The Falaise Pocket

 

We spent Memorial Day weekend visiting the war museum and memorial in Montormel.  After the June 6th invasion, D-Day, the allies drove the Germans back and in an attempt to surround them they fought their way to Falaise on the north and Chambois on the south. One hundred and fifty thousand German soldiers would be trapped if the Allies could capture and hold the hill of Mont-Ormel, known as Hill 262 on the Allied maps.

The Polish 1st Armored Division was given the assignment of attacking and holding the high ground on Hill 262. They captured the hill and held it despite two heavy counter attacks by German paratroopers and an SS Panzer Division. At one point in the fighting when the Polish troops had run out of ammunition an eyewitness reported seeing Polish soldiers fighting in hand to hand combat using only glass bottles. On the third day the Polish troops were reinforced by a division of Canadian troops and the gap was closed. One hundred thousand German troops were forced to surrender. It marked the end of the war in Normandy and a major turning point in the war in Europe.

American soldier equipment found in the valley summer of 2012.

War materials, equipment and even bodies are still found each year in this area. The area is still known as the Corridor of Death today.

1944

Vintage Car Show

Saturday morning car show, in Bagnoles.

Saturday morning came early, we had picked up a guide to events in our town (in French, naturally) and as well as I could make out, there was an antique car show that was driving through Bagnoles at 8:30am and would leave at 9:00am. I had talked to the salesman that sold us our car about such traveling car shows. The cars drive from town to town stopping for a little while in each town. Thirty minutes seemed like an awefully short time, but this was France, it didn't have to make sense.

An open seat Riley that was a bit temperamental to start (I learned a few French cuss words), but it did start and had a nice exhaust note that sounded even sweeter to the owner.

"Come on, let's go. We were supposed to leave at 8:00 and it's 8:15." I called to Alice who was still in the bathroom.
"I just have to do my hair and I'll be ready." She called down as I paced the salon (that's French for living room).
"I'd feel bad about going without you, but not that bad. Put a hat on and let's go." I replied checking the clock again.
"I'm glad we live a stress free life style." Alice said as she came down the stairs. "Otherwise I'd be tempted to tell you, you're getting on my nerves. You can't rush cuteness you know."

A Jaguar XK150 and it's mate at the hotel.

After Alice finally got in the car, we raced down to where I thought the car show was supposed to be, only to find...nothing. No cars, no spectators, zip, nada.
"Well, I guess we could have had breakfast." Alice said with a smile.
"Maybe, it could be somewhere else in town. We'll drive around."
And we did, not at the Casino grounds, not at the covered grounds of the market, then we spotted them, still sitting in the hotel parking lot. A few car owners were out rubbing the night's drizzle off their cars. I checked the time, 8:35am.
As we parked and walked up I heard one car owner talking to the other, "Oh, about nineish we'll head over to the show."
We walked around and looked at the cars in the parking lot for a few moments before I caught a look from Alice that said, "Now can we have breakfast? Mr. I'm in a hurry?"

A beautifully restored Alvis.

We went home, had croissants and coffee and then drove back into town. The vintage cars were still coming into town when we parked just off the square. The vintage cars were parked along the road around the lake, a very scenic backdrop for a car show. There many cars from the 1920's and 1930's. There were many brands I was unfamiliar with and had never seen. Alvis, Riley, Lagonda, and Bristol were brands I was either unfamiliar with or had never seen in person. There were also many famous cars such as the Jaguars, MGs, and Bentleys.

Jaguar XK140, one of Alice's favorites. 

(She finished fixing her hair and then put on a hat!)

This old Lanchester was chauffeur driven. It has a speaking tube in the back seat with the other end near the drivers head in the front seat and a glass window between the front and back.

This old Triumph had a rumble seat with a pop up windshield.

Triumph

A very red Lagonda.

Early Jaguar SS, one of my favorites of the day.

 In the picture below Alice poses next to an older gentleman and the first car he ever bought!

10:00am and its all over.

