Interestingly enough, I decided to wake up this morning at 4:45 AM for no good reason at all, and I can't go back to sleep. So I thought I'd make a list of some random little tidbits that haven't made it into my blog so far. You might find them interesting, and if not, at least I'll have them written down in my digital scrapbook. In no specific order:
0. We named the GPS voice on our car Emma because she sounds like the actress Emma Thompson. So we have a lovely little British voice guiding us around the country! :-)
1. Music - The radio station we've been listening to in the car has a very interesting mix of American, British, and French music. I think we've heard every single Pink, Katy Perry, and Bruno Mars song ever written as well as some very funky British and French dance music! :-) And the music we often hear playing in restaurants is a totally random mix of Abba, the BeeGees, French language music, Celine Dion (in French), and other 60s and 70s American music (not necessarily the good stuff)! :-)
2. I might've mentioned this before, but in Normandy, there were one or two WWII veterans at every place we went. They were like rock stars (and I mean that with the utmost respect) signing autographs. Lines would form in front of their chairs or wheelchairs and little kids to grown adults would have a scrap of paper signed or just shake their hands and chat with them. It was the most emotional and beautiful thing to see.
3. A few days ago we met a tour leader of a veteran's group in St. Mere Eglise who was born in Brewster, WA. And we found out that the superintendent of the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach was born and raised in Tacoma. Are you kidding me?!!! As weird as it sounds, that kind of thing happens on every single trip we take. It doesn't matter if we're in the U.S. or Europe, we always meet someone we know, or someone who knows someone we know, or someone who knows Wenatchee because they were born and raised somewhere in Eastern Washington. The world really is a small, interconnected place!
4. While in Normandy, we saw lots of French school kids on field trips and several of them had scarves or bags with American flags on them. VERY cool! (I think they were being sold in the little souvenir stores.)
5. At Arromanche for lunch, we sat at a table next to a 90 year old British veteran and his wife and chatted a bit. Then the next day we saw them again at our favorite little crepe shop in our home base of Bayeux, so Tammy secretly and generously paid for their drinks when we paid for our dinner. :-)
6. There have been groups of French and British school kids on field trips, as well as currently enlisted soldiers from several different countries at all the historical sites we've visited. We've actually seen quite a few German soldiers at most of the D-Day sites. I'm sure that's part of the way they're trying to come to terms with what their country did.
7. In every Norman town we've seen, there are street names like Rue 2nd Division Indian Head, Churchill Boulevard, Rue 6th of June, Eisenhower Roundabout, etc. It's the coolest thing ever!
8. Also, in every town we've seen French, British and American flags flying everywhere - even on private homes. In fact yesterday, we were driving through this tiny little village to get to one of the abbeys, and a woman was in the process of hanging her large American Flag out her upper window so that it would fly right next to the smaller French flag already there. Again, I felt very proud to be an American!
9. The French really seem to love their dogs - lots of people walking dogs everywhere in the small towns. But they don't seem to be as in love with the idea of picking up after them, if you know what I mean. :-)
10. And the last random tidbit for the morning.....yesterday as we were checking out of our B&B in Bayeux, we walked up the street to our car and passed a fluffy French cat sitting in an open window. We'd passed him several times before and he was always very friendly. Sometimes he was sitting in the window, walking around on the sidewalk, or even lounged across the window sill sleeping in the sun. As we talked sweetly to him, his owner, a charming, silver-haired elderly woman, popped her head out the window as well and chatted us up in French for a couple of minutes. I assume she was agreeing with us about how beautiful her kitty was, but we couldn't understand a word of it! But she was happy and friendly, and it was clear that we all loved the little French chat (cat)! :-)
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