
half the group while she took the other half down the coast. I was
in charge with Viviane following me with the others. We
hiked to the top of the mountain and crossed a waterfall and then down
the other side, sliding in mud and fallen tree branches and so on.
We got back and the woman guide couldn't believe we had go to the top
and across the falls and back down. They all had a good
laugh and named the falls of me, the 'Chuck's Falls'.
We ended up in Ushuaia Argentina and did a tour of
Patagonia. We also stopped at islands with breeding penguins and
of course, walked along the base of huge glaciers. Something
always to be remembered!
So Viviane and I for some reason decided we were
after all going to be friends. That December she called and asked
if I wanted to go to Vienna for the Millennium New Year? Of course
I said, so off we went for two weeks. The next year we went
to Morocco for the real Millennium New Year.
Viviane decided to buy a Senior Residence and asked
me to be an administrator and run the business when she had other duties
to perform. I took the classes and ended up with a
certificate to be an Administrator, got a First Aide Certificate and of
course, finger printed.
Then I met a friend of Viviane's, Gail. We
hit it off and ended up doing trips and enjoying going around Los
Angeles hot spots. We took a cruise to the Netherlands and
ended up eating at the Captain's table. Later on we took a
two week tour of Zambia and South Africa.
Viviane eventually sold her house in Beverly Hills
and moved to Austin Texas where I visited her in 2011. Talk about
a brief encounter that ended up as so far, a 12 year friendship.
Viviane had to remind me that we actually met again in 2016 in Cancun when my other traveling companion, Barbara and I, went to Cuba. We had to go to Cancun to transfer into Cuba, bypassing the U.S. lock down of Cuba. Viviane was on a business trip and we almost flew down on the same flight!
As I update this webpage in 2020, we have been friends for 21 years!
1999.04 -
Tip of South America
1999.12 - Vienna New Years Celebrating the Millennium New Year
Viviane called me at the
beginning of December and said no one wanted to do anything as far as
celebrating the New Year and would I like to go someplace. I said
yes of course. We got one of the last rooms at a bed and
breakfast and the woman who owned the hotel got us tickets to all the
various activities that should have been sold out. We went to the
symphony, the newest leading show in Europe and toured all over the
city. We ended up on New Years Eve drinking champagne in
front of City Hall! Then a few days later we took the train
to Budapest and spent the day touring and spending time at a world
famous hotel with hot geyser pools to soak in. More
champagne and finally back home in 2000.
2000.03 - A Beverly Hills Handy Man
Viviane had me visit and asked if I would help
her work on the back yard. Wondered if I could do some terraces
and plant some flowers. I love to garden so that was a treat.
Of course later we would have lunch on the deck beneath the fantastic
Palm Tree. Later in the evening we soaked in the Hot Tub
with champagne of course! Note: Viviane use to laugh,
she said she was the only one who had a gringo gardener while everyone
else had a Latino gardener!
2000.2001 - The Real Millennium Celebration in Morocco
We decided we needed to go to someplace special for the real
Millennium New Years so off we went to Morocco, traveling all over on
our own. We got to the capital, Rabat, and that night called
a cab to go to a famous restaurant Viviane had heard about.
The cab driver looked at us very strangely, we wondered why?
He said it is Ramadan and everything is closed! Mon Dieu!
So back to the hotel and a dinner of very tough chicken and a young
waiter who couldn't get the champagne bottle open. It is a
good thing the hotel was great looking! In the center photo
we are in an old harem building in Fez that is now a Moroccan rug
business. We had green tea while viewing the carpets and were even
taken to the roof to over look the city! We ended up in Marrakech
on New Years Eve and got a fantastic hotel room, and it was the last one
available. Talk about being lucky!
overview
2002.04 -
New Getty Museum
Viviane had a Jaguar convertible so we used to drive
all over and feel 'important'! She eventually sold the Jag for an
SUV to carry her boys and others to soccer practice, as you can imagine,
I was not amused! We had a great lunch on the roof top and
of course, our favorite, champagne!
2003.02.04
- Beverly Hills Hotel Luncheon for my birthday
We attended a luncheon for travel agents and afterwards Viviane asked
me to take a photo of the men's room to see if it was as nice as the
women's rest room. I did and it is as nice, beautiful
mirrors and lighting, so Beverly Hills! And here we are on
the right at the world famous Las Angeles Union Station having a
cocktail and checking out the train schedules!
2003.06
- Astoria Senior Residence in Woodland Hills
One perk, classes in such
places as Reno Nevada! Viviane asked if I wanted to work
with her in a senior residence and since I was retired I thought why
not! So I had classes to pass a state test to get an
Administrative license, a first aid license and so on. Here I was retired and suddenly had
an Administrative license to run a senior residence. Who
would have thought that would happen?
overview
2003.10 - New Walt Disney Concert Hall
This replace the old Chandler Concert Hall in
the middle of downtown L.A. It opened in October 2003 and we
visited it just after it opened. It is famous for Frank
Gehry designed it and it cost 130 million dollars, the parking lot cost
110 million dollars, go figure.
2003.12
- Christmas in Woodland Hills at the Astoria Senior Residence.
On
the left is Viviane, Chuck and my sister Yvonne! I hired a car in
Tucson where my sister lives and we toured the southwest and on to
Woodland Hills so she could meet Viviane and several of our employees at
the residence. The business was sold in 2010 but we had a great
time over the years and a good reason for
me to visit Viviane and see L.A. and visit with other friends!