The cars pulled out at 10:00am and went on to the next village or town. They all had smiles on their faces, coats, gloves, and heavy scarves, but big smiles.
It was the start of a very good day. We left for Montormel, a WWII memorial that marks the closing of the Falaise pocket, the battle that marked the turning point for the war in Normandy.

New Furniture

delivered in wrapping

Finally, we have living room furniture!
We began looking for furniture back in November. We went through a lot of furniture stores here in France, but we could never find exactly what we wanted. Most furniture was very modern or French country style. We found a furniture manufacturer in Manchester England that had just what we wanted while we were in London for the book fair. We visited their shop and placed our order. Today the truck came with our delivery. The furniture took four weeks to build and then we had to wait a week for the delivery. The delivery truck leaves their factory and makes a circle through France delivering furniture.

Now, coffee table and end tables. The search continues.

Residency Card for France

Celebratory lunch in Caen.

Thursday was a big day. We went to Caen for our appointment to get our residency cards for France. I had read in several blogs about what a nightmare dealing with the French government could be. Standing in long lines only to be told you had the wrong documents, or you needed extra documents and then repeating the same routine on another day with another clerk, only to have to do it a third time before getting anywhere.
Well we had a pleasant surprise. We showed up at the medical office, for the required physical, thirty minutes early. We were immediately greeted by a very nice young lady that spoke a little English. She checked us in and sent us directly to radiologie for chest x-rays. We took a seat and within five minutes, or one game of solitaire on the iPad, we were called back together by a young man. We were each directed into a dressing room and instructed to strip from the waist up. There were two doors on the dressing room, one leading into the hallway and another leading into the radiology department with the x-ray equipment. I stepped out into the x-ray room and the tech gave me instructions in very good English, I got my chest x-ray and went back in to put my shirt back on. Alice did the same. Exactly the same, no gown to cover her, she stepped out and the same male tech instructed her in how to stand against the x-ray machine and get her x-ray. She then walked back across the room and into the little dressing room to get dressed again.
She came out of the dressing room to meet me in the hallway and we walked back to take a seat in the waiting area again.
"That was a little weird," Alice said with a puzzled look on her face. Then she told me about it. We both shrugged, that's France.
In a few minutes we were informed the x-rays turned out just fine and we were directed up to the doctor's exam room/office. We were greeted by the doctor that spoke passable English and we took a seat in front of his desk.
"Do you smoke?" he asked me.
"No."
"Have been in the hospital recently?"
"No."
"What immunizations have you had?"
"None since childhood."
"Are you in good health?"
"Yes."
He then took vital signs, heart rate, blood pressure, and listened to my breathing. Then he filled out the forms, signed them and we went through the same routine with Alice.
That was it. Physical done, documents in hand and we drove to the OFII imigration office ten minutes away.
 There we were greeted by a lady that spoke no English, but a young girl that had just started working there was able to translate for us. We went into a little side office, handed her all our documents, the physical certification, our passports, a utility bill to show residence, a passport photo, and a receipt to show that we had paid the fee of 241euros in advance online. We chatted through the interpreter while she made copies, filled out paperwork and pasted two residence permits into our passports.
All done, welcome to France.
The entire process started at 9:45 and we were finished by 11:30, in time to celebrate over a champagne lunch in a restaurant across from William the Conqueror's Norman castle.

Walking with the Dead

It may sound like a rather macabre way to spend your day, walking around a cemetery looking for people you never met, but over one million people come to Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris each year to look for the graves of their favorite author, composer, musician, or architect.

The cemetery was established in 1804 and named for King Louis XIV's spiritual advisor, Pere Francois de La Chaise (1624-1709). It covers 109 acres in the eastern part of Pairs. It was originally viewed as too far outside the city limits of Paris to be convenient, but the owners had a plan. They had the remains of writers Moliere and La Fontaine transferred and reburied in their cemetery. The plan worked, everyone wanted to be buried near the famous.

Besides being the resting ground for the famous, Pere-Lachaise is a beautiful place to walk on sunny afternoons in Paris. Searching for famous people among the monuments becomes a game of hide and seek, with the aid of maps purchased from the local shops.

