Paris Visit - Oct. 17-19, 2009

Our most recent outing was three days in Paris. Yes, it’s rough to live just a 2 hour train ride from such a beautiful city. We were on our own Saturday and Monday, and spent Sunday with Franck, Kate and Bob. Franck lives in Paris and Fort Wayne, IN. Kate and Bob are friends of his, visiting for a couple of weeks. And Kate is a friend of Jan’s from high school that she hasn’t seen since then. So besides being in Paris, we spent one of the days with friends.

Paris, like what we’ve seen everywhere in France is beautiful. The people who live in the city live in large buildings, usually 4 stories, in small apartments. But the buildings are beautiful; most have black iron railings and beautiful doors. There are a few examples in the pictures, because we couldn’t resist.

Everywhere you look is beauty, not only in the Arc de Triomphe and Notré Dame, also pictured and beautiful.

Saturday we arrived early and had breakfast at a small bar, all wood, with a mom, dad and son working the counter. Very charming and the chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) was great for the 300 steps we climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. It was well worth the climb. The weather cleared after we came down which was good, but our pictures from the top aren’t as pretty as they would have been with blue sky.

We took a walking tour of Champs-Eylsée. We felt very posh, lunching at an outdoor café, buying a watch (Chuck bought Jan a Swatch at a store on the Champs-Elysée.) We also went to a couple of museums, although we’re saving the Louvre, Orsay and Versailles until the next trip. A couple asked us to take their picture in front of Rodin’s “Kiss”, so we decided to play along too.

We stopped near the very heavily-guarded American Embassy to ask the military police for a police patch. My son, Jon, collects them and we have had fun asking different police for patches. We approach a group of police, so hopefully one speaks English. And after we’ve explained what we wanted, most of the time one of the officers just rips (Velcro) off his/her patch and hands it over. We also hear some of their stories. The police across from the Synagogue in Rouen were there guarding the synagogue during every service. The military police guarding the American Embassy are there for one month tours. They come as a unit from various parts of the country. While they were looking for an extra patch (they couldn’t go patchless) and explaining their rotations, one of the officers added that they were “the best”. Each interaction has been very fun.

Back to Paris. We came up from a subway to hear a relatively heated discussion. We looked around and found the 4 men in the picture, with their hands clasped behind their backs talking about who-knows-what! We had read that the French are very reserved with strangers but equally passionate with friends and love a good debate.

The next picture is City Hall. Below the clock are the words Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (Brotherhood)) from the French Revolution. This building, besides being huge, is really beautiful. We keep saying that, as stated earlier, there is a lot of beauty in France. This has become an epic so we’ll save some for the next installment and the next trip.

Thursday, October 15, 2009 – Tour of the battle of Normandy.

We began the day with about 3 hours in the Caen Memorial (sculpture of the gun with the muzzle knotted is here (blurry picture-sorry.) It includes from the end of WWI to the present with a concentration on the German aggression in both wars. But we saw a movie about wars, protests and the hope of peace. Th part about war had way too much US involvement, including Bay of Pigs, Viet Nam (& protests), both Golf Wars, etc. Then after a homemade lunch of French baguette & cheese plus yogurt (we’re so very French), we went on the guided tour of the beaches and cemeteries. We saw where the British landed, Omaha beach, German pill boxes, bomb craters, American and German cemeteries. It was a very sobering day. I’ve included some pictures.

Blow up the Omaha beach picture. There are some people in the foreground. Look near the water. There are people there too. I took this picture to show how hard it must have been for the people to come off the boats and run the distance of this huge beach before reaching any kind of cover from the guns built into the hills (called German pill boxes shown in another picture.) It’s truly a good thing that Jan didn’t have to go to war, because she would have been hard pressed to do any of this.

There is also a picture of the beach with a cliff in the background. This is straight up, probably about 6 or 7 stories, that, after they ran the across the beach (narrower at this point), all wet, they had to climb up this cliff in less than 30 minutes. Doesn’t sound like fun either. In the foreground of this picture is what looks like reverse hilly terrain. This is one location that the French maintain, but didn’t “fix”. The holes in the ground are the bomb craters made by the bombardment from the Allied ships landing. It was pretty amazing to see the damage that was done, yet there were enough enemy to kill so many boys and men.

Which takes us to our last two pictures. We visited the British Cemetery in Bayeux earlier. We visited the American and German cemeteries during this tour. The American one (9,500 bodies) has one marble marker (cross or star of David) for each killed soldier. We asked why there was such a Jewish presence in the chaple when there were only 149 star markers. The answer was that Jews didn’t feel comfortable putting Jewish on their dog tags because of the consequences if they were caught by Germans. So it is assumed that many more were Jewish and chose not to put anything on their dog tags (defaulting to a cross for a marker.) The German cemetery (21,000 bodies) didn’t have enough room, so it has one marker (squares in the ground) for each two killed soldiers. Their names are on the markers. All three cemeteries were impeccably kept and very moving.

