This is where I live, the United States of America
I have been living in the US since 1982, although I have spent months almost each year in my native France, to visit family, for vacation or to give concerts.
Never would have I believed when arriving that almost forty years later I would have established my life here.
My region, the place where I arrived in 1982 and which I call home is Boston and New England.
In the Boston area, I have lived in Boston (Jamaica Plain), Cambridge, Chelmsford, Framingham, Lexington and Natick. We also have a place in Laconia, New Hampshire where we try now to spend our vacations. In addition, we lived for a year in Florida. I have worked in Manchester and Concord as the conductor of the New Hampshire Philharmonic. I know New Hampshire well.
I have visited and in some cases know well other parts of the country. Of course, I know New England best, having spent time especially in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont. I also know Connecticut and Rhode Island although I have spent less time there than in Central and Northern New England.
I know parts of New York. Of course, I have visited and stayed in New York City many times over. I have seen other parts of the state, the Hudson Valley, and the Albany area. I have been to Buffalo and visited the Niagara Falls on both sides, Canadian and US.
My wife, Lisa, being originally from Texas, we have gone to Houston many times where most of her family resides or resided as so many of them have not moved out of state. I have also been to Dallas.
We spent a year in Gainesville, Florid. There, I worked at a mega Catholic church in Ocala, Florida. Of course, it was only an hour and half from Orlando. However, the only thing I saw from Orlando was the airport. I have been to St Pertersburg two or three times. It was back in the 90s. I never went to Miami, and honestly was never really interested in visiting it.
I have been to Denver, and Colorado Springs, Colorado.
I have been to California a number of times, San Francisco especially but visited other places as well, Los Angeles, San Diego, Monterey and many parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.
I have been to Cincinnati, Ohio twice, each time connected to conducting.
I have been to Nashville, Tennessee, also for a conducting conference.
I have been to Chicago, Illinois for another conducting conference. I absolutely loved the city.
I have been to Saint Louis, Missouri, also for a conductor’s conference
I have been to Raleigh, North Carolina once for a day visit at the University.
I visited New Jersey a few times, especially the Princeton area. I also visited Philadelphia and its maritime museum.
I visited Virginia Beach, Virginia and Savannah, Georgia on my way down to Florida.
There have been so many other parts of the country I never visited. I never visited the Grand Canyon, contrary to most. in fact, most Frenchmen visiting the US for the first time, usually find their way to the Grand Canyon. I never did.
Of course, presently we split our time between Laconia, NH and Falls Church, Virginia. Falls Church is next to Arlington, and is part of the Washington DC metropolitan area. I have been to Washington and Arlington. We have the metro station very close to the apartment we live in. Washington is only twenty minutes away at most.
I passed through many states during my travels. I passed hrough North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia on my way to Florida.
I have stopped in many city airports for layovers, such as Salt Lake City or Detroit to name a few but never had enough time to get out of the airport to visit the city.
I wished I had seen all fifty states. The United States is/are a huge country and seeing it all is almost impossible. No one could do it in depth even if one had three lifetimes dedicated to it. I would like to see Hawaii and Alaska as well as the Grand Canyon. That is something I had wanted to do for the longest time.
I share photos for each of those places I have been to, when I had the opportunity to take pictures.
Each place is indeed different. When visiting all of those places, one realizes not only how large the country really is but also how different in cultures are many states. The northeast and the South are two different “beasts” all together. I have discovered to my dismay how much the Civil War has altered the understanding of what our country is, and how much to this day there is still a deep southern resentment towards the North.