Based on the true untold story of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer. The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner who rose to unbelievable heights in French society, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette and her court.
The movie comes out in April around the same time we will be in Paris with our 2 groups, “ Strolling through Black Paris”. Perhaps it will be playing at the UCG George V on the Champs Elysees; a mere 5-10 minute “Stroll” from our hotel in the chic 16th arrondisement. Do you want to “Stroll” with us? We have a room with a view for you.
See the Trailer.
Monthly Archives: December 2022
Isn’t She Lovely?
I met her 60 years ago. She is the mother of my BFF, Margaret Ware Nicholson. She is endearingly referred to by her family and friends as Mo Mama. She is just as sweet now as she was back then. This is what 100 years young looks like. God is good and HIS mercy everlasting.
LOOKIN’ BACK, BUT WE MUST KEEP IT MOVIN’
Brenda Joyce and Deborah
Big Town
Party on the 28th Floor
Willie & Gwen Tabb, one of my favorite Couples
Adriane, Crystal and Antoinette at the Saigon Skydeck
Our Deltas
The Rough Side of the Miuntain
Innovative Cable Car System
Going to the Katamaran
Margaret & Kat at Breakfast
Casey & King at Breakfast
Nicole
Tisha & Kat
That Would Be Kat in the White Swimsuit
Cooking Class in San Gimignano
Parlor at Baglioni
Briana In Riomaggiore
Debra In Vernazza
DEFINITELY FAMILY
The group in the Village
Birthday Surprise
Arriving Serengeti
With Masai Warriors – Dinner Entertainment
Leaving Serengeti Serena
Breakfast at the Jetty Restaurant – Solo
Marrakech Menara AIrport
Corrin, Mom June & BJ
Group 2
Authentic Face of Cartagena, Las Tres Guerreras
The Group 2019 at the Pyramids
Intercontinental, Cairo
Ursula and Joan Morris
Harriet Holloway
The Group
Carol and Brother John Motte
David and Annette Fountaine
Michele Myers, Anna Cohen, Audrey Richards and Annette Fountaine leading the Dancers in the WOBBLE
Muhammad Ali Mosque across from Hard Rock
Toni Adams , Ethell Wilson
Gwendolyn Brown at the Mosque
It’s been one heck of a year. 2019….Damn… Was it good, bad or indifferent? Well for me; it was a good year. I learned some valuable lessons and for that I am extremely grateful. The scripture says, “In all your getting… get an understanding. I understand very clearly that if God doesn’t will it, it just ain’t happening. 2019 I was getting, or got married and now I’m not….Aint that about a bitch? It just wasn’t God’s will. Am I sad? Upset? Not in the least. In times such as these, when we get knocked down, we get back up, dust ourselves off and keep it movin’.
2019 we hit Ghana, Paris, Vietnam, Colombia, Negril, Italy, Fiji, Tanzania, Zanzibar, The Serengeti, Morocco, Marseille, Egypt, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It was one heck of a wild ride and thank you to those that joined us on the adventures. You saw and learned some new things, met some new travelers and your lives have been enriched by all of these things. In 2020, I invite you to bring your 20/20 vision and join us for Afro Colombia, Black Paris, Alaska, North Sea Jazz and Iceland, Negril, South Africa, Egypt, and The Maldive Islands. There is space available on some if any of these destinations strike your fancy. Inbox me at rivoli98@yahoo.com
Wishing you all a happy, healthy and most prosperous 2023 Remember: Keep it movin’. Kat can’t stop, won’t stop. It’s my passion. It’s my purpose in life to take you to places you have only dreamed of. What’s New? Stroll Through Black Paris has space for two: APRIL 27- MAY 4, 2023. Join us to enjoy the best West Indian/African restaurants, the best African American historical tour by private bus with the most knowledgeable Ricki Stevenson, founder of Black Paris Tours, slip away with us to the Champagne Region for an afternoon of champagne, lunch & Jazz, see the Louvre, enjoy a shopping excursion, and who else is going to show you Paris by Night in 4 stretch limos with handsome black bilingual chauffeurs? Nobody but these 2 sistas from the Bay; Kat St Thomas & bilingual Robin Bates. Space for 2 and it won’t last long. Inbox me at rivoli98@yahoo.com
Strolling Through Black Paris in Review
How ya gonna keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen Black Par-ee? At least the way Robin & Kat presents it. I’ve been at it 4 decades, Robin & I together 2 decades. I started the ‘Stroll” before 2000. Robin and I were the Black Paris Divas in early 2000. We were it, really though, “the shit” because we were the trailblazers. We were the Divas before there were any others. Now it’s Diva this and Diva that in the world of travel. We have been often imitated but never duplicated. We started taking folks to Josephine Baker’s mansion 5 hours from Paris when folks in Paris had no clue how to get there.
