(Notice: I have not written a post in almost three months, but am making up with this post...) Time has gone by very quickly since my last post in early May on my trip to the North Georgia Mountains. When I returned to my house in Cobb County, GA., the water heater needed to be replaced. Then in June I traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to spend time with my daughter Celine and her family. I had planned to write a post on this visit but had to return to my house in Georgia in early July because two trees had fallen on the roof. As I am writing this post my air conditioning unit stopped working on Friday in the upper part of the house in Nashville. My bedroom temperature went up to 97 F (36 C,) making it difficult to have a good night sleep. The Weather Forecast Channel on TV just told us to expect more warm days coming up - feeling like 117 F (47.2C) in Nashville. Scientists are saying that this month of July 2023 has been the warmest on record so far and might even be the warmest the planet has experienced in 120,000 years! But, no fear, my hairdresser in Georgia told me last week that there is no climate change, it's just a "liberal" plot ... (Cartoon courtesy New Orleans The Times Picayune.) Through the plantation shutters next to my laptop desk I can see little birds getting a relief from the heat in the small water dish I placed on the front porch. It is the bottom dish of a large planter. I also placed a "Mosquito Dunk" tablet in it to avoid mosquito larvae (non toxic to birds, pets, animals or humans) that I purchased on Amazon. I like watching all the different birds having a good time, sometimes up to 6 or 8 of them at a time. In spite of my house problems I was able to watch the Paris 14 of July celebrations on the French Military Armed Forces website and also on the Mayor of Paris website. The French National Holiday is called "Le 14 Juillet" (14 July) but English speaking people call it "Bastille Day" after the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789 during the French Revolution (however, in France, no one would know what you mean if you asked about Bastille Day.) What people don't realize here is that there were only 3 prisoners in the huge Bastille jail then. The people had stormed it because it contained arms and ammunitions, not to free the 3 prisoners. In previous posts I explained the history of the holiday; please look under Bastille Day on the right side of my blog. The celebrations start on the evening of July 13 with a torchlight procession, that is, participants in many cities and villages walk down streets holding torches or lanterns/lampoons in their hands, following a local band, then go on to a public square for public dancing. On the morning of the 14 there is the traditional Défilé Militaire du 14 juillet, or Bastille Day Military Parade, down the Champs-Elysees. Started in 1880, it is one of the oldest military parades in the world. It is the main official event honoring French military regiments and includes each year different invited foreign guests and regiments. This is one of the main occasions when you will see many French flags all around. French people respect their flag but the rest of the time they don't have it on their cars, or flown from their houses, etc. You will see it in official places like schools, police stations, customs check-points, and in support of the national teams during international competitions but you won't find it in front of a commercial business, or on tee-shirts, baseball caps, clothes or other decorative objects. As in many European countries (apart from the UK that is a constitutional monarchy)people placing out too many national flags are frown upon and considered to be extreme-right extremists, or uber nationalists. In addition, there is no "Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag" in France like in the United States. Again, most European citizens of democratic countries would find it quite bizarre, not saying undemocratic, incredibly creepy and borderline fascistic. For 2023, the Bastille Day parade included 6,500 people (5,100 of them marching,) 64 planes, 28 helicopters, 157 ground vehicles, 62 motorcycles, 200 horses and 86 dogs. Nearly 15 countries were invited to the parade including India, this year guest of honor. Prime Minister Norendra Modi watched the parade alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. It was also the 25th anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership and the 70th anniversary of the Patrouille de France. The Patrouille had their traditional aerial display that included French-made Indian war planes. Vehicles on display included the Caesar anti-missile batteries that France is providing to Ukraine, and Ukrainian officials were also invited to join Pres. Macron in the VIP seats. Below Patrouille de France (courtesy Ministeres des Armees.) Another highlight were students from partner African military schools (Benin, Congo-Brazzavile, Gabon, Madagascar, Ivory Coast and Senegal) marching with residents of French military schools. Below photos