They came by the hundreds (all right, all right, there were 11 of us) to the 2nd Annual SoFL Fodorite GTG, held this year in Pompano Beach on March 5, 2005. The weather was perfect—sunshine and temps in the mid 70’s. Though the venue originally selected was the party room of Bay Yacht Club, a condo on Lake Santa Barbara where JulieVikmanis and her husband Val reside, the weather was so nice that the group moved outside to a tented barbeque area on the shore next to the yachts (ok, so several small cabin cruisers and a fishing boat or two) moored in front of the condo.

Fodorites began arriving promptly at 3 p.m. with snacks and libations in hand—trays of cheese and veggies also brie and French bread, popcorn, chips and homemade salsa, and even a particularly decadent bowl of cold shrimp on ice with cocktail sauce. Bottles of chardonnay, pino grigio, nebbiola, cabernet franc, black opal, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and chateauneuf du pape (the latter two, a gift from Budman who could not attend but sent them from his NJ wine making experience) were passed about and happily consumed.

Fodorites attending included Judyrem (Judy Remiszewski) and her husband Johnrem, Heartburn (Beth), Patrick (Patrick Ashton) who hosted the first annual SoFL GTG last year in Naples, and his partner Lee Eiler, Beachbarbie (Barb Yinger). Wren (Kay Owen) and her husband Mark and their friend Estelle Caillaud, a young woman who moved to SoFL from the Loire valley area of France (near Angers) about two years ago. Estelle taught the group the correct pronunciation of several place names in France and at least one very helpful new secret French word—breque. Turns out Estelle even has her own apartment in Paris, in the 15th arrondissement, that she is starting to think of renting. The group encouraged her in the idea and tried to provide some helpful suggestions for how to proceed.

As the tempo of the travel conversation picked up, chili and muffalettas were served, followed by the richest, gooiest chocolate and caramel bars ever. As the sun began to set and twilight to descend, the group gathered the debris of their repast and trundled up the elevator to reconvene in the Vikmanis’ apartment with views over the lake and the intracoastal waterway to the high rises facing the ocean. Lights began to twinkle from the skyscrapers (some of them actually have 15 stories or more, so that’s pretty tall, isn’t it?) as the night time cityscape unfolded before the ever more bleary eyes of the blissfully imbibing Fodorites.

Meanwhile in the living room, several die hard travelers watched dueling computer screens as wren and Mark showed pix of their time in the Dordogne and Julie put her computer screen saver on random pix of her travels in Europe. The group amused themselves trying to guess where each shot was taken. (Funny how most cathedrals look alike when the images just flash on the screen.)

As the last of the guests faded into the night sometime around 8 p.m. or so, the party ended and everyone returned to their dreams of happy travels, looking forward to SoFL GTG III in 2006. All in all, I think it’s safe to say that the gathering was very non-breque. (I hope my spelling of French is better than my pronunciation or Estelle will have to correct me yet again.)

Pictures of the group are available. They include candids of the group seated around the outdoor tables while talking travel and imbibing, shots of small groups of members of the group holding signs to unveil their screen and true identities, and a picture of the view from the apartment deck, admittedly taken under more favorable sky conditions than those experienced the night of the GTG, but you get the picture, no pun intended. There’s even a picture of Heartburn holding a bottle of the Budman brew.

Viewing the pix
Since I’m not very proficient at this business of importing and exporting pix, the only way I could figure out to make them available is through my Comcast photo site. The catch is that you’ll have to e-mail me your e-mail address so I can send them to you. Trust me, I have no desire to collect unnecessary e-mail addresses and I’ll not let them fall into the wrong hands. If I were smart enough to make these available through some kind of URL that those interested could just point and click on, I sure would. If you want to see the motley crew, e-mail me your request at [email protected].

Interesting follow-up: Having met Estelle for the first time on Saturday, we were at a popular Boca Raton eatery on Sunday and spied her seated one table from us. Small world!

Sounds wonderful! (At the Boston GTG we had fantastically sunny weather, but slightly colder temperatures...uh, yeah, slightly, right!)

You certain had good attendance, and it sounds like everyone had a lovely time.

Thanks for reporting back,
BC

Hey bookchick! We call that "frozen sunshine" in the business!

