Charlotte's first Marché aux Puces souvenir was a glazed terracotta decorative roof tile in the shape of a lamb. The lamb is life size and has glass eyes. The piece is from Normandy and dates to the mid 1800s. Those glass eyes now watch over us as we prepare meals in our kitchen as the little lamb has found a home there. During our second visit, a French church processional figure from the late 1700s came home with us.

At the base, there was a strange looking ship docked in the harbor. At first glance, it reminded me of a Viking ship, but on closer inspection it was much more Asian in design.

"That Mr. Karges, is the Korean turtle ship," my guide, a young, American navy petty officer explained.

"It was the first ironclad warship in the world," our Korean navy driver said with pride.

"It was invented and built by Admiral Yi Soon Shin, the most famous admiral in Korean history. You may have seen a statue of him in town," the Korean went on.

I glanced at my watch and saw that I had spent over an hour with the geomancer. I quickly paid him and rushed out the door to find Charlotte, all the while marveling that I had stumbled on such an extraordinary experience.

Charlotte was leaving one of the antique shops with a find of her own, a 200-year-old alabaster Shan Buddha head.

Back at the Hyatt, I was studying a mixed media art piece in a gallery. I've always been attracted to Hawaiian petroglyphs and this modern piece was a representation of those figures along with a few scattered shells. It was the work of Michael Stark who was inspired by this ancient rock art to create newer pieces. You can find petroglyphs carved on boulders, in lava fields and on cliffs throughout Hawaii. The primitive looking figures depict people, animals and mysterious symbols.

"You know, nowhere in Polynesia are petroglyphs more common than in Hawaii," a voice behind me said as I turned to face a smiling, pleasant-faced man.

Joel and Cynthia speak wonderful French, and when I heard them mention the Château Royal de Blois, I heard Château Royal de Bluwaa never connecting the sound Bluwaa to the city Blois. It's fun to watch and listen to them work on their conversational French. The year before when we were headed to Reims there was much good natured arguing back and forth on how to properly pronounce Reims with a lot of throat gurgling and strange sounds coming from both of them.


The reason I was excited was due to the fact that Blois was the home of Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, a performer known as the Father of Modern Magic. Born on December 7th, 1805, Robert-Houdin is credited by many magic historians as the performer who took magic out of the fairgrounds and marketplaces and into the legitimate theatre. I had heard about a wonderful museum in Blois dedicated to this master magician and I had always wanted to visit it.

"This is Craig Karges, he's an entertainer we've hired to work the Aramco compounds. He does some amazing stuff. And Craig, this is Khalid, the shop's proprietor," Trevor explained.

"It's a pleasure sir," I acknowledged the shopkeeper.


"He's after a Bedouin knife for a souvenir of his trip," Trevor said.

"You have come to the right place," the proprietor responded as he led me to a glass display case.

He removed a knife from the case as he explained, "This is a classic example of the Bedouin knife or Gudamiya in Arabic. As you no doubt know, the Bedouin are a nomadic people, a series of tribes really, who make their home in the desert. A craftsman named Dagget Mizale made this particular blade. He was from Al-Jouf in northern Saudi Arabia. It is about one hundred-twenty years old, crafted in silver with handmade work. It was used by Bedouins on ceremonial occasions."

As Ted was talking and Charlotte was admiring her new piece of jewelry, my eyes were scanning Ted's shop. He had a number of interesting items tastefully arranged throughout the small space. My eyes fell upon a bone-handled knife in a silver scabbard. I walked over to it, picked it up and hefted the piece in my hand. As I brought it back to the counter, I asked Ted about it.

"Oh, that is a Cretan Dagger," Ted explained.

I knew I wanted it the moment I picked it up but I also wanted to know a little bit more about it. Ted was happy to fill me in.

"It is beautiful, is it not? Handmade by a local artisan. This specific design goes back a long way. We Cretans are known for our skill in warfare. Edged weapons like your dagger (Ted already knew he had made another sale) and war helmets were first made here. It is said that Crete was the home of Zeus' attendants and they carried out his wishes, making an art form out of battle. Our archers were renowned throughout the known world. They fought off the Romans. Their accuracy was almost supernatural."