of two of the African military schools in the parade, from Madagascar on top photo and Ivory Coast on the bottom. (Courtesy Madagascar Tribune.) In tribute to the 80th anniversary of the disappearance of Jean Moulin, the French civil servant hero who created the National Council of the French Resistance, musicians played the "Chant des partisants," a song that is a symbol of indomitable spirit against evil. This was the French Resistance anthem during World War II. Jean Moulin, 1899-1943, the leader of the Resistance, was tortured by the Nazis in one prison after another and died in 1943 in a train taking him to Germany. An international orchestra, made up of 80 musicians from France and 14 partner countries (Canada, The Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States) played for the parade until the Patrouille de France flew over. The parade included a 269 member tri-services contingent of the Indian Armed Forces with 77 marching personnel and 38 band members (including the Rajputana Rifles Regiment Band,) led by Captain Aman Jagtap. The Indian Navy contingent was being led by Commander Vrat Baghel, while Squadron Leader Sindhu Reddy lead the Indian Air Force contingent. The Punjab Regiment had been selected to represent the Indian Army for this Bastille Day celebrations. The Punjab Regiment, one of the oldest Infantry Regiments of the Indian Army that traces its origins to 1761, had participated in both World Wars as well as post-independence operations. Historically, 107 years ago, the Punjab Regiment had marched down the Champs-Elysees for the 14 July 1916 parade, after taking part in some battles of World War I. (Photos courtesy Ministere des Armees, La Ville de Paris, and the Élysée Palace.) Please click on collage to enlarge. Below are vintage photographs and postcards of the Punjab Regiment at the 14 July parade of 1916 and at the rail station Gare du Nord (below right.) Top left photo is a French lady pinning a flower in gratitude on one of the Indian soldiers' lapel. World War I began on August 4, 1914, after Great Britain declared war against Germany. When the British Army requested military support from their Indian colony, Sikhs, Pendjabis and Gurkas arrived in Marseille, France. On September 26, 1914, the British Punjab's 20th troop of the Lahore Division and of the 129th Baluchis of pre-partition India were the first colonial force to deploy in Europe. They trained in Marseille while waiting to be sent to the front lines. Below are vintage postcards of the Anglo-Indian regiments in Marseille, France in Sept. 1914. Then these Anglo-Indian troops went to Toulouse and Orleans, France, on their way north. Between September 1914 and October 1918, 140,000 Indian troops arrived to fight in France and Belgium. Below are vintage postcards of them in France. As you can see there were quite a few Indian troops in the First World War, but I have never heard about them in the US - they must have been forgotten here. I tried to find books in English on this subject, but could not, but I did find books published in France. Below a couple of them plus an article on the Excelsior Journal published in France on December 14, 1914, showing injured Indian soldiers. In the north of France they took part in an offensive near Neuve-Chapelle from March 10 to 13, 1915, earning the Battle Honors "Loos" and "France and Flanders" - over 8,550 were killed and as many as 50,000 more were wounded. In total about 10,000 Indian soldiers died in France during the First World War. Several monuments in their honor were erected in France, notably the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial. It was inaugurated on 7 October, 1927, by Marshal Foch, and attended by the Maharaja of Karputhala, Rudyard Kipling and a large contingent of Indian veterans representing units that fought in France, including Sikhs, Dogras and Garhwalis. Marshal Ferdinand Foch (French, 1851-1919,) the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces (and generally considered the leader most reponsible for the Allied victory,) gave a speech, including this: "Return to your homes in the distant, sun-bathed East and proclaim how your countrymen drenched with their blood the cold northern land of France and Flanders, and how they delivered it by their ardent spirit from the firm grip of a determined army; tell all India that we shall watch over their graves with the devotion due to all our dead. We shall cherish above all the memory of their example. They showed us the way, they made the first steps towards the final victory." Speaking after the war, Marshal Foch said the Indian Army had delivered the war's first decisive steps to victory; they were critical in stemming the tide of the German invasion of Belgium and France. Without their early arrival, the port of Calais would not have been saved, the Western Front would have been breached and the British Expeditionary Forces annihilated. Below photos of the Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial. Again in World War II, 1.5 million Anglo-Indian soldiers (including Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs) came to defend Africa and Europe. 