I'm glad everyone had a great time.

Indy, I must e-mail you! And thank you for getting Boston GTG pics to Sally Fowler. Julie, you might want to try to e-mail Sally at [email protected], and she can perhaps help with the posting of the pics.

BC
BC

Bonjour mes amis.
Julie, I'd like to see the pictures but my comuter doesn't recognizze that address. I'm at hotmail.com

So? What does the secret word "breque" mean? We'll keep the secret.. honest!

I hope someday to go to one of these. It would be great to put the people to the names.

Julie, am I confused? I thought Estelle spelled it breck (I thought of the shampoo at the time) and we mentioned it didn't seem very French.

Patrick, far more likely that I'm the one who is confused. Now I'll be drummed out of the club and not permitted to use the secret word. Alas, woe is me.

Bookchick, thanks for the help on Sally Fowler. I'll try to connect.

OK, I'm clueless, and dictionaries are not helping out - what does breque/breck mean?

And Julie, if you go to Ofoto.com and set up an account, it's pretty easy to follow the directions to put your pix up there so everyone can see them - I managed it, and I'm not exactly brilliant with that kind of stuff.

Thank you, Julie, What a great setting for your GTG. That was an excellent idea for each of you to hold up your names on paper at the end.

Thanks, Julie. It certainly looked like a pleasant GTG. I agree that the "nametags" was a good idea.

Judyrem, it was good to 'see' you again. You are still as cute as ever.

Thank you , Julie! I got the pictures and enjoyed putting faces to names! The strangest thing..your young French friend is the picture of an old French friend of ours with the same last name! If her mother's name is Martine and her father's, Guy..I'll drop dead on this very spot!

Me, too, Julie. I always like putting a face with a name. Thanks for sharing the pics. ><

Jody, how cool if Julie's friend is related to your friend ...now wouldn't THAT fit the category of " a small world"?

Judy

Estelle was a friend of "Wren". Wren and her husband stayed with Estelle's parents in France last year, so she will certainly know their names. The mystery builds!

So when do we reveal the meaning of breck/breque? I think it's very breckish of us not to do so soon.

I've corresponded with wren to please send me Estelle's e-mail so I can check the correct spelling of breck/breque. Hope to have it soon. Then I will break the code of silence and reveal the meaning--unless someone with less resistance than I breaks first and reveals it sooner.

I am now caught up, I think, with sending the photos to everyone who has asked. So if anyone has requested to see the photos and hasn't received them yet, please send a second request. I could have mistyped your e-mail address. Thanks everyone for asking. It's fun to know that there is so much interest.

Thank you for the photos, Julie. Like everyone, it's nice to put a face with a name.
Reading your trip reports over the last few years, you reminded me very much of a friend we love to travel with, and you seem to choose many of the same hotels and restaurants that we do. Seeing the photos, you actually look like my friend!
Seems a little bizarre posting in line with (except Patrick) a Judy, a Judi and a Jody...to a Julie.

Wren, hope you're following all of this and will send me Estelle's address in case you didn't get the direct e-mail I sent you. Patrick, do you recall what it was that brought that word to Estelle's lips with such disgust? hint, hint

I'd love to see the pics
[email protected]

Thinking of initiating a Colorado GTG when summer hits, yours sounded so fun!

Hello All, Estelle is out running errands right now. I will find out the "word" as soon as she returns. I thought it was brecke...I remember Patrick and I saying it sounded more German than French.

Sorry I wasn't able to clarify it! I can help with her parents names however. Her mother's name is Marie-Helene and her father's is Jean-Noel.

That was a great GTG! Travelling is the great bond between us, and we all got along famously! Many thannks to Julie and Val for their hospitality.

I believe Estelle didn't actually use the word, except when she was describing a "slang" expression. We were discussing American slang and asked her some expressions they use, and we ended up with the breck/breque/brecke line.

We also got a big kick out of her talking about Lyon and pronouncing it Lion. After several times, I couldn't stand it any more and said, "are you telling us we've been wrong all this time pronouncing in Lee-yon?" To which she replied that she was just saying Lion, because she assumed that's how Americans pronounce it.

Estelle was a delight and a great addition to the party -- giving it a real international flair.