2004.01
- Chuck and Gail on a cruise around the Netherlands
Gail is a friend
of Viviane's and she asked me to take a cruise around the Netherlands.
We had a great time and ended up every evening sitting in the cocktail
lounge on a love seat drinking champagne. We were the talk
of the ship. After a few evenings as soon as we sat down on
the love seat the waiter brought a bucket of ice and a bottle of
champagne. One time we were laughing about the rumors and I
slid my arm over the back of the love seat and Gail said "Don't even
think about it!" Can't a girl take a joke?
We even ate at the Captain's table!
2005.04 - Venice Beach Luncheon and the Santa Anita Race Track
Gail and I loved
the race track. I guess we looked like old timers as we had
several people come and ask advice as to whom to pick to win!
Well we did lounge around like we owned the track!
2005.06 - Chuck and Gail's week in Las Vegas with Celine Dion!
We
spent this trip at Caesar's Palace and we loved the pool area. We
also went to the top of the tallest building in Las Vegas one evening to
have champagne. It is the 1,149 foot tall Stratosphere Las
Vegas Hotel. Talk about a fantastic view!
2005.08 - Viviane and Chuck at the King Tut Exhibit at the LACMA in downtown L.A.
We both love Egyptian history and art. Over the years we went to
several exhibits on Egypt at the Las Angeles County Museum of Art and
also in San Francisco at the de Young Museum.
2006.02 - Gail and Chuck in Zambia and South Africa.
We decided to go to
Zambia to see the world famous Vitoria Falls. We had a five star
hotel to stay at. Then we flew back to Johannesburg and off again
to Leopard Hill, a private reserve where we had a private bungalow in
the jungle! We got to have private tours around the reserve.
We then rented a car and drove along the eastern coast of South Africa
along the Indian Ocean. We ended up in Cape Town and toured the
area seeing elephants and penguins and other interesting animals.
2007.05 - Rodeo Drive
Cocktails at the newest 'in' place with Viviane in the
afternoon! Dinner with Gail in the evening in Woodland Hills, so
busy!
2007.11 - Viviane visiting San Francisco with Chuck!
There was another Egyptian exhibit in the City so Viviane came
up to see it. We had champagne at the de Young Museum and one
evening I took her to the Hyatt Regency Hotel where we had King Tut
Cocktails rimmed with gold leaf!
2007.12 -
Christmas Dinner in LA
Chuck, with Viviane and Cindy at another 'in' place -
Lawry's The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. This was Cindy's
birthday and afterwards we drove around Beverly Hills to see the
decorations.
2008.05 - Lake Tahoe
Senior Residence Classes and my Special Belated Birthday present from Viviane,
a sail plane ride over Lake Tahoe! - We were rather dressed up for
the conference cocktail party before the classes started. And
dinner at the Silver Legacy with our favorite again, champagne!
2008.10
- Art Galleries
A special invitation to visit a gallery and then a visit the new Modern Art building at LACMA and of course, Champagne!
2009.06
- Beverly Hills House Renovations
Chuck and Viviane Fixing up the House in Beverly Hills, better for
showing to potential buyers! I even did a painting for Viviane to
remember the good times we had in the house! We painted the
columns that were this bluish green to a beautiful brown. Of
course once the new owners took over, they demolished part of the house
to remodel but it was still fun cleaning up the old paint job.
2009.07 - Wine Tour
Gail and Chuck touring Napa and Sonoma and having lunch on the Wine
Train Tour!
2010.02.04
- Chuck's Birthday in Las Vegas
Gail and Chuck celebrating my 70th birthday in Las Vegas at the Bellagio.
Gail had a surprise for me, she had reservations at the famous Bellagio
restaurant. We walked in and low and behold, they had a 'special'
table set up in the window overlooking the fountain. We checked
the menu, Gail said she would buy dinner. Well the waiter said the
Kobe steaks were great, let's see, $250 or more a steak? We
didn't think so! We needed the money for champagne later!
2011.05
- Visiting Viviane in her new home in Austin Texas.
Dorothy,
it isn't Kansas or Beverly Hills but it is nice! We had a great
time, I got to tour the capital and we visited many of the local
galleries and points of interest.
2016.07
- Meeting in Cancun of all Places!
I met my friend Viviane in 1999 while on a cruise on the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America. The area is called Tierra del Fuego and is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. Viviane was in the travel business and other endeavors and eventually we went to Austria for the Millennium New Year in 1999/2000 and then to Morocco in 2000/2001 for the real Millennium New Year! She was living in Beverly Hills at the time and moved to Texas a few years ago, first in Austin and now in Houston. She told me her travel company was sending her to Cancun to check out the hotels and other interests the future travelers with her company might be interested in.
Viviane set up my birthday vacation trip this year for my 76th birthday in Portugal. It was a great trip and lots to see, all done in a timely manner. If you are interested in reading about my trip, select the Portugal link to view some of the great places to visit!
We laughed as she is flying to Cancun on May 31st and I and Barbara will be flying to Cancun on June 1st. We almost ended up on the same flight, just 24 hours difference. We hope to meet that afternoon in Cancun before Barbra and I fly to Havana the next day! And we did get to meet and have a few cocktails!
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Created on: 2012.02.06
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Updated on: 2020.08.20
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