Missing SOM2?

My wonderful friend Steampunk.Chuckster/@victorianoir/Karen made this for MEEEEE and I want to share it with you.  I love it.  It captures Paris, the family's time at the Eiffel Tower and Casey's essence all at the same time.  And it's a bumper sticker! Get it?

This makes me so happy.

My Way

I mentioned in my author's note for chapter 54 that I was having a bit of a crisis in the middle of writing Chuck vs. the Sound of Music II.  How much I still had to write was definitely a huge part of it.  At the same time, though, I noticed readers were dropping away from the story.  The chapters were long.  The story was already long and only going to get a lot longer.  This wasn't just my usual paranoia, however.  I read on one fan fiction board, "I'm not reading SOM2 anymore.  Nothing happens."

Ouch.

Needless to say, that shook my confidence a bit, even though I knew there were lots of people who were still enjoying the story.  You know how it is. It's easy to focus on the negative.

After a therapy session with my fan fiction shrink, Frea, who wisely told me, "You can't please everyone," I decided to write for the people who did like the story and not worry about those who didn't.  I chose to embrace the fact that it was going to be a behemoth of a story rather than be concerned about it.  It was going to be the story I wanted to tell no matter what and if only a handful of people were there at the end, so be it.

In the end, I wrote it "My Way."

(Note:  The following song has a couple of spoilers in it, so if you haven't read to the final chapter yet, continue at your own risk.)

What Might Have Been

Because we are ghouls, AgentInWaiting and I traded a few alternate opening paragraphs to chapter 52. If you do not want to be trolled, these are not for you.  Otherwise, enjoy after the jump.

Chapter 50

A few glimpses into Chapter 50.  Photos of the boats courtesy of Henry. Thanks, Henry!

Yes, there really is a Carina II. I giggled for about ten minutes when I saw first saw this.

Photos of Marilyn Monroe by Milton H. Greene, 1954.

There's really nothing else to add.

Cartier

I don't have a lot of photos to share this time, but I did want to post a picture of the Cartier panther earrings.  Shiny.

Casino de Monte-Carlo

More great pictures courtesy of my friend Henry.  Thank you, Henry!

View from the harbor toward Place du Casino

View of Monte Carlo from above

Casino de Monte-Carlo
The scaffold on the left was put up in preparation for the Monaco Grand Prix

Casino de Monte-Carlo

Random Casino Dude

A Night Like This

A Night Like This by Caro Emerald

FRED next Cartier

The mirror at the center of the fountain in the Place du Casino.  You can see the grassy area in the mirror.  The building is the Casino de Monte-Carlo.

Carina's Ferrari

The Hôtel de Paris

The top floor of rounded building to the left of the one with the spires (the Opéra Monte Carlo) is where Le Grill is located.