Normandy: Bayeux, D-Day Beaches, Mont St Michel

April xx, 2010

Normandy is perhaps best known for three sites: Bayeux (for the tapestry), Mont St Michel and the D-Day beaches.

Getting there from Rouen:

• SNCF train from Rouen to Caen: 1 hr 47 min, ~20 euro each way
• SNCF from Caen to Bayeux: 15 min, 5 euro each way, trains run hourly
• bus service to the D-Day beaches available from Caen (BusVerts)
• tour from Caen or Bayeux to Mont St Michel

• tours by Viator include: Mont St Michel and St Malo: 8 hrs from Bayeaux or Caen, 73 euros Omaha Beach 1/2 day trip from Bayeux: 55 euros, 5 hours

D-day beaches

Erwin Rommel: "...the first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive...the fate of Germany depends on the outcome...for the Allies, as well as Germany, it will be the longest day."

At 9:15 p.m. on June 5th, the BBC's French service quoted lines of the 1866 poem Autumn Song by French poet Paul Verlaine.

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l'automne
Blessent mon cœur
D'une langueur
Monotone.

The long sobs
Of the autumn violins
Wound my heartWith a languidMonotone.

It was a signal for the French Resistance to start dynamiting the railways. By midnight, Allied planes had begun bombing the Normandy Coast. By 1:30 a.m., June 6th, some 24,000 airborne troops--members of the 101st Airborne along with British, Canadian, and Free French--were parachuting onto German-occupied French soil.

Note: German signals intelligence had determined the Verlaine poem meant an invasion was immeniant. They notified their superiors and all German commanders in France. However, their warning was ignored. A month prior, they had made a previous warning about an Allied invasion that didn't occur. (The Allies had actually delayed the invasion to May due to the weather.)

D-Day--June 6, 1944--the "longest day", had begun.

More than 5,000 Allied ships, the largest fleet in history, arrived off the French coast with 150,000 soldiers, 195,000 sailors, landing craft, jeeps and equipment. They began the liberation of Europe by landing on a 50-mile (80 km) section of Normandy beaches codenamed Juno, Gold, Sword, Utah and Omaha.

To their enormous relief, the Allies had obtained complete tactical surprise. D-day, which could have been one of history’s bloodiest disasters, became instead one of its greatest victories.

• Point du Hoc is where US Rangers climbed up the steep (100 ft, 30m) cliff to knock out German bunkers overlooking Omaha and Utah beaches. One of the most impressive of the battle field areas, the areas contains numerous bomb craters and bombed out bunkers. Given to the U.S. by the French, Point du Hoc remains just as it was left on D-Day. Great presentation on Point du Hoc here.

Photo: US Rangers on Pointe du Hoc, June 8, 1944.
The American flag was used to identify their position, preventing incoming Allied fire. From here.

Caen
Because of extensive damage during WW2 (see Battle of Caen), most of the medieval buildings were destroyed. Best known for historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror.

• Le Chateau Ducal: Built in 1060 by William the Conquerer to house his residential palace. The palace became one of the largest fortified residences in Europe. Heavily damaged during WWII. Wander through the ruins on walkways or climb the wide steps to the ramparts for a fine view of the city and St. Peters Church. video
• Museum of Fine Arts: On the grounds of Le Chateau Ducal.
• Musee de Normandie (Normandy Museum): On the grounds of Le Chateau Ducal.
• Abbaye aux Dames: Founded by Mathilda, wife of William the Conqueror, this abbey embraces Eglise de la Trinité, which is flanked by Romanesque towers. Its spires were destroyed in the Hundred Years' War. The 12th-century choir houses the tomb of Queen Mathilda; note the ribbed vaulting
• Abbaye aux Homes: Founded by William the Conqueror local Caen stone (also used for Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of London). The Huguenots destroyed the tomb in 1562 -- only a hipbone was recovered. During the French Revolution, the last of William's dust was scattered to the wind. The hand-carved wooden doors and elaborate wrought-iron staircase are exceptional.
• Memorial for peace, a World War II museum.

Wrought Ironwork Museum in Roeun, France

April, 2010

Fantastic! That's exactly I thought upon entering the Musée Le Secq des Tournelles (Wrought Ironwork Museum) in Rouen, France. Items are showcased within the grey stone walls of a former 15th-century Gothic church (Eglise St-Laurent). If you like ironwork, metal, or just flat out beautiful things, this is definately a place to visit. Most of my pictures didn't turn out so well...guess we'll have to go back!

Click to go to the museum website for pictures of some of their collection.

It has the best medieval lock and key collection we've seen in Europe so far! There are some 14,000 pieces in the collection. There are also many beautifully executed examples of things you usually associate with metal work: signs, doors, door knockers, hinges, tools, security grills for windows, cooking utensils, etc.

