Getting Ready to Go

Our Itinerary

In just three short days we will be in Paris and beginning our journeys.  Now it is a crazy time of deciding what to pack, what we'll need and what we won't.  The first week will be round trip from Paris with our northern most point being the beaches of Normandy.  Then a two hour train ride will take us to our second week starting in Lyon and sailing south to Avignon.

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday Market in Vienne

Image
Holy frijoles, you have never seen a farmers market until you have experienced the one in Vienne.  I swear that it stretches on for over a mile through all the streets on the city down both sides and through the squares.  There are literally dozens of cheese stands, dozens of butchers, and what seemed like a hundred vegetable stands.  Stands are 20 to 40+ feet wide, many were trailers, and also include clothing, jewelry, and even dollar store items. John stopped at one stand to purchase a pocket sandwich filled with chicken, vegetables and sauces.  He paid his 3 euros for it and then as he walked away he went back to take a couple paper towels off the roll on the corner of the counter.  One of the workers immediately challenged him and put out his hand as though he wanted to be paid for them.  When John reached out his hand with some coins the workers burst out laughing --- it was a great prank. There were two tour groups today, the lei...
Read more

Paying our Respect at the American Cemetery in Normandy

Image
US Paratrooper and Pilot in D-Day Museum German big gun at Gold Beach Memorial at American Cemetary Grave I chose to honor with a rose Monument in the sand at Omaha Beach Light Show on Cathedral in Rouen Light Show on Cathedral in Rouen Today was the somber day of the trip, our visit to the beaches of Normandy and the American cemetery.  Our first stop was the D-Day museum in Arronmanches above Gold Beach.  Here the British successfully built a working harbor in 12 days that provided one of the key supply lines to support the retaking of France and Europe, a major engineering feat.  The picture shows the uniform and equipment of the American paratroopers.  Many died landing in water (off course) unable to cut themselves free from their parachutes while being weighted down with 80+ pounds of equipment. We had a traditional French lunch at a local restaurant (not the best but the wine helped make up for it).  We then went to see...
Read more

A Word on Public French Toilettes

Now a picture would replace a thousand words, but taking photos in the restroom is usually frowned upon, so allow me to describe instead.  When you enter the public toilette, both men and women often enter the same door.  Once inside you will typically find one or two sinks with electric hand dries (that hardly work), two fully enclosed toilet stalls marked women, one fully enclosed stall marked men, AND one to three urinals right out there in the open .  If you are brave enough (as a male, although I'm sure women would not be turned away) to use the urinal, all the women standing in line will have the opportunity to witness you.  They will time you, they will be privileged to how long it takes for the flow to start, and they will definitely make certain you have fully zipped up before turning around.  For the most part, American men waited to use their one stall (which sometimes took longer than for the women).  An occasional man would step up to the stand...
Read more