Tour de Force

Not done this way today...

"If it's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium" was a 1969 comedy starring Ian McShane as a tour guide taking a busload of Americans across Europe. 

Fast forward to 2018 starring Mark Deckelbaum as the guide and a busload of Americans touring Israel. I had a bit part as "woman covered in sunblock, seat two, left of aisle."

My husband and I love to travel and usually hitch ourselves to day or half-day tours of places we are visiting on our own. The rest of the time we like to wander, meeting locals and tourists from other parts of the world. We also like to sleep late.

We realized two weeks in Israel to see everything we wanted meant being part of a full-fledged tour. The thought of someone else planning the details was very compelling. We had some help finding Which Tour, and in the end chose wisely.

Now group tours are very much like family: you don't have a choice who's with you, you have to get along, and you forgive a lot in the process. There is a group mentality that will color your experiences as much as what you see. Despite a (very) few hiccups, it was a wonderful trip. 

A lively group though not mine

Here's where the gist of this post kicks in. I packed all wrong. 

When I travel I like to put myself in context to where I am visiting. If it's a city, I like to dress city-style. If it's the tropics I'll give free reign to my Bohemian side. Seaside and the white pants and striped T will come out. You get the idea.

I packed for Israel much the same way (after checking out Eva Marie Saint's wardrobe in "Exodus"). Desert colors for daytime sightseeing, utility clothes like khakis for active touring, a few dress-up dresses for dinner in the cities...and corresponding shoes, jewelry, handbags, etc. As someone else would be lugging the suitcases I figured "Why not?".

Eva Marie Saint (left) in "Exodus"

 
However, I discovered what veteran travelers know: Touring with a group is a different animal. Many of the women thoughtfully put together what I would call a Basic Group Tour Wardrobe: simple t-shirts, pull on jersey pants, zip up jackets, baseball cap, practical sneakers, the all-important nylon cross-body bag. They dressed TO TOUR, to be part of that phalanx of 20 or so who go from A to B with headsets and name tags. They mean business. 

If I were smart I would have done the same. It made no sense to dress according to place so I would "fit in". We were so obviously a bunch of tourists. There was no way I could have been mistaken for anything else. 

Some days we would meet in the lobby dressed, fed and ready to go for the day as early as 6:45 AM. When we returned to the hotel at 7PM no one "dressed for dinner". It was head to the dining room then straight to bed. 

No one cared about hair, makeup or accessories. Our concerns were sunblock, water and the right shoes. Guess who wished she'd brought her all-terrain Brooks GTS Adrenalines? I thought it would be chic to wear olive and tan in the country and learned how to deflect jokes about looking like the Israel Defense Force.

With a new friend at the border

Although it's taken a week to recover from that 28-hour flight home, it was all amazing, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat—with a carry-on.
 
 

What if...?

 
What if Meghan Markle had worn a white pantsuit to her wedding? What if she had worn a short dress a la Audrey Hepburn in "Funny Face"? What if she had worn a hat rather than a tiara? What if she had stunned the world as this whole divorced-older-woman/younger-man-biracial-royally unprecedented romance has done? She could have gotten away with it.

 
Instead Meghan chose a dress so simple I am pressed to describe it other than a white satin column with a wide (ill-fitting?) bateau neckline. The designer was Clare Waight Keller, who recently became head of Givenchy. It was tasteful, but in a cream-of-wheat sort of way. The veil was long with a small attempt at embroidered trim. The tiara was refined. The jewelry understated. The hair was hair. The makeup minimal.

I liked that. She looked as fresh-faced as a schoolgirl. I'd be surprised if freckles as an accessory didn't become a trend.

Young women looking to be inspired for their own big day will probably look elsewhere. At least they already have their prince.

Audrey Auction Encore

 
Christie's London is holding another auction of Audrey Hepburn's personal belongings May 2 - 9. This is billed as the third and final auction following two last summer and consists of 200 lots of "clothing, jewellery, photography and film memorabilia, all of which have remained in the ownership of Audrey Hepburn’s family."

It looks like Audrey saved everything, and why not? She probably had enough closets. It is curious she chose to save costume jewelry from the 1950s, things we would have sent to Goodwill eons ago. An owl brooch by Coro that may have cost $10 in the '50s has an estimate of 500-800 GBP.  It's almost as if Audrey knew her many millions of fans would love to own anything that had ever passed through her hands. I certainly would, but estimates for the lots start at 200 GBP for a single picture by an anonymous photographer and go up considerably.

There are many photographs, including this sweet one by Milton Greene and a set of hairdo tests from the early '60s. The lady could not take a bad picture.

There are mundane things like several lots of Indian silk scarves and collections of narrow belts. Something closer to Audrey herself, a powder compact with initials AHF, is priced accordingly.

Lot estimate 500-800 GBP

Lot estimate 400-600 GBP

Estimate 2,000-3,000 GBP

I've had this photo of Audrey wearing a matador suit since it appeared in a 1966 issue of "Vogue."

Estimate 2,000-3,000 GBP

It's hard to believe Audrey Hepburn died 25 years ago. She is truly timeless thanks to her films. Almost all of them were wonderful. At least she was wonderful in all of them. I can't really explain why Audrey transcends Screen Goddess. Each person finds some combination of Audrey the actress and Audrey the person to make her special to them alone. Then we share the love together. Isn't that loverly?