There are also a number of items that surprised me--iron corsets, 17th century coffee grinders and lighters, lamps with clever ratcheting systems so they could be raised or lowered, delicate jewelry and hair ornaments...again, all handmade in iron.

Click on a picture below to see a larger version. All photos made in April 2010 by LGunter.

Photo: Shop signs dating from the Middle Ages	Photo: Museum interior, from the 2nd floor
Photo: Tools	Photo: Beautiful drifted* security grille for a window. *In drifting, a hole is punched into the hot metal; for this grille, additional fleur-de-lis topped iron rods were threaded through the holes.

needlepoint balustrade that graced Mme de Pompadour's country mansion

Volcano jokes-top 4 picks

Travel seems to be getting back to normal. Hopefully Mt. Katya, the even larger volcano near Eyjafjallajökull (see graphic below), won't erupt!

Based on an intensive 5 minute search, here are my picks for "Top 4 Best Icelandic Volcano Jokes" on the Internet:

1. It was the last wish of the Icelandic economy that its ashes were spread all over Europe.
2. Iceland goes bankrupt, then it manages to set itself on fire. This has insurance scam written all over it.
3. Did you hear that Goldman Sachs made the Iceland volcano erupt? It did pretty well shorting airlines.
4. I see that America has declared war on Iceland. Apparently they are accusing them of harbouring a “weapon of ash eruption”.

Picture from "Hazards due to eruptions and floods from Katla and Eyjafjallajökull, south Iceland" : www.ginorden.org/events/gikonferanser/ginorden2005/folder.2005-09-22.0156715982/folder.2005-09-26.3717505051/Session_10-Monitoring_of_Seismic_Activity_Magnus_Gudmundsson.pdf/at_download/file

Funny, this explains alot...

This was just the perfect post to me, for so many reasons.

First, I'm in Rouen. Second, I've encountered pretty much everything in the post--the maddening French keyboard, the dog piles (easy to avoid as you have to watch your step on cobblestones anyway) and the rest. Well, I haven't asked any girls out. Or guys. I did unintentionally ask a bank manager if he had any "kept men" in the bank-but that's not the same at all!

Anyway, back to the post...it's great, so I've reposted here (with some line breaks) so it won't be eaten by the Internet when I'm not looking. The rest of Bruceleereally posts are also an interesting read for his observations. I've considered trying CouchSurfing, heard about hitchhiking in France, and had already read enough about Morrocco to make it low on my "visit" list.

Si Si monsieur! Sunday, January 31, 2010 in Rouen, France by Bruceleereally

I really love France. I love everything about the country and its people. I even love the minor annoyance of the layout of the keys on their keyboard. Rather than the English qwerty keyboard, le clavier francais seems like a Best Buy technician was drinking while reassembling a keyboard.

But back to the French. I love how they love simple but good food. I love their French accents in English, always leaving the letter h silent. Home becomes 'ome. Tres jolie. I even love how they leave a heap of their dog's shit in the middle of the trottoir (sidewalk). It makes walking around a city more fun. I love how they have found little ways to make their language more efficient.

I would really like to learn to use the French word "si". I don't mean "if". You see, there is no English equivalent to this term. Let me explain it's beautiful usage.

Bruce: (addressing a pretty French girl) Tu ne veux pas prendre un cafe avec moi?

Girl: Si.

Entirely fictional dialogue. But a good illustration of the use of "si". Let me translate it to English to explain.

Bruce: (addressing a pretty French girl) You don't want to have a coffee with me?

Girl: Yes.

In English, the girl's response is confusing. Is she saying yes to my statement of not wanting to have coffee with me? OR is she saying she does want to have a coffee with me?

The French have overcome this barrier of communication by the use of "si", which is the affirmative of a negative statement. By responding "si", she says that she wants to have coffee.

I love asking negative questions in French only to hear this very French answer. It's a simple pleasure. The lack of the equivalent to "si" might also explain my luck (or lack thereof) with English girls. But alas, that is an entry for another day.

DELF or Parlez-vous français?

The DELF (Diplôme d'études en langue française) is a series of 4 independent certifications (A1, A2, B1, B2) designed for non-native speakers to demonstrate their level of knowledge in the French language. There's also an advanced set of certifications beyond the B2 level called the DALF (Diplôme approfondi de langue française).
Each exam consists of suprisingly well designed sections on reading, writing, listening and speaking. I'll paraphrase what each level (A1, A2, B1, B2) means so you get an idea of what is being measured:

• A1: One step above an Englishman. Able to recognize the language is French and fill in a simple questionnaire.
• A2: Ability to order a carafe of house wine and dinner in a menu without pictures. Also able to unintentionally offend your French acquaintances who have invited you to a party.
• B1: Able to write a beautiful apology letter to your French acquaintances for offending them when they invited you to their party and you drank too much wine, which led to mistaking the dog for the lady of the house. Oops.
• B2: Able to successfully start a bar fight by expressing an eloquent opinion about the World Cup. Able to the explain the situation to the police prior to discharge from the hospital.
  

