France as we know it

We have been eating too much bread and cheese to blog...apologies.

We are spending our fifth night in France and it has been wonderful. To wrap up the last few days...

We spent two nights in Saint Malo at the home of Mathilde's mother's cousin. It was lovely and very close to many beautiful sights. We spent the mornings waiting out the rain but took advantage of sunny afternoons at Mont St Michel and the old town of Saint Malo...which it turns out was bombed almost completely to the ground during the war and since been rebuilt. We were able to cook dinner both nights at the home which was a nice way to end the chilly autumn days.

Today we left Saint Malo and visited
the sites of the plages du débarquement (D-Day.) It was a very full day but well worth the walking and time in the car. Grégoire was a trooper! We began at Utah Beach and continued to the German cemetery. This was a path less traveled and had twice as many graves as its American counterpart. Sad and humbling as this was not all that long ago. We continued on to Pont du Hoc which house the remaining German bunkers for visitors. These were exactly as portrayed in the movies and very interesting to stand in.

We continued on to Omaha Beach (aka Bloody Omaha) and the American cemetery and memorial. Breathtaking. Neither of us have many words for what we saw but I think it's true when others say you will never forget it. The feeling of camaraderie was palpable and I am grateful we were not there to live through such horrible times. We finished our day at the musée in Caen dedicated to the war and to a future of peace.

Now we rest at the home of Mathilde's good friend Bea and her famille near Etretat where we will spend the remainder of our time in France. We had a delicious dinner of crepes and laughed together in spite our mutual language barrier :) I love France and have very much enjoyed our time with Mathilde and Xav. Mathilde has been wonderfully patient with my French and I look forward to impressing her with my skills next time we see them! Bonne nuit!