June 9, 2015

 

I decided to take my iPad with me so I can write while I can still remember.  We do so many things on a day tour that it's almost a blurr by the time I get back to the boat.  Of course that never limits the length of my journal, do you suppose I'm making up stuff?

I certainly understand why Monet moved here, the light and the sky and the colors are like magic!  Everything sparkles.

Gee was a young 16 year old French boy in the resistance. He was taken  hostage by Germans and his letter to his mother before he died was read in every school.  He was telling everyone to be brave. Anne read the letter and then she read a letter by a child, probably also a teen or at least a great writer.  This one was very moving and already brought me to tears.. I can't imagine what this day will bring to me emotionally.  Anne showed us a video on the bus about the memorials of life before and after the war, how they had to rebuild.

We  Americans went again to the Caen museum we visited  two days ago.  I took notice this time of the statue of The Kiss and did notice that the nurse had her hand closed in a fist, perhaps she is holding something he has given her... a ring?

The front of the museum is like the Atlantic wall that the Germans made and the doorway is a big crack, symbolizing the breakthrough of the allies.

Our local guide , Katherine, was born six years after the war, but she lived with her grandparents during all the reconstruction, and they spoke of the time of the war and so it was a big part of her life.  She has lived in this area all her life and knows so much about what we see here.

The tides figured very much into the arrival of the forces on the coast. The different groups used code names of flowers etc.  They also set up decoys making the Germans think they will be attacking on other days to other beaches.  She told me a lot of things about who was landing where but there was so much that just like when I was in high school and college it all sounded to me like" la,la, la, Germany, la,la,la, America, la,la, la, planes, la, la, Hitler!"  No wonder history was not my long suite.  We will have headsets when we get out of the bus.  I hope it helps me understand better

The German soldiers were in Bayeux and it was the first city to be liberated by the British on D Day +1.  Still it is General  Ike  that got the statue for it. He is standing by an arch entrance of Bayeux.  There is a train here now that is only a two and a half hour ride to Paris. 

Since this was so long I want to bring up the coq a vin, chocolate walnut sundaes, etc.  Just know it was good and so was the wine and the piña colada!   Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Love, Grove

 

 

June 10, 2015

 

This morning after breakfast we went out to explore Caudebec.  In olden days before ravages of war it was a beautiful little city. Sadly it was destroyed:  two stories, one about the Germans trying to bomb out the ferry so people could not cross and miscalculated and burned done the town.  The other story is that there were many trucks waiting in front of the ferry and overheated and somehow blew up and burned down the town.  Somehow I believe the first one easier.

There is, guess what... a fancy church in Gothic.  One thing that is distinctly different is that the little chapters carved around the entrance door are not biblical people or saints...instead they are regular people, like baker, musician, actor, orator etc.  There is even an X  rated figure ...two men who are either relieving themselves, or self-enjoying themselves!

While everyone went back to the boat for gourmet tasting... foi gras, and the like, Michael and I went exploring in the town and found some great gardens and unique buildings to photograph.  I don't care that much about the tasting as by the time we got to the boat there was lunch!

By then I uploaded all the pictures into my iPad. It was time for our  optional visit to a  monastery that makes  Benedictine, a liquor that supposedly heals. The early monks studied alchemy in hopes of finding the fountain of life.  One guy found something  that seemed to heal people.  Sadly  the recipe was lost in 1789. Fast forward and  find Alexander du Grand, who was reading manuscripts and came across what he believed to be the recipe.  He named it Benedictine after the order of the monk and began to make it.  Like Coca Cola and Orange Julius they have been able to keep the recipe a secret... different people know some of the recipe but nobody knows it all!  We toured the Abby, which had burned and was built each in a different style.  The basements however did not burn and date back several hundred years.  Then we had a tasting .  We chose from three kinds:  Original, which is sold only there, B and B, which is Benedictine and Brandy, or Benedictine and Cognac.  I tried the first which as sweet but good when taken in very small sips.  We ended up buying a large bottle for Carlo and Sylvia, and a small one for Father Abram.

From there we visited the cliffs of Etrtretet.  They were the limestone cliffs that  Monet painted so much.  We walked down to the beach to check it all out and had an ice cream and shopped a little and it was time to board the bus for the boat.  Every little town we visit has beautiful flowers, interesting buildings and always an  opulent cathedral.  Every thing is so green but the flax is turning blue and the canola that was once bright  yellow is now turned green and due for harvest in July. The wheat is still green and the wind makes waves of all of it.  And if that isn't enough the sky is bright blue with white clouds and so much beautiful light. No wonder Monet lived here in Normandy!

Dinner tonight I had salmon/trout ..aka Steelhead...yum!  Michael had real salmon and the rest had lamb stew.  I need to get the recipe for their apple crumble!  It was killer!!!

If you are able to open the link I sent you let me know..  I'd love to hear if you are still on the journey with me.  Have I missed any days?  Let me know if you want them or just look at the link.

Love, Grove

 

 

Michael At The Bunker
Battery At Longues Sur Mer, Placed 215 Feet Above Sea Level Causing Many Casualties On D-Day

 

 

Entrance To American Cemetery Of Colleville Sur Mer
Where 9,386 American Soldiers Rest
A Retired Vet Gave An Emotional Tribute To Those Buried Here. As We Watched The Flag Together, The Star Spangtled Ganner Was Played On A Bugle. So Touching. He Asked For All Vets From Anytime To Join For A Pictrure.

Every Couple Was Given A Rose
To Place At A Cross Of Their Choice.
We Found A Soldier From California.

 

HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY A COMRADE IN ARMS KNOWN BUT TO GOD (Christian)

PFC 101 ABA DIV N. Y. LESTER J. DAVIS JUNE 7, 1944 (Jewish)

Ike At The Memorial
That's Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower For The Youngsters

 

Cold And Windy Omaha Beach
Where More Than One Thousand Allied Troops Died.
This Was The First Allied Footing Achieved In German-Occupied France

 

The Allie Forces Scaled 328 Foot High Cliffs As They Sought To Silence German Artillery.

 

 

 

The Boat Leaves Honfleur And We Travel To Caudebec. We Visit A Darling Town There... So Cute That Michael And I Forgot All About The Cheese Tasting And On Our Walk We Peeked Into The Back Yard Of The Most Adorable 'Guy's Garden'. He Has Left His Smock And Beret By His Painting And Tea Set-Up. We Won't Bother Him When He Returns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Stream Running Through Caudebec

 

^^   In Liu Of Gargoyles

 

 

 

 

 

<<   Saint Aaron
I Guess They Don't Take Him As A Saint In The U.S. So We Baptized Aaron Santa Clause

 

 

 

We Travel By Bus To See The Benedictine Order Castle At Fecamp And Taste The Liquor That Is To Give You Eternal Life... Or A Headache... Whichever Comes First.

 

The Monastery With The Elixir

 

 

The Guy That Found The Recipe

 

 

^^   Hand-printed Manuscript
- Priceless -

 

<<      Ivory Crucifixion
Carved From A Single Tusk

 

 

 

 

Henri
His Heart Is Here But The Rest Of His Body Is Somewhere Else

 

The Limestone Cliffs Of Etretat That Monet Painted