While I'm sure both France's International Centre of Pedagogical Studies (CIEP) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) would glare disapprovingly at my DELF level descriptions...they do give you something of the "flavor" each level encompasses.

For 2 hours, we took the reading/writing part of all 4 DELF exams--A1, A2, B1 and B2--to see where we were. Whew! Talk about brain fry....Even our teacher was tired by that point.

We were thrilled to find we were both pretty solidly in the A2 level for reading/writing and beginning B1. The goal is to get to B1 by the time we leave school. While we didn't do any of the speaking/listening sections, it's clear that's where we're both weakest.

So, more listening and speaking for us in the near future! And reading...And writing....

Week 3 in Rouen -- by Lola

April 19-23, 2010 in Rouen, France

Our classmates this week were the same group as week 2--sweet woman from Japan (Eri), a quiet man from Japan (Hiroyshi), an earnest woman from Germany (Marion), and a fun loving German man currently living in Switzerland (Tomas)--plus the first other American we've seen (Lisa), and a studious Korean girl ().

In class at the French in Normandy school, we studied:

• review of comparisons for nouns, adverbs, adjectives (more than, less than, better): plus...que, moins de..que, mieux, etc
  
• construction of conditional phrases (If...)
  
• vocabulary for housing terms, including rental abbreviations
  
• sentences with present tense plus future simple constructions
• how to do superlatives (the best, the worst, etc)
• listening for numbers, dates..and to "La-bás"
  

Class vignettes:
Instruction is all in French. In class, we joke around in French...or in whatever language is lying around. Sometimes it's pantomime. In any case, we all like to laugh...especially to the point to where teachers from other classes come by to find out what all the ruckus is about....

• We were going over the French words for the fingers on the hand (thumb, index, etc): Tomas demonstrated the difference between the pinky finder and "der stinky finger". Unfortunately, he also demonstrated it to the class next door, who had no idea what was going on.
  
• When asked if she had any children, Lisa said no because she wanted to learn French first. I replied it wasn't necessary to know French to make a baby ("N'est pas nécessaire de parler français pour faire un bébé"); she got satisfyingly pink!
• Our teacher was fond of saying "merde" and our classmates demonstrated how to say it in their respective languages-Japanese, Korean, and German. It sounds suprisingly sweet coming from a little Japanese woman...
• During break, I described a little about "Drink and Sing" to my Dutch classmate: we agreed that a little Jameson's "scrubbed the throat" to make singing sound better...
  
• After hearing the song "La-bás" by Jean-Jacques Goldman (YouTube) in an exercise where we had to listen to the song and fill in missing words, David and I began singing "Blah blah. Le chanteur, il a chanté blah blah..." (Blah blah. The singer, he sang blah blah....)
  
• For superlatives, I created a photo slideshow to demonstrate what Seattle was famous for...including the worlds longest floating bridge, the 2009 record number for most zombies, and the 2000 implosion of the world's largest thin-shelled dome (Kingdome) to create the worlds largest structure implosion by volume
• We briefly discussed eating dog in Korea, and horse in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan
  

Outside of class:
Pretty similar to week 2. Class, eat, nap, errands and/or walking around, studying, sleep!

When looking at a French menu, you might see the following:

• steak à cheval
• steak de cheval

There's a BIG difference between the two! Steak à cheval means "an egg riding horseback--on top of--a steak" while "steak de cheval" IS a horse steak.

Le Parc de Clères

Friday, May 14, 2010
about 20 min from Rouen by train

After being sick most of the week, we decided to go in search of Le Parc de Clères. After a 15 minute train ride out of Rouen, we arrived at the Cleres station. The old train station was deserted. And I don't mean empty...though the door opened, the information window was boarded up. There was no town to be seen. As our train faded into the distance, the only sound was bird song. And a rather eerie animal call.

We looked at each other, shrugged, and headed down the hill. And found a cute little town, complete with a picturestue stream, a medieval-looking market pavillion, two boulangeries, and a few other shops. The park entrance was just a few more steps away.

The purpose of Cleres Park is to preserve and study animal and plant species for preservation. Scientific research carried out at the Park focuses on molecular genetics (biotechnology of reproduction), artificial insemination and cryopreservation of seeds (genetic management of captive populations). The park is composed of:

• a "Flamboyent Gothic" castle built in the 16th century near/on the ruins of a medieval castle built in the 13th century
• a zoological park (200 species of mammals, 1500 species of birds)
• a plant collection (eating and cider apple collections, conservatory with medicinal plants)

Le Parc de Clères isn't what either of us expected. Gently landscaped grounds contained free-ranging birds and animals..ducks, wallabys, deer, flamingos. Without any fences, humans and animals seemed to mutually agree on an acceptable distance from each other.
Note: Except, that is, for some male peacocks, who seemed to take immense glee in pursuing people with babies...