130,000 of them came to France where thousands died or were wounded. They earned 16 Battle Honors and 14 Theatre Honors. On May 28, 1940, 300 Indian soldiers (all of them Muslims) and 23 British troops evacuated the city of Dunkirk, but their story has been mostly forgotten, as well as in movies about Dunkirk. Read about it here or on the BBC report here. (World War Two: The forgotten Indian soldiers of Dunkirk.) Numerous soldiers hailing from former French trading posts in India - now in present day Pondicherry/Puducherry - also fought in France. France never forgot the suffering and heroism of all these men. President Macron tweeted "This 14 July, soldiers and Rafale aircraft from India are marching and flying alongside our troops. We honor the memory of those who fough with the French in the two World Wars." Photo below British Indian Army Service Corps on parade in France in 1940 (courtesy Wikipedia.) Another unsung hero coming from India was Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944) the descendant of Indian royalty. She was the daughter of an Indian Sufi mystic, Inayat Khan, born in Bombay. He lived in Europe as a musician and teacher of Sufism where he became the head of the "Sufi Order of the West." Her mother was an American, Ora Ray Baker, born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Noor, also known as Nora Baker, was an SOE agent under the French Resistance, her code name was "Madeleine." She was the first female wireless operator sent from the UK to aid the French Resistance during World War II. She was betrayed, captured, tortured then executed at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany. On January 16, 1946, French President Charles de Gaulle awarded her the Croix de Guerre (highest civilian honor.) She was also honored with the British S. George Cross. There is a plaque (shown below) outside her family home in Suresnes, France. A band plays there every year on Bastille Day. A square in the city of Suresnes has been named Cours Madeleine after her. Photos courtesy the National Archives and Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust: top left Noor and her mother Ora, next to Noor playing her veena instrument; bottom photo of Noor's family. A school in Suresnes, a city 9.3 km (5.7 miles) from the center of Paris, is named after her. French history with India is a long one, over three centuries, from 1674 to 1954. I remember when I was a small girl studying in Paris public primary school, France still had trading posts in India. I had to memorize their difficult to pronounce names. They sounded so exotic - I dreamed of visiting these far-away places. I have not yet, but it's still on my list... In 1673, under the reign of French King Louis XIV, France purchased Chandernagore from the Mughal Governor of Bengal. The following year France purchased Pondicherry from the Sultan of Bijapur, and other parts of south India. After the Treaty of Paris of 1763 France only kept five "comptoirs" (or trading posts) in India: Pondicherry, Chandernagor, Karikal, Mahe and Yanaon. (I still remember their names!) When India obtained its independence from the UK in 1947, talks were taken to return four of the French comptoirs to the Indian Union. This was done on November 1, 1954. However the people of Pondicherry were pro-French and feared the overpowering weight of the Indian administrative machinery. After several years of negotiations, an agreement was reached between France and India and a treaty was ratified by the French Parliament in July 1962. By this treaty Pondicherry became Indian Territory and its inhabitants Indian nationals. However, France gave them a six-month opportunity to obtain French citizenship - 8000 of them signed up. It was difficult for them to decide as they were Indians but also went to French schools, spoke French and had been imbued with French culture. Of course, now sixty-two years later, the French influence in Pondicherry is fading away, but still...it retains some French culture, for example the headgear of the policemen represents the design adopted in France. There are many French-style houses left along the Bay of Bengal. Pondicherry has a large "French" area in town, with French city streets, cobblestones, restaurants, etc. French is one of the official languages of the Pondicherry's government. A French church, built in 1855, offers mass in three languages - Tamil, French and English. Many streets have retained their French names. There are still 5,500 French-Indian and French people living there, many retire there from France as well. A few years ago the film "The Life of Pi" was filmed in Pondicherry, starting with a scene in the shaded and peaceful Jardins Botaniques. (Photos courtesy Pondy Tourism.) Pondicherry, Pondichéry in French, Pondy for short or Puducherry, as it is officially known, is not a large town. It is about 150 miles from the large city of Chennai (was Madras) on the south eastern coast of India. It's a little bit of