No matter what, we have fun; dining at our most frequented black owned restaurants, patronizing our black professional bilingual private chauffeurs from when they worked for the man but now years later own their own transportation companies, handling Paris Fashion Week, Chanel receptions, and international sporting events etc. We haven’t forgotten them and they haven’t forgotten us. They will be at our service in April. Oh, there is a room or two available. It’s been sold out for months but cancellations do happen.
It gives me great joy to see pictures of Sakari at the age of 2 while babysitting her in my Paris apartment and she’s 9 talking about traveling to Osaka Japan for Expo 2025. A few years back Yvette Binns was with us with her daughter Michelle both Deltas, now Michelle with a daughter of her own. Next year will be a real treat taking the group to the champagne region for tasting, lunch & Jazz. So many have told me, “ I want to do your Stroll Through Black Paris”. I say to them, “Well what are you waiting for”?
More Artwork of MCurry Designs
Enjoy some of my favorite pieces
We Not Only Travel
As I prepare to return home after 2 weeks in the Bay with family; I’m reflecting on other projects I’ve been involved in. One of the most important has been my prison ministry which now has come to a close. I had at least 20 inmates on my team; AK47, most serving time in the FBOP, Federal Bureau of Prisons. Why AK47? It was the initials of myself and an inmate and our birth years when that firearm was manufactured. We prayed at the 3 count times and my Muslim brothers prayed more than that. I spent hundreds on ink, paper and postage. After a tour they would be eagerly awaiting my blogs showing most of the young men a world they never imagined existed outside of the concrete and razor wire they faced daily. They weren’t selfish. My blogs were passed around the penitentiary and when they went home they buzzed in another to the family. Some of those young men had children so I had to think about them. So thus became Kat’s KOI ( kids of inmates). You know the legend of the Koi fish: They made their way upstream going against the current, building strength and perseverance. That’s what these kids had to do. A big thank you to my blog followers that contributed at times for Christmas. Now all dads are home. Well the last 2, one last month and one next week.
Prayer changes things and if you didn’t know, watch this: M. Curry Designs – 15 yr sentence, home in 2018, a major player in the Seattle art scene, commissioned to paint murals all over the city. Another, life WITHOUT the possibility of parole, did 23 yrs now home with a barber business. 2 youngsters out of high school, co defendants, sentenced to 11 life sentences plus 220 years of enhancements served about 13yrs. Nobody was killed but that was truly overkill by the state of California. Their case picked up by the Innocence Project. They are both home now with families of their own. Another with a real estate business, another same job 6 yrs. My beloved Cuzzo served 17 years now with a transportation company. The last 2 to be released did 12 yrs each with a date of 2029. Thank God, home for the holidays 2022. I’d like to add that now that some have paid their debts they are now traveling with Kat to Jamaica, Egypt, South Africa and Dubai and legitimately flying First Class. One said, “If it’s over 2 hrs I gotta be in First or Business”. That’s what’s up! I had a hand in that spoiling. His mother couldn’t be there for his release so I flew him home first class. When we stepped up to TSA he was addressed as Mr. No inmate number. These men are definitely treating themselves not cheating themselves.
Check out the artwork – Amazing! http://www.mcurrydesigns.com
Kat’s Kibbles and Bits
Greetings Travelers! After being on LOCK through the pandemic; the inherent need and desire for wanderlust abounds worldwide. Since borders have opened up the floodgates too have opened up. It’s been those that think about travel before they close their eyes at night, those that think about travel on their daily commute and those that work from home staring at that blasted computer screen. Since July 2021 myself and the adventure seeking Kat Traxers have made our way to Jamaica, Paris, The Maldives, Dubai, Australia, South Africa, The Netherlands, Iceland and Kenya. I’m here as a witness to tell you the flights are going out full. No more hoping for an upgrade to business or first class or even just getting your favorite seat in economy because the space gets booked up immediately. That said; Egypt and the Red Sea Extension 2023 is 11 months away and yes filling up quickly. Some of you blog followers have expressed an interest but have yet to commit. My old Sunday School Superintendent Deacon Andrews (rip) would say, “It takes money to buy land.” Then he would pause and say, “In California”. Oh if he knew how things have changed. So, what I’m saying is this; If you really want Egypt and you’ve been dreaming about it for years; Charlie “Yardbird” Parker’s music would tell you, NOW’S THE TIME. We are about to book our domestic flights now within Egypt which are included in this amazing package. Those are the flights from Cairo to Luxor and from Aswan back to Cairo. That’s after our glorious 4 days sailing on the Nile river. You still have a little time so don’t get left out.
Kenya, Kenya, Kenya 2024 has taken off like a rocket. For real? Yes! We are hoping to see the Great Migration and we have taken over the entire camp, all 16 tents. One tent could be available today if the deposit does not arrive today by 5p eastern time.
What else is available? Negril and Tuscany (possibly). Hop on the waitlist. It’s very short. Ghana is all wrapped up. We leave early February but their new online procedure to secure a Visa has been a headache. Nonetheless we are excited to be returning and I’m excited that my vision for the Ghana tees has come alive. It will be a collector’s item for sure.
