Shopping in Paris

Our daughter, Jayna, came to visit us in France this week and of course the first thing on her agenda was shopping, followed by shopping. So, we went shopping.

 

Whether it's a day of museums or stores, Paris is always a paradise of photo opportunities. So, while the girls went from shop to shop searching for black pants, cute dresses,  darling accessories, and gifts to take back to the states, I snapped pictures of life in Paris. Oh yeah, and carried the bags.

Louis Vuitton took the award for best window display. 

 

Just waiting for friends outside the Musee D'Orsay.

Making money on dreams. 

These guys offer a 20 minute behind the wheel experience for only 89 euros. You get to choose which dream car to drive.

Whether it is a day of shopping, strolling up the Champs Elysees, or just sitting in a sidewalk cafe watching people go by, Paris is always fun.

 

Piano bar not far from the Opera.

We finished off the day drinking beer at a little cafe and admiring the Eiffel Tower as it glittered with the flash of a thousand strobe lights on the hour and glowed golden the other fifty minutes. Of course we weren't the only ones enjoying a night in Paris.

Bayeux War Museum

Saturday we visited the war museum in Bayeux. We originally went to see a movie in the "Version Original," English, but we had misread the guide. OK, I had misread the guide and we showed up on the wrong day. Movies were shown in English only on Monday, so we drove around the town and stumbled upon the war museum. I couldn't pass it up.

U.S. Tank Destroyer, M-10

The museum had an excellent collection of armored vehicles, small arms, and artillery pieces of both the Allies and the German forces. No photographs were allowed inside the museum, so I took only photos of the tanks outside.

Churchill Crocodile, British flame thrower tank.

How do you tighten the treads on a tank? With a really big wrench.

The fire spitting British Crocodile was a unique piece in the museum's collection and I had never seen one up close. It was interesting from many perspectives. The tank had obviously been designed and built in a hurry, with only production numbers as the goal.

German Jagd-Panzer. A tank hunter.

Curiously, the German tank killer was the only military vehicle in the collection with signs of rust on it. One final stab at the Nazi occupiers of WWII?

Waste not, Want not

It's time to go get groceries again, and if you want a large selection of foods and brands, the grocery stores in la Ferté-Macé, the next little town over,  are the place to go. Our little grocery here in Bagnoles is OK for the basics, but the selection is limited and the meat counter is often out of many popular cuts.
I have decided, from looking at the different packaged meat products, that the French don't waste any part of the animal. They eat everything!

Beef tongue is the plate of the day every Thursday in the restaurant in Flers. But you have to hurry, it sells out in the first hour.

Cervelle de veau, brains of veal, is available for only 3.57 euros. What a deal! Heart, kidney, liver, of both pig and beef is always fresh and easy to find in the meat department.

Pig feet and pig heads are great for that weekend cook out with the neighbors. Of course I find it still a little difficult to deal with my food looking back at me, let alone smiling at me.
But don't expect to find frozen corn, it only comes in a can. Nope, haven't seen any on the cob either. Peanut butter? Nada. Cake mixes or premade pie shells? Heaven forbid! Not in France.

Bon appetite!

D-Day in France

A manikin in uniform hangs by his parachute from the church steeple in St. Mere Eglise.

June 6^th marked the 69^th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of WWII. It is a date that is very important to the people of France. Many people, including our neighbor remember living in France during the German occupation of World War II. For them it is not just an excuse to go to the beach or have a picnic in the sun. It is a day to remember and give thanks for the freedom that we enjoy today. Freedom can never be taken for granted, it is too fragile and too important. 

 Alice and I decided to spend a day in St. Mere Eglise for the celebration of D-Day. It is a pleasant two hour drive from our home through the French countryside. When we arrived, it was like being in France, 1944. The streets were filled with men in American uniform going in and out of cafes, driving jeeps and trucks around the town. An American camp was set up with, tents, vehicles, artillery, mess facilities, and a chaplain. 

The town square was filled with more army vehicles and men in uniform getting food from a chow line (actually a sausage vender, selling hot dogs French style on a sliced baguette).  

After having lunch, Alice and I visited the Airborne Museum which is in the center of town. It is an excellent modern museum with a Waco glider and a C-47 tow plane featured in their own buildings. The building and the displays are strictly first class.

Alice and the Waco glider which can be toured. Inside the glider are pilot and soldiers ready for take off.

The C-47 tow plane is the centerpiece of a life-size diorama.

Sherman tank outside the museum.

As we finished our tour of the museum, a girl announced a re-enactment of troops preparing for an air drop about to take place outside. Alice and I headed back out into the sunshine (and cold wind, we still needed our jackets today) to watch the young French and English men that had spent so much time and effort in dressing up for the roles they would play in celebration of this special day.

A half dozen veterans of WWII came to celebrate the 69th anniversary of D-Day. They had served as British Paratroopers.

Re-enactment of paratroopers preparing for battle.

It was a fun and exciting day. The perfect way to remember D-Day and the sacrifice made by so many young men to preserve the freedom that we enjoy today. 

The number of vehicles and men was impressive.

It was strange watching all these "American soldiers" speaking perfect French.

Representation of John Steele as he hung helpless from the church steeple and watched the fighting below.

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.