France in India. The French Quarter is reminiscent of the New Orleans French Quarter. There is a French Consulate (see their sign in the heading photo) French school and college, The Alliance Francaise, French bakeries and shops and, of course, the celebrations of the 14 of July, or Bastille Day in India. Bastille Day is a yearly festival in Pondy. On the evening of the 13th there is a lantern march along the Beach Promenade followed by a public dancing for 600 people. Several buildings are illuminated in blue, white and red after the French flag. The police band plays national songs of India and France as part of the celebration. On the 14th, there is a march to the monuments honoring French-Indians and Indians who died in the wars and also to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi (that is illuminated in the tri-colors.) In the evening of the 14th traditional fireworks are fired in front of the French Consulate. I don't think another foreign country in Asia (or anywhere else) sponsors an official French Bastille Day. Meanwhile, in Paris, on this July 14, 2023, the crowd attended the usual free concert followed by the fireworks shot from the Eiffel Tower. (Photos courtesy City of Paris.)

In my last couple of trips to my Georgia house I concentrated on cleaning out the garage which was totally full. It's almost empty now. But thousands of books are still there. When I pass by a bookshelf, I'll pick one up at random. As I leafed through a book of quotations, I read the well known Shakespeare's quotation from Romeo and Juliet (Act II, Scene ii.) "What's in a name..." The 4 1/2 hour drive back to Nashville gave me time to ponder on this quote and all its meanings ... roses...I had a rose garden in Georgia... I grew more than 150 rose cultivars: hybrid teas, floribunda, polyantha, a climber, a rambler, old-fashioned or heirlooom roses and grandiflora. One of my favorite roses was a strong tall bush, a grandiflora named Queen Elizabeth, with glorious pink blooms (as shown below.) I could see it from my kitchen window. It was introduced in 1954 to mark the Queen's coronation in 1953. This royal rose was well named. My garden is long gone; now I just have a framed drawing of this regal rose. But maybe when I have more time I'll introduce this rose to my Nashville garden. I used to belong to the Deep South District of the Rose Society in Atlanta. At monthly meetings we would discuss roses and have a great time - I went there for years. Members were usually much older than me and came from every walk of life - we were united by our love of roses. It was a kind and fun crowd sharing rose information. I miss them. I still have the silver platter I won for 1st prize as a novice in the Atlanta Rose Show with my rose Mr. Lincoln. "I don't know whether nice people tend to grow roses or growing roses makes people nice." (Roland A. Browne, American author.) The names of my roses escaped me but last week I found a list of my roses. Below are top left The Peace Rose next to Dortmund (a rambler,) below left is Chrysler Imperial next to The Cherokee Rose, which is Georgia's official state "floral emblem." In the Shakespeare's play, Juliet is telling Romeo that names are inconsequent and trivial. I take issue with this. Names are part of our identity, they influence us and how others perceive us. They can carry familial and cultural connections. Other people can make judgments or assumptions about us through our name. This reminds me that years ago, when I was expecting my first child, my husband told me that if the baby was a boy he liked the name Colin. The baby would be registered at the French Embassy as a French citizen through me, and then as a US citizen through my husband. The name of the child should sound fine in both languages and colin, in French, is a fish, a pollock, a cousin of the cod. The colin/pollock fish is popular with cooks because of its mild taste and flaky texture. My grandparents came often to eat with us on Sundays in Paris and my mother would usually start the meal with a cold "colin" mayonnaise, as shown below. I could not call my newborn a fish in French. Altough maybe with some French people who understand English, it might not sound so bad, but my French relatives did not speak English. Fortunately, our first baby was a girl (our second child was a girl as well.) In English, as well, names can be a problem, as I learnt at work. During my first ten years at Lockheed-Martin I was in charge of trainees coming to our plant to study our cargo aircraft the C-130 Hercules. My first duty when the trainees arrived was to draw a list of their names, birth dates, check their IDs or passports if they were from overseas so our Security Department could issue entrance badges to them. One time I made a list of Mexican trainees. I picked up the name of their country from their passports. As you can see from the picture below, it says "Estados Unidos Mexicanos" so I translated it as "United States of Mexico." Below map of Mexico overlaid on map of the USA. Oh my! I received a telephone call from an irate