In closing, The Egyptian Odyssey gives you more bang for your buck so snag one of the remaining spots. Inbox me at rivoli98@yahoo.com or call 510-499-5909
Egypt, Egypt, Why Do I Love Thee So?
It was my childhood dream to travel the world and now to date having touched almost 70 countries, all 7 continents, and 91 cruises; I’m often asked, “Kat what’s your favorite destination”? Well I’ve got plenty but what’s at the top of my list is my beloved Egypt. I’ve been going since 2011 when they had the revolution. I was there with Ms Marie Napper and feeling safe and comfortable we had the time of our lives with the best security. Maybe it’s because of when I had my past lives read in 2005 I was told I was of Egyptian royalty, possibly a queen in the 17th century. I do not know but what I do know and what all my clients that have visited know; is that I am treated like royalty and they like the family of royalty.
There is so much controversy on whether or not Egypt is Africa. They didn’t teach me that in school but look at any map and you will see it’s in the northeastern corner of Africa. Those that jet set 45 mins for a day trip from Aswan to Abu Simbel find themselves 12 miles from the Sudan border. Aswan, home of the Nubians; blackest of the black with their own culture and language. No, most do not speak Arabic. Was Nefertari black? Yes she was a Nubian Queen married to King Rameses II. She was his favorite wife. Their marriage grew into one of the greatest royal love affairs in history. The temple which Rameses built for her at Abu Simbel is one of the largest and most beautiful structures ever built to honor a wife and celebrate peace. She wed for peace and it ended the hundred year war between Nubia and Egypt.
Last month some of our group tested the waters of the Red Sea. Now I, as some of you have been to the French Riviera and the Italian Riviera but baby when I tell you there’s nothing like the Red Sea Riviera; trust and believe when I say it’s the piece de resistance, all inclusive resorts like you wouldn’t believe and unbelievable beautiful weather. It’s a world apart from Cairo, Luxor and even my beloved Aswan. We are returning next November and there is still space and in the words of my brother, J Fox: “Treat yourself don’t cheat yourself”. The way Kattrax has laid out this tour; it is truly another one of our trips of a lifetime.
Speaking of trips of a lifetime, Kenya & Zanzibar 2024 is just about maxed out with deposits. Those that went in October know what time it is and will be returning for part 2 when Kattrax will have a take over of the entire all inclusive tented camp, hoping to see the annual Great Migration. Tented camps are reminiscent of the 1920’s when the rich and famous did their safari experience.
Let Kattrax Tours take you to places you only dreamed of.
Hidden Genius Project
Greetings Travelers,
We are losing our sons, grandsons, and great grandsons. I lost mine 18 yrs ago to an unsolved murder. I can name at least 10 of my high school classmates that have also lost theirs. In 1967, my 18 yo high school friend was gunned down by LAPD for no reason of which Angela Davis wrote about in her book, “If They Come In The Morning”.
Mothers, Nanas, Big Mamas, Mimas, GGs and friends : Let’s help ours become winners. My childhood friend, Eugene Lemon, Senior Innovation Educator, heads up The Hidden Genius Project. This brilliant project trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities. They are now accepting applications for the program in Oakland, Richmond, Los Angeles, and Detroit.
More of Kat’s Kibbles and Bits
Aside from dealing with travelers that want to make my life miserable. I’m okay.because this is not Burger King. It’s Kattrax Tours. Travel is a multi billion dollar industry which means we all have choices when it comes to travel. 4 decades in this industry and by the Grace of God I’m still standing and with a very good reputation. A big thank you to those that have trusted and supported me down through the years.
Good News!! Britney Griner is on her way home. Nothing short of a miracle. Travelers, remember even if cannabis is legal in your state don’t get careless and travel with the products.
TEAM RAPHAEL WARNOCK – Another miracle. Voter suppression is real in these red states. I’m 4th generation Northern California and I’ve never stood in line to vote. I’m a transplant to Savannah GA now. In the midterm I stood in line in 90 degree weather, no protection from the sun for 1 hr and a half. It was brutal but I refused to be defeated. In the runoff; a different story. I stood in line “early voting” almost 2 hours in the rain, couldn’t find my umbrella but I and so many others hung in there. I thank God for the Warnock victory.
Egypt Nov 2023 flight schedules and fares are loaded. Business Class is $3126 r/t. 7 of us have been ticketed and I was advised by Ms McCree an hour ago there appears to be only 3 Business Class seats available. The economy fare is $947 Roundtrip. There are plenty of those. The economy seating configuration on the 777 is 3-4-3. Business class has lay flat seat. The configuration is 2-2-2.
Tuscany has had a cancellation. If interested let me know.
Kenya 2024 deposits are rolling in. Their deadline is 12/15. If some don’t make the cut; you may be able to join us. We are hoping to take over the entire “tented camp”.
Vietnam March 2024?info will be available any day now. The program will be Saigon, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hanoi & Bangkok.
Well that’s it for now, until next time Stay safe, stay focused and stay positive.
KatTrax 