On Our Way To Normandy

Tomorrow our two families leave for Caen, Normandy and the beaches The men and boys will then depart by ferry to Portsmouth to see Lord Admiral Nelson's flag ship. Rachel, Yaëlle and I will drive south west to LeTréhou in Bretagne where my french ancestors on my father's side are from. It is no wonder that I love the water was my mom's side of the family hail from Scotland and then Cape Breton Island.

So what have we been doing these last few days? Jeff has been searching the area to find the woods where his grandfather fought during WWI. We landed in St. Hilaire de Woevre, walked into an old church, yelled Bonjour and were greeted by a woman who was painting a sacristy door.

The church of St Hilaire was razed during the war of 1914 and was restored in 1928 There was an order of Carmelites here who also perished during the war While this lovely lady did not know where the exact woods were where Jeff's grandfather fought she knew lots about St Xavier, St Anthony Padua and numerous other Saints! She was more than happy to show us this church which she and her husband lovingly clean and paint. Not far from here we drove off a country road into a nearby forest We drove past a large, crater-like indentation within the woods which could only have been made by a bomb. After parking the car Jeff walked into the woods perhaps only 200 feet and discovered a bunker and trenches.

Today we drove to St Avold to see the WWII cemetary, the largest cemetary in Europe for American Soldiers; 10,000 soldiers are buried here; ten thousand crosses, ten thousand sons, spouses, brothers, friends Words cannot explain seeing row upon row of white, marble crosses and white marble Stars of David. After seeing such a sight I want to return to Marie and Michelle's garden and sit amidst their flowers.

A Memorial Mass at Lessy

You may not think this is going to mass but we actually went to mass this morning with Marie and Michel and the soldiers. The uniforms for this batallion were made by a gentleman from Lessy who died two years ago. Michel invited the batallion to come to Lessy for a memorial celebration of this man who took his own life at only 54. While this may look like pomp and glory it was quite sad. I asked about the women in the batallion who appeared to be wearing soldiers coats. Jeff explained that the women often wore cast offs from the soldiers and made their money by washing for the soldiers and performing other "duties."

Le Jour de Bastille

I will explain later why Jeff and Alec were sleeping at 11.30 this morning when a batallion of Napoleonic Soldiers marched past our window. The drums I think were the best alarm clock Alec has ever heard. It is la jour de Bastille when the peasants rose up and overtook the aristocracy. In small villages throughout France it is a day long picnic. I followed the soldiers as they marched throughout the village of Lessy. The tailor who made the uniforms was from Lessy and the Mayor, Michel, invited this batallion to celebrate Bastille Day in honour of the tailor who died here last year. We followed the soldiers to the Parc of St. Anne and there spent the day enjoying a fabulous picnic with the village of Lessy, complete with an accordian player, soldiers, wild pig (cooked), and wine of course. Last night, or this morning at 2 a.m we returned from Verdun, a visit to the museum and memorial for all but Rachel et moi; we went shopping and for a drink along the river en centre ville . Later that night we saw an incredible "spectacle" about the fighting around Verdun during World War I. 500 volunteers, french and german, plus actors and actresses staged a spectacular retelling of this time in history. The stage was a huge quarry and the show began just as the stars began to appear. Photos were not allowed and my words cannot describe how moving this even was. Here upon the soil where the worst battle of WWI was fought between the French and Germans and finally the Americans, here where if the bell tolled for the dead it would ring every second of every day for four months, here a group of French and Germans joined together to honour their history, to remember the dead and to finally leave us with an incredible fireworks display in hope for a future filled with peace and reconcilliation.

Jeff is about to enter a German Fort built around Monsieur DeLettres, an 80 year old neighbour spent the afternoon touring Ludo, myself and Jeff around two German forts. This gentleman reminds me so much of my Uncle Bill with his love of history and an energy that puts us to shame. Monsieur DeLettres has walked this hills around about here since he was a young boy and knows the forts all around. I spent the afternoon translating Jeff's numerous questions into French about the German Fort. I never thought I would be learning words for trenches, bombs, canons. Ludo is inspecting one of 4 bombs ontop of the German fort 3 meters beneath is the German fort with incredible brick work usually done by Italian Masons living here. There are forts scattered throughout the entire area and Monsieur DeLettres told us he could show us many more For me I think this will be my first and last fort. I find it sobering to walk beneath the ground where years ago thousands of soldiers boots echoed off the tunnels.

A Visit With Monsier DeLettres

Well folks here is our rented car for the next week. Ask me if it will be difficult to return to Roanoke and to our van? The cars here are getting bigger but the roads are not. All I can say regarding driving here is that I am happy to be driving on the right side of the road. We strolled through Metz today and ate les gallettes at an outdoor café. Les galettes are salt crèpes. While you can choose many types the traditional ones are crèpes with ham, or ham and an egg or ham, egg and cheese. And then you have the sweet crèpes....oh la, la. My favourite is with citron et miel, lemon and honey.