Security Officer telling me that I had made a grave error in my document. He told me that only the United States of America can use the term "United States" and certainly not Mexico. He was returning my document and wanted me to correct the country's name. I was not sure what to call it. One of the Mexican trainees was standing near me and explained that they are aware of how defensive and possessive the USA is about the term "united states" and refuses for any other country to use it. He added that they translate it in English as the United Mexican States, placing the "united" first and "states" last to avoid hurting sensibilities here. So this is what I did. You see, names are important and can cause problems. Whatever one wishes to call the country of Mexico, it does have many states - 32 I believe. A photo of Mexico overlaid over Europe shows that it is a large country. (Click on collage to enlarge.) Some countries are very strict about baby names; they even have laws on it. Denmark provides a list of 7,000 pre-approved names for parents to pick. If parents have another name in mind that is not on the list they will have to get special permission that will be reviewed by government officials. In Germany the first name must show the gender of the child, so you cannot use last names. The name must also be approved by the Standesamt (German Civil registration office.) If the name is not approved, you can appeal; if you lose you can submit another name and pay a fee. In Iceland the name has to be accepted by the "naming committee." It must contain letters in the Iceland alphabet and fit with the language, must be gender specific and won't embarrass the child in the future. In Sweden the Tax Agency has to approve the name, and it will be rejected if deemed not suitable. Portugal has banned the shortened versions of names as official names, so you can name you son Frederic but not Fred, and they also have a 4,000 list of prohibited names. In France, Napoleon Bonaparte created a law in 1803 showing which names were acceptable. In 1993 this law was repealed but if the registrar believes the chosen name could be damaging to the child's interest, he or she can refuse to confirm the name; the court needs to provide further consideration. But there are still banned names in France. In 2015, a French couple wished to name their newborn girl "Nutella" afer the chocolate spread. (Photo above courtesy Imperial Sugar.) A judge denied their request stating that other children might mock her. The judge approved the name Ella instead (take it or not...) In France children cannot have the last name of a parent as a first name. Other names rejected were: Automne (fall in English) Joyeux (happy in English) Vanille (vanilla) Gentil (kind in English) Ravi (Indian name.) The name Manhattan was denied because it is the name of a known place. In the US I have heard people called after names of places, such as Lorraine (a French province) and its capital Nancy (a city) Rochelle (a French town by the sea) Chelsea (a London neighborhood) Paris (a capital) Africa (a continent) Asia, etc. Most countries will not approve names that could be "detrimental to the child's interests" and have ratified the legally-binding international agreement of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) adopted in 1989. It acknowledges that children have basic fundamental rights. You can read it here . It is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history with 194 countries having done so. Only three countries have not ratified this human treaty: Somalia, South Sudan and the United States of America. The US says that it could interfere in the private lives of families, such as discipline. But then I found out that Former President Jimmy Carter signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on July 17, 1980, and this treaty has never been ratified by the United States of America either. Could it be the reverse then, that the US state can interfere in the private lives of women? This treaty has been ratified by 189 countries. The countries that have not are: Iran, Palau, Somalia, Sudan, Tonga and the USA. But people can name their babies anything they wish here in this country. Some US celebrities have given their poor children outrageous names - after cardinal points, seasons, colors, and more, such as Sage Moonblood, Audio Science, Bronx Mowgli, Denim and North. I found a list with appalling names given legally to US babies in 2022, such as Furious, Renegade, Billion, Luxury, Envy, Whiskey, Paradise, Exit, Handsome, Capone, Corleone (after the Godfather movie) Fairy, Rooster. How would you like to be named any of those? A name is powerful; it is an important part of our identity and should not be trivialized. The top red rose was my winning Mr. Lincoln rose. I think "rose" is a good name for the flower, it is the same in French and English and calls to mind a delicate plant with lovely blooms and fragrance. If we changed the name of the rose to "cockroach" or "dung beetle" it might still smell as sweet as Juliet said, but would its image be as evocative and meaningful? No, let's keep calling it a rose, shall we?