Jim Morrison, one of the most popular sites.

The inscription reads: "ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ"-True to his own Spirit

-

"Thanks for the music."

Frédéric Chopin

Oscar Wilde

Monument to the dead in the center of Pere-Lachaise.

Figure above grave.

Burial sites from the 1800's & 1900's sit side by side.

After a long day of walking it's nice to sit down for a light meal and a bottle of wine. We wound up at Montmartre at Chez Eugene's, a popular eating place since 1900. Where we could relax and think on all we had seen.

Paris Movies

How much does it cost to see a movie at the theatre in Paris? Of course it has to  be in English, which is no problem. Several theatres feature first run movies in English, but only at specific times and on specific days, so checking the listing is essential.

I wanted to see Ironman 3, which had just come out. There was a showing on Saturday that fit our schedule so off we went to Paris. Ninety nine euros for first class train tickets. One hundred seventy seven euros for one night at a small hotel. The movie tickets were thirteen euros each (13.20 actually) and there was a one euro charge for each of the 3D glasses (I hate 3D movies, but they were the only ones that fit our schedule) so that added up to €28.40 for two people to go to the movie, not counting the 3 euros for a bottled drink (no fountain drinks available). No wonder the movie theatre was not crowded!

Needless to say, going to the movies in Paris is only a good idea if you plan to spend the entire weekend there anyway. We did and we had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, the food was great, (even though my favorite restaurant was closed on Sunday) and it's always fun to be in Paris.

Oh, and Alice even enjoyed the movie. It was the first action movie I've ever been able to get her to watch with me. She's more of a comedy/romance kind of fan. But she enjoyed Ironman, high praise from a girl that thinks "It's a Wonderful Life" is too violent in places.

Victory Day 8th of May

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris.

The 8th of May is Victory Day, it is the day that Gen. Charles De Gaul announced to the French people that World War II was over. It is a national holiday and most shops, schools, and services are closed.

Liberation of Falaise.

In Bagnoles, everyone is enjoying the pretty weather, eating outside and renting paddle boats.

Falaise Castle

Falaise Castle

On Saturday, Alice and I decided to go visit the castle at Falaise, the birth place of William the Conqueror and the seat of power in Normandy for many years. It was an easy one hour drive from our house, so we left just after lunch and planned on spending the afternoon.

Castle grounds and restoration work, as seen from the top of the tower.

The visitors center sits in the middle of the castle grounds, in a modern steel and glass building. Thankfully, they speak English, sort of. The castle signs and directories are all in English and French. But the coolest part is the tablet computer they give you. It gives the tourist a virtual view of each of the rooms. You simply key it to the room and then hold it in front of you and it displays a view of that part of the room as it would have appeared in the middle ages. Turn around and the virtual view changes seamlessly to reveal every part of the room, walls, ceilings and floor.

Tablet showing virtual view of the room.

There was also information on the tablet about objects that would have been in the room. Ceiling mounted projectors cast a five minute film of an actor portraying historical figures onto the wall of many rooms.

Welcome to our Castle! No swords on the furniture please.

Alice always has fun.

Graffiti from the guards that sat watch at the window towers, it dates from the 12-13th century.

Other graffiti is more recent.

William the Conqueror's statue in the town square.

Alice taking pictures below the castle.

Guided tours are also given.

Robert the Magnificent, 6^th Duke of Normandy, was on his way home from a hunting trip during the first blossoms of spring, when he noticed a young village girl standing near a fountain. They were both aged seventeen and the girl, Arlette, quickly became Robert’s official concubine. William was born to Arlette and Robert at Christmas time in 1027. By Danish tradition, all children both legitimate and illegitimate are treated as equals. The fountain where they met is just to the left of the above picture and also pictured below.

The fountain where Robert and Arlette met.

Falaise means cliff or high crag and is a fitting name for the castle.

Village of Falaise

William's story from bastard son to Duke of Normandy and King of England is a fascinating tale and far too involved to cover in this short blog. 

Winter turns to Spring

Watching winter turn to spring out our bedroom window.