Tracie's Visit

We are in our last week here. The two months seem to have gone faster than in India. It was an easier life in a more civilized country. However, there were still lots of cultural and physical differences that made the visit quite interesting and wonderful.

Last week we had company. Tracie came to Caen with us for the week after the weekend in Paris. We toured the city, visited the Normandy beaches and went to Honfleur for a day. Honfleur was a leading port and its beauty has attracted many famous painters. Their church is different than the many we’ve seen. It is built completely out of wood by ship builders. When you are in it and look up, the ceiling/roof looks just like the bottom of a boat. Because wood is not as strong as stone, the bell tower is actually across the street. It’s a very quaint town and we enjoyed taking pictures of the houses and doors.

Tracie and Jan hit the Friday market by 9:30 and still missed some of the baked goods we were looking for. We did manage to buy three cheeses, fermented cider, two kinds of bread, macaroons, madelines and apples (to go with the cheese.) The first picture is of the couple from whom Jan buys every market day that we’re in town. The woman speaks English and has helped her with all kinds of questions. The other two pictures are of fish vendors. One is expertly shelling very large scallops. (Jan was excited to see these types of shells on Omaha beach because they can be used to serve appetizers.) The other picture is the fish vendor standing in front of a large mound of mussels. 
 

It was fun viewing Caen through Tracie’s fresh eyes. We’ve gotten used to some of the views. For instance, there is Saint-Pierre Church, whose steeple you can see from almost everywhere in Caen. Jan frequently uses it to figure out where she’s going. There is a major restoration on the façade of the church. Notice in the picture that the protecting tarp covering the scaffold always looks like the building that it is covering, trying to make even construction a bit more beautiful. And the many bicycle stands set up where you can either use your monthly pass or rent by the day and ride anywhere. Then you just drop off the bike at the nearest stand. We’ve seen these in almost all of the towns, including Paris. There are many bike paths too. One of Jan’s favorite buildings caught Tracie’s eye too. This building was built in the 1400s and seems to have office furniture in it. Maybe Jan will find out its use by the end of the trip.

We have been so incredibly lucky during our visit here. We went out to dinner last week and the wine of the day was Beaujolais Nouveau. The three of us enjoyed the bottle and had a traditional meal that is kind of like a shepherd’s pie, mashed potatoes on top of shredded seasoned beef. Then we found out (you all probably knew this but we didn’t) that the wine happens only once per year and it’s a big deal. The office in the same building in which we live had a Beaujolais Nouveau get together before lunch. Courtesy of the University there were the wine, cheese, and cheese curls in different flavors. Every time someone else came into the café they got their glass of wine and clicked with every single person already there. We had to keep refilling so we could toast everyone as they came in.