The Patrouille de France (French Acrobatic Patrol) of the French Air Force is shown above. It has been active since 1931 and is one of the oldest and considered one of the best in the world. It traditionally opens the military parade in Paris on the 14 of July /French National Holiday (also known as Bastille Day in anglophone areas.) Then about two weeks later, it flies over the Champs-Elysees Avenue at the close of the Tour de France. Nine pilots fly the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets with a team of 32 mechanics for support. A 14 of July military parade down the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris has been a tradition since 1880. The parade starts at 10:00 am and lasts two hours. This year's theme was "Sharing the Flame" - a reference to the flame of the Resistance, and to the Olympic flame of which France is now the custodian until the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. Olympic and Paralympics' medalists were part of the procession. This year French President Macron wished to honor Eastern European nations and invited their troops to open the parade (photo shown below courtesy Ministère des Armées.) The units and flags of the Baltic States, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary opened the parade with troops on foot, followed by the soldiers of the French regiments engaged within the framework of NATO on the eastern flank of Europe, such as the alpine hunters deployed in Romania and Estonia. (France's Rafale fighter jets are also helping to protect the Polish sky.) The parade included 6,300 soldiers on foot, 71 aircraft, 25 helicopers, 221 vehicles and 200 horses of the Republican Guard. Louis, a 17 years old ship's boy and future ship's mate, was the youngest soldier in the parade. He is pictured below, courtesy Le Ministère des Armées. In the evening of July 14, Parisians, French people and foreign visitors were invited to gather near the Eiffel Tower to watch the fireworks at 11 pm, for about 30 minutes. The theme this year was "Carpe Diem" (seize the day - take advantage of life.) The fireworks paid tribute to Ukraine, projecting the Ukrainian flag on the Eiffel Tower, the blue and yellow rockets drawing hearts in the sky, on the song "Stefania" by the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra, winner of the Eurovision contest. (Photo of the Ukraine colors in the first left photo below, courtesy Le Parisien.) This was followed by a public concert then popular dancing in various streets. Most large towns, small cities and villages in France display fireworks for the national holiday, the 14 of July. However, this year to minimize the risk of fire linked to the ambient dryness and extreme heat, some municipalities canceled their traditional fireworks. One of the cities still with great fireworks was Carcassonne, shown below, courtesy Aude Tourisme. The Tour de France stopped to rest in this town, but on July 18, 2022. The Tour de France 2022 started on July 1st and ended on July 24, 2022, including two rest days. It covered a total distance of 3,328 kms/2081.4 miles, about the same distance as Helsinki, Finland to Lisbon, Portugal or Washington, D.C. to Las Vegas, Arizona. There were 176 international riders from twenty-two teams (8 riders in each team.) The 21 stages covered 6 flat stages, 7 hilly stages, 6 mountain stages and 2 individual time trial stages. Apart from France the Tour visited 3 foreign countries, Denmark, Belgium and Switzerland. The cyclists rode into 39 stage towns. The Tour attracted 12 million spectators and was broadcasted into 190 countries. Founded in 1903, the Tour de France is the most prestigious bike race on the planet. Below is the 2022 route. If you click on the Tour de France link on the right side of my blog you will see 21 entries. Along the years I have given the Tour's history, explained the stages, the colors of the jerseys and more. Please check any of these posts. It is quite fitting that the Tour started in Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen is the world's most bicycle friendly city where the number of bicycles outnumbers the number of cars. If the US is known for having more guns than people, Copenhagen is known for having more bikes than people - 745,000 bikes for 602,000 people, and just 120,000 cars; the number of SUV vehicles, unlike in the US, is at a minimum. The first time we were in Copenhagen we stayed in a central hotel. I was so surprised to see more bikes during rush hour than cars, with business people in suits and some women in dresses and heels. Accordingly, the Climate Change Performance Index's for 2022 shows Denmark as the top-ranking country in the world for global climate policy. Out of rankings of 60 countries and the EU, the US trailed the pack in 55th place. It could be the US's obsession with SUV vehicles. On average, SUVs use about a quarter more energy to move than a standard-sized family car, because they are larger, heavier and create more