Jeff est arrivé

Finally Jeff has arrived and as Alec said in the middle of night "our trio is complete." Why he had to wake me up in the middle of the night I do not know. And what did Jeff do the first full day in France? Jeff and I visited the German and American Cemetaries in Thiacourt. 14,000 German Soldiers lay to rest in the German Cemetary and 5,000 in the American. Jeff's grandfather Raymond Connor fought with the 101st regiment, 26th division, AEF in this area during WWI in the autumn of 1918. Members of his regiment are buried in this cemetary. The land was given to the United States by France and is AmericanDuring the last 11 years of our marriage I have been learning history despite myself. While walking in the German cemetary Jeff pointed numerous crosses for soldiers that were "replacement reserves" that were killed in 1915. These men were the first volunteers; patriotic young Germans, the best Germany had to offer. These men died in the thousands during the first year of the war. It is sombering to see thousands of crosses, each engraved with names, each a son, a husband, a father. I wonder what will be the memorial for the Iraq war?

On The Way To The Fort

4 enfants +1 adult+1 baguette+du fromage+des pommes+ 1 treasure hunt= a great afternoon. (I was the adult by the way) Paul, Ludo , Yaëlle, Alec et myself toted our picnic up through a grape vineyard and onto a plateau overlooking Lessy. Immediately Paul and Ludo hunched over an old trenched road in search of treasures. Soon shouts of "regarde" were heard as one and than another found fragments of bombs dating from WWI and WWII. Another regarde, this time Alec as he uncovered the find of the day, an ancient fossil of a preserved snail. Ludo was quite imressed, "z best find of the day." I stopped searching, stood straight to see the red roof tops stacked like playing cards fanned out below in the village of Lessy. I looked down to my mud splattered probably-made-in- china-nikes to the earth beneath my feet. I stand upon metal shards of a violent past Shards, if gathered and glued would piece together a rusted, german grenade, a made-in-america bomb a metal patch-work quilt fragment by fragment that tells this story of little legs running through open fields tiny fingers picking and placing buttercups beneath chins and tucking daisies behind ears 7,8,9 year old friends and cousins huddled over these trenched roads searching for clues of a time when the sea ruled these hills searching until the bombs fell and fell and fell as in Gravelotte a village not far from here and now where the children looked up way up and saw not cats and dogs raining down but bombs And here I stand upon this French soil years later amidst unseen memorials of book satchels, paten leather mary janes, momma knit vests and tweed shorts and I hear "regarde."

Cinnamon Buns à la France

La Lingerie, les lunettes et les écharpes

La Lingerie, les lunettes et les écharpes are alive and well in France. I wonder if some people who do not need glasses where them because les lunettes are definitely a fashion statement here. Léo, a n 11 year old boy is a lovely example of this fashion statement. Les écharpes are worn by men and women and not only look great but come in handy as the weather has been rainy for weeks.

And la lingerie? Suffice to say that some of the window displays make a Victoria Secret catalogue look like a comic book.

Some other observations; I have stated in a previous blog that I find the schedule for the parent who works at home, almost always the woman, to be difficult; driving the children to school in the morning, picking them up at 11:30 for the mid day meal until 1:30 when they are returned to school until another pick up at 4:30, preparations of two main meals a day, no wash and wear clothing but lots of ironing, washing machines that take over an hour to complete a cycle, stores, including grocery stores closing entre midi, between noon and two each day, men leaving early for work in the morning and returning for the evening meal at 7.30 or 8 p.m., sometimes later. Ah some may think mistresses are alive and well in France. The only mistress I hear about is the computer where men spend copious amounts of time at home with their electronic lover. I wonder what would our households look like without computers or televisions or electronic games and where and with whom would we be spending time? Of course these observations come from one Canadian woman living in the States and spending the summer in France listening to French women. I would like to listen to the men but they are rarely home.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Well folks in one day we saw storks, monkeys and a restored castle. The photo collage shows us feeding les singes, the monkeys (the ones with the fur). This parc is reproducing the monkeys to reintroduce them into Africa. The society of les singes is matriarchal and the females mate with several males. Unlike most other societies the males take an active part in raising the babes (any comments from the peanut gallery?). When we came near a baby monkey several males jumped on a tree and shook the tree to show their power however none of the males know which one is the father.

Did you know that if the stork dropped the baby at the wrong house the baby is called a Zygote? (this I learned while reading Women Who Run With Wolves).

I found it rather consoling to have a name for this.

Alsace is a region well known for le bon vin blanc. We spent a couple of days with friends of Gilles and Rachel, Pierre and Claudine et leurs enfants Léo, Camille et Mathieu. Claudine fait du très bon pain et Pierre fait un ratafia délicieux. The children go to school half a day in French and half a day in German. All the road signs look German to me and the architecture is definitely Germanic. If you read the history of this region you will find that the ownership of Alsace flipped back and forth between France and Germany.

We met Christian, Claire et leurs enfants Iéva, Basile et Léa and I again tasted not only good, white wine but also excellent, Italian coffee.