This photo, courtesy of Elaine Serafini, is of the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia.  Those familiar with the paintings of Edward Hopper cannot miss the resemblance of this well composed photo to many of Hopper's works in his middle period.  For the past decade, the Blue Ridge, the eastern approach to the Appalachians, has been our home.  The Pisgah National Forest, the Smokies, and the Nantahala National Forest are our backyard here in the hills of western South Carolina.  

We lived for two years in Clermont-Ferrand, a charming city half circled by a range of dead volcanoes, in the region of France called the Auvergne.  This is one of France's great regions for cheese and agriculture, but farms here more resemble those of Switzerland being located on mountainsides.  It was here in the Auvergne that the Gauls last defeated Julius Caesar.  Drives through the Auvergne countryside on France's excellent highways display a fantastic, rich landscape of peaks, lakes, gorges, ancient castles, and modern ski lodges.  Fortunately or unfortunately, few Americans leave the beaten tourist paths to experience this gem we called home.

Chamonix is an alpine town in SE France next to Mont Blanc and a short distance from the Swiss border.  From in town, a telepherique will take you up Aiguille du Midi at about 12,700 feet.  This was our first weekend trip from our home in Clermont-Ferrand late summer 1988.
  

My wife, Alice, in Chamonix enjoying tarte a la framboise, a raspberry tart.  Tarts and the bakeries in which you find them, called patisseries, are an excellent reason to enjoy France.  In Clermont, where we lived, it was enjoyable to walk downtown to a salon de thé, a tea shop, for an espresso and a tart or some other baked good.  

It seemed to us that the French knew more---far more---about enjoying life than Americans.  Walks in the park, a leisurely lunch, and a keen appreciation of the arts characterized the people we worked with, despite education or background.       

We found the resort of Minos Beach on the bay, Ageos Nikolaos, near the eastern end of the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea.  Wonderful, wonderful place!

 Crete is mountainous and dry.  Some of the most beautiful mountains to be found are at the eastern end of Ageos Nikolaos (St. Nicholas' Bay).  In this photo taken from our sun deck you can barely make out the mountains across the bay but at night as the sun sets, the fading light illuminates these mountains a luminescent, rosy pink.  

Venice!  The most beautiful city in the world.  Everyone has heard of the pink light that gives  Venice a translucent beauty.  Here it is.

The Eiger is in the background.    Grindelwald is a small village in central Switzerland, a 30 minute drive from Interlaken.  If you are fortunate enough to visit here stay at the little chalet-hotel from which this photo was taken and listen to the glaciers crack at night.
www.hotel-gletschergarten.ch/

From the Gletschergarten's outdoor restaurant.  

Egypt was so exceptional, we visited it twice.  These are the friendliest people on Earth!  The photo shows the Valley of the Queens.  A few miles from the western shore of the Nile the queens of Egypt are buried... those whose crypts have not been robbed or moved to museums.  Hills and mountains line the river in this desolate region.

Abu Simbel in the extreme southern region of Egypt, just a few miles from the Ethiopian border.

Philae is one of many temples and religious places of the ancient Egyptians.  It lies now in the middle of Lake Aswan which was created by the Aswan Dam.  The temple of Philae is much larger than what is visible here.  It is a hauntingly beautiful and desolate place.

An incredibly beautiful town on Italy's Ligurian coast, Portofino defines charm and Italian elegance.

The view of the tiny harbor of Portofino.  In these two photos you have seen the entire town.  One road enters Portofino from the outside.  The town has one parking area so a cop stands at the entrance to the town letting one car enter Portofino only after another car leaves!

The Louvre in Paris.  This view captures the grandeur of the original structure, as well as the modern entrance via a glass pyramid created by American architect, I. M. Pei.

Delphi, site of the Oracle of Delphi, located in Phocis on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus.  It is a long bus ride from Athens to this remote site high in the mountains above the Gulf of Corinth.

Most cities established temples at Delphi, from which to better influence the Oracle and the Gods.