Thoughts on Innocents

I enjoyed immensely “Innocents Abroad” (Aug. 29). It brought back the fondest of memories, when my friends and I took a similar “grand tour.” The year was 1977, and we booked with Club Europa. For $1,250 we were fed, housed, chauffeured and generally shown the time of our lives (round-trip air fare included) for nine weeks. The antics described in the story were identical to ours--I guess a 20-year-old American in Europe is a pretty universal animal. Thank you for the great story; and for anyone considering the “grand tour,” I highly recommend Club Europa.

JANET S. GOSSE

Laguna Hills

*

It seems we have learned little since 1867, when Mark Twain penned his ironic, ethnocentric review, “The Innocents Abroad.” The further I read into Christopher Reynolds’ travel article, the more disillusioned I became with the young American “experience” of Europe. Those people didn’t get a taste of Europe; what they got was a breeze through a high-gloss, four-color magazine depicting and confirming their already misguided, superficial vision of a continent as something merely to be “done when you graduate.”

As an American student who has spent a substantial amount of time in Europe, I was saddened and even offended by the nature of the trip taken by the people in Reynolds’ article. For all the European culture they got, they would have done just as well at the circus.

ELIZABETH DEHNING

San Pedro

Rogers Memorial

I hope you’ll allow a former Californian to mention a sight that I just visited in Oklahoma: the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore. The free memorial is about 13 miles northeast of Tulsa. Next year celebrations will mark the 50th year since Will was removed from Forest Lawn in Glendale and laid to rest in his Oklahoma tomb. A month later his wife Betty joined him. In 1995, Oklahomans will commemorate the 60th year since Rogers’ tragic plane crash in Alaska.

WILLIAM CHILDRESS

Anderson, Mo.

Goa Correction

I want to make one correction in the article “A Little Bit of Portugal on the West Coast of India,” by Beverly Beyer and Ed Rabey (Aug. 29). They stated that St. Francis Xavier “is buried in the Bom Jesus Basilica.” He is not buried. He is enshrined in a solid silver casket with a glass top showing his face and upper body.

JOHN M. POSSLEY

Upland

Meals in Memphis

As a native of that area, I very much enjoyed the stories and pictures about Memphis (“Goin’ Down to Memphis,” Aug. 22).

In addition to the barbecue places and the restaurant at the Peabody, there are some other excellent restaurants in Memphis.

One that I like is Paulette’s in Overton Square. Try the desserts, among other things.

CHARLES R. CHAPPELL

San Marino

Letters to the Travel Editor should be brief and are subject to condensation. Send letter, including a telephone number, to: Travel Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square , Los Angeles 90053.