To get to the beaches, we drove through country, farms and small villages. As far as I can tell, every village has a beautiful old church with a tall spire or bell tower. I didn’t get a picture of these, but included one of 16 in Caen, that we walk by almost daily. Back to the country…the farms are old, stone farm houses with stone walls attached to the side of the house closest to the road, enclosing a courtyard or play yard. Very charming. They also divide their land from the next farm by either dense trees or perfectly trimmed hedges, or dirt (with grass and brush growing on it) mounded about 6 feet high.
Life is still very good. We would love to hear from you, and can host you to a “local” visit if you can come.

Random Thoughts about the Culture

We are living on one of the actual campuses in a spacious studio. When we first saw it, we were a little unsure since it was one big bedroom with a table, sink & frig. But after adding a few things to make cooking easier we are more comfortable. One of the best additions is a side chair so we aren’t either sitting on the bed or in the upright kitchen chairs. According to the book we read about the culture, this is a typical size place to live which is why the French like to sit at sidewalk cafés and watch the world go by.

The people are reserved in public, even the children and adolescents. Everyone seems to be taught at a very young age the proper behavior and rules. Consequently, there is almost no littering. An exception to this is on campus, Friday or Saturday night there is usually evidence of an outdoor party in the common area. But it’s completely cleaned up by early Monday morning. Along with this, the country has subtle trash and recycling cans all over. They seem to recycle without even thinking about it. The trash bins where we dump our own trash/recycling has 2 trash containers and 8 recycling containers.

Another consequence of this behavior is that on the buses and trams, people who might be blocking the electronic ticket reader will always take your ticket, use the reader for you and give your ticket back to you. If they are in your way, getting to a spot, most will move to let you squeeze by and then go back to their spot. If someone from the inside seat leaves, the person on the outside seat scoots over so someone else can easily sit down. This is not 100% but it is much more apparent here than in the States. Of course, during rush hour, everyone is just jammed to the gills.

And everywhere is quiet. We were at a lunch of about 25-30 people at long banquet tables, at the Synagogue and we could talk to people several chairs away. Restaurants, offices and all public places are like that.

But along with this reserve comes the reason that we in the States think they are cold or aloof. They don’t look at strangers when walking down the street. They don’t say hi or pardon when crossing paths, not only to us, but to other French either. They don’t stop to coo over a baby or dog. (Jan has stopped a couple of people with big black dogs (she couldn’t help herself) and the owners were visibly shocked. After they realized we were foreign and non-threatening, they let her pet the dog and talk to them.) In general, they don’t “hawk” their wares. Twice we saw someone ask a restaurant employee if they were open. The answer was “no”, not no but we will open in an hour or but please try us again.

On the other hand, when entering any kind of establishment, you always say bonjour madame or monsieur to the employee, as they do to you, even if they are waiting on someone else. If it’s someone you know, you shake their hand or give the double cheek kiss. If you are entering your office, you shake hands/kiss and say bonjour to everyone who is already there. There are frequently lines waiting to be served and people just stand quietly and wait their turns. There is no watch-checking or shifting from foot to foot in impatience.

We hope this gives you some insight into where we are spending our two months. We truly love each and everything about our time here. The offer is still open to anyone who can come. We’ll even pick you up in Paris (the 2 hour train ride from Paris to Caen is €34 until November 16.) You’ll love it here.

Life in Caen

I've taken some pictures from around Caen but have to organize them and explain them. I'm loving it here. Chuck is enjoying himself too, but he still has to work and all I have to do is walk to the bakery daily to get fresh bread, or to the post office or theater, etc. I'm walking all over town and it's really great.

At least half of the women are really dressed up, even to go to class, or lunch with a friend. The fashion is all about legs, maybe because it's beginning to be fall weather. They are wearing opaque tights, ankle boots with high heels (I don't know how they walk on the coblestone, but they have no problems), long tunic type dress that looks like a raincoat but is really a dress. It's very smart looking. I guess I'll have to snap some pictures to show you. But it is really making me feel underdressed. I may come home with a pair of the boots.

Jan & Chuck

Rouen – Saturday, October 10, 2009

We took train from Caen to Rouen, the town where Joan of Arc was burned alive at the stake. The train was clean, quiet, fast and comfortable. Once in Rouen, we saw examples of the half timbered buildings that were smaller on the first level than the second level, because the buildings were taxed on their footprint not total square footage. Some of the buildings really lean, but they looked secure and are in good shape.

We visited the Eglise Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc Church), a really modern, Scandinavian wood and glass structure. The ceiling looked like a ship’s hull and the stained glass windows were salvaged from a bombed church. Thenk we went to the Joan of Arc Museum and learned how this 19 year old girl is credited for instilling loyalty and motivation to fight for France’s independence. Because she said she was inspired through voices of saints, she was burned at the stake as a heretic. The museum was in a creaky old building which definitely added to the ambiance.