drag. A quarter might not sound like much, but between 2010 and 2018, the proliferation of SUVs on the road resulted in an increase of 3.3 million barrels of gasoline used per day. This created an uptick of 0.55 gigatons of CO2 over one decade, to 544 million tons of CO2, making SUVs "the second-largest contributor to the increase in global CO2 emissions since 2010 after the power sector." To put it another way, it means SUVs are producing more emissions than the entire aviation industry. The IEA forecasts that if conventional SUV purchases continue at the same pace, by 2040 they will have offset the emissions savings of close to 150 million electric cars. But, in the US, SUV sales continue to grow regardless. In Denmark there are twelve freeways just for bicycles. The Grand Depart started in Copenhagen and stayed three days in the country. Fans came out to cheer the Tour in incredible numbers - thousands in every town. The Tour is truly international. One of the reasons I really enjoy it is because fans cheer the racers regardless of their nationalities. Of course I am happy if a French or American racer wins a stage but I am as happy to see a deserving racer win from another country. It was so sad at the Atlanta Olympic Games when most of the public left the indoor bike racing event when there were no US bikers left but just racers from the UK, Australia and Italy. Only a handful of people watched the winners get their medals - truly a shame. If I could, I'd fly back home to France every July to watch the Tour. But since I can't, watching this most famous race live on TV is a highlight of my summers here. I love the high drama of the race so physically challenging as well as the passion of the riders. Watching the hundreds of thousands of spectators from many countries is also fun. Of course, the scenery along the route or from the helicopters and drones over all the cities, towns, villages and hamlets is a joy; many castles are shown. I visited two of the castles below - the castle of Chillon in Switzerland (in center of collage) when I went twice to Lausanne and the castle of the Malmaison (bottom left) which is only 15 kms from Paris (about 9 miles) and visited it several times with my mother. Since 1905 the Malmaison Castle has been a French National Napoleonic museum. Bonaparte had bought it for his wife, Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814) in April 1799. Napoleon lived in it several years and Josephine died there in 1814. The interior of the castle is one of the few places in France to exhibit a homogeneous set of furniture from the Napoleonic Consulate and First Empire. My mother and I loved to visit the rose garden there. One of their old antique Bourbon roses is called "Souvenir de la Malmaison." Originally it had been called "Queen of Beauty and Fragrance" but when one the Grand Dukes of Russia obtained a specimen from the Malmaison gardens for the Imperial Garden in St. Petersburg it was renamed "Souvenir de la Malmaison" as a remembrance for him. It produces light pink color blooms with a delightful fragrance; it is a climbing rose. I grew one in my garden in Georgia, shown below. I even drew one of my Souvenir de la Malmaison roses. The Tour racers drove by numerous lovely and historic towns. To mention and show even some of them would take pages and pages. Stage 13 ended on July 15 at Saint-Etienne. It is the only French city designated Creative City of Design by UNESCO. In 2020, Saint-Etienne also received its second UNESCO label as an "Inclusive City of Design." Saint-Etienne with all its museums and buildings is a permanent design experience, in architecture as well as in every day life. In 1915 the mayor of the city ordered a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Stage 19 ended in the town of Cahors. This city is famed for its wine and gastronomy and holds the label "French Town of Art and History." The famous medieval Valentre Bridge here is part of the pilgrimage path to Santiago de Campostela. The 14th century bridge took 70 years to complete, from 1308 to 1378 (in center of collage below.) Two new cities on the Tour were Lacapelle-Marival with its blue lake (bottom left) and Rocamadour (top left below.) From the Middle Ages on Rocamadour has been visited by pilgrims as it is also on the route of El Camino de Santiago. The population of 600 rises to 1.5 million tourists in summer. The 21 stage ended in Paris as usual. The winner of the Tour this year was the Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard. He is the first Danish rider to win this race since 1996. At the start of the race in Copenhagen, 35,000 paying fans had packed into the Tivoli Gardens to greet the riders. They must have been deliriously happy to have one of their own win this grueling race. The 25-years old Vingegaard showed an impressive display of strength. He is below with his little daughter Frida. Another thrilling Tour de France has ended. Now we have to wait for the 2023 rendez-vous in Bilbao, the Basque country of Spain, for the Grand Depart of the Tour de France 2023.