On our way to lunch we stopped at a chocolate shop and bought dark chocolate candies and macaroons. They really are macaroons, in 20 different flavors, and good. The chocolate is really good. After lunch we went to the Big Clock for a tour of the inner workings. It ended with a nice view of the city from the top of the tower. By the way, the clock only has an hour hand because it was built in the 16th century and they didn’t keep track of time to the minute. On the end of the hour hand is a sheep, both because it is a port town exporting sheep’s wool but also religious as a reference to the good shepherd.

The Hall of Justice is a beautiful Gothic building on Rue Aux Juifs (Street of the Jews – 11th to 13th century Jewish quarter). Then we went to the massive Notre-Dame Cathedral that inspired 30 of Monet’s paintings. Jan couldn’t say the cathedral is beautiful, but it is definitely magnificent and intricate.

A bit about our religious adventures. We came to Caen thinking Jan might make some friends if we went to the Synagogue. We’ve visited a lot this weekend. Friday night services in Caen, Saturday morning services in Rouen just to see the Synagogue in Rouen, Saturday (Simcha Torah/Smini Atzeras) evening in Caen, and then again Sunday in Caen for a service & “community lunch”. Jan is upstairs with the other women and little children. The 2-year old daughter of the Rabbi kept saying “hi papa” because she could hear his voice while he was deep in prayer down below. Saturday, the women made room for Jan at the railing then continued their chatted though the service. Sunday was a different larger group that stayed for lunch. Chuck learned to wear a kippah and tallit, but he didn’t daven. We both learned how to religiously wash our hands before breaking bread. It seems most people under 40 speak some English. They seem very gracious and welcoming to us.

Bayeux October 4, 2009

We went to Bayeux by train last Sunday. It was great fun. We took the tram to the train station and took a 15 minute train ride to Bayeux, a small town near the Normandy beach. It was the first town liberated by Allied forces in 1944, the day after landing on the beach.


We haven’t described the transportation here yet. Because in general the French are very reserved in public, everything is pristine. The French speak very softly to each other, especially in public. We can be in a crowded restaurant or grocery store and the noise level is like being in a library. The mass transit is also somewhat crowded during rush hour, spotless and quiet. We’ve ridden 20 or so rides and only heard one person on a cell phone. The trains and trams are powered by electricity so they are quiet too. The rides are very smooth. Yes, I’m jealous.

So, back to Bayeux. Our first stop was to see the 11th century Tapisserie de Bayeux (Bayeux Tapestry). It’s a 70-meter history lesson about William the Conqueror’s rise from duke of Normandy to king of England, probably from the French point of view. It’s hung behind glass and with English (or about 8 other languages of your choice) headphones, we walked along its length as the story and art was told. It is truly wonderful. If you’re interested in reading about it, here’s the link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry

Then on to the first of many cathedrals. (There are at least two in Caen that we have to see). This one was beautiful, built in 1066 and getting a badly needed cleaning and restoration. But it is huge, paintings and carved wooden furniture all over, really awe inspiring. You can see its towers from the whole town.

Last, before the train ride back, we went to the World War II British Cemetery. It was sobering to say the least. There had to be more than 2,500 grave markers, almost all identical, lined up as you can see in the picture. Most had names, rank, branch of the armed force and age. But there were lots that had no name on them.

First Days in Caen, France

The flights here were uneventful, complete with easy immigration and no customs. Caen is charming, clean, reserved, and definitely a college town. It has lots of brick houses with flowerboxes and tile roofs, but it is very modern with a great public transportation system. We are living on one of the four campuses that make up Université de Caen in a spacious efficiency with a bed, small table and desk, two desk chairs. The kitchen has a microwave, small fridge, silverware and dishes for 6 and not much else.

The tram and bus stops are near where we live, and we are an easy walk to the city center. We managed to get two-month passes for the Tram/Bus and found that we can walk to the Laundromat, boulangerie (bakery) (which Jan has done daily!), lots of shopping, meat and vegetable markets, lots of wonderful restaurants, and the synagogue! We took our backpacks and extra reusable shopping bags and rode the tram to Carrefour, a Meijer type mega store. It was a great adventure. We bought some odds & ends (like a paring knife, extension cord, hangers) and food to try to cook at home. After our first dinner at home, we found that we need a bit more…like a cutting board and serving bowl. Jan's “find” yesterday was a 2€ Store, like our Dollar Stores, but Europe style. We’re now the proud owners of a cutting board, serving bowl and other odds and ends to make life more fun.

The food here is incredible. Our first night we stopped at a bakery and picked up chocolate croissants for the following breakfast. We’ve eaten dinner in two marvelous restaurants, and stopped for a baguette filled with brie for lunch on the grass in front of a castle.

SEPTEMBER 2009 - Month at home

For those of you not watching our life this September, we were back in Fort Thomas. But it was anything but quiet. We came back to a small pipe leak from the upstairs bathroom. To make a long story short, we are having the hardwood floors of the downstairs, steps and upstairs hall refinished. In addition, we are having all rooms except the bathroom and kitchen painted. It is great that this is being done while we’re in France, but we had to pack all belongings into boxes so they and the furniture can be moved during the work. So, in addition to my son Jon getting married September 12, we went through the motions of moving and then packed for France.