The castle wasn't open, but did provide a picturesque background for the plants and animals.

Getting there:

1. train to Cleres (about 15 min)
2. less than a 10 min walk:

• cross the overhead bridge, and walk down the hill
• at the medieval market pavillion, turn right
• park entrance is about 1/2 block away on the right

Sunday April 18, 2010 in Rouen, France

Sunday, April 18, 2010

We had a busy day walking our feet off! Hard to believe, but I think we walked even more today than in Dieppe. It was a warm, beautiful sunny day: perfect for any and all outdoor activites.

• went grocery shopping at our usual local places: the boulangerie for french bread and croissants, the middle eastern market (with kinda creepy music playing this Sun...) for fruit and veggies, rose water, hummus-in-a-can
• found the Sunday market near the Church of Saint Maclou (built in 1200; rebuilt 1437-1521; an example of "Flamboyant Gothic" architecture) where we bought beef for a stew, cheese (Como and locally produced Neufchâtel), and flowers
  Note: Rabbits, pigeons, beef, pork, and chicken are plentiful. Plucked chickens will often still have their feet-rough feet prove a chicken lived a free range life!
  
• stumbled on a secluded courtyard behind a gate (photo below): the Aitre St-Maclou is rare even in Europe these days. The serene courtyard was a mass Medieval grave for plague victums; the surrouding buildings with danse macabre carvings were the ossuary for the nearby Church of Saint Maclou
  Photo: Trees in courtyard are where the mass plague grave was located; the medieval buildings were the charnel houses, St. Maclou church is in the distance; detail of a danse macabre carving which line the buildings;
• cleaned the apt while David did the laundry (clean clothes--yea! 12 euro/approx $16 for laundry--bah!)
• ate a crepe from a streetside vendor; discovered chouquettes: cream-less cream puffs, sprinkled with large granulated sugar crystals...while not as pretty as the "Etoile de Mer" from Dieppe, at least I can buy them here in Rouen!
  
• heard how to correctly pronounce the obscene version of the word like "canard" from a crazy person near the McDonald's ("McDo") in Rouen....
• sat in cafe and people watched while baking in the sunshine
• strolled along the Seine and saw a car lifted onto a barge

Sunday has a different rhythm for than other days. Many stores are closed. Some, like the boulangerie, corner market, etc, are only open until noon. Something to keep in mind when looking for a bite to eat: the kitchens in many cafes are closed, though you can still get drinks.

A number of markets occur thoughout the week in Rouen. So far, these are the two that we have visited:

• Place St Marc: Large open air flea market (open Tues, Fri, Sat, Sun) near the Church of Saint Maclou--chickens sizzling on rotisseries, fresh fruits and veggies in colorful piles, seafood and fresh meats (chicken, duck, pork, beef, quail, pigeon...), dried sausages hanging in neat clumps, cheeses (Camembert, Como, Rollot, Neufchâtel, Vieux-Pané , Boursault, Brillat-Savarin, Livarot, Pays d'Auge ....), clothes, household items, furniture, and the best flower market in the area
• Vieux Marché : Smaller covered market (open daily except for Mondays) near the Church of Saint Joan of Arc--fresh meats, seafood, foi gras, pates, terrines, honeys, jellies, etc

Saturday April 17, 2010 in Dieppe, France

Sat, April 17 2010
about 1 hr by train from Rouen

No longer thwarted by the flea (see David's previous post), we successfully bought our train tickets to Dieppe. However, due to a continuing railway worker strike, we ended up going by bus to Dieppe, then returning to Rouen by train in the afternoon. Was great for me--I got to see more that way!

It was certainly a worthwhile trip! The weather was beautiful, the city charming, and because our Dutch classmate Jose talked with a local woman on the bus, we easily located the Saturday market.

Photo: April 2010 by LGunter: Market day items...clothing stalls in front of the 14th century Church of St. Jacques; "beef heart" tomatoes; medieval building behind a stall selling chickens, ducks, and pigeons; beautiful flowers; basket of tasty dried, pepper coated sausages
The Saturday market in Dieppe is the largest market in Normandy.

You can find fresh produce, meats, cheeses, shoes, clothes, furniture, food vendors, and treats of all kinds. It covers a large area of the medieval town center, and it's packed with people!

I saw local people from Rouen who spent the 20 euros (approximately ~$26 round trip cost) just to come to this market.

Dave bought a pair of cushy faux Crocs for 5 euros. I saw the "Etoile de Mer", had to get one, and loved it at first bite! Not too sweet, it's like a light, creamless, slightly crispy eclair with a meltingly tender middle and crunchy sugar bits on top. Yum..seriously, I would go back JUST for them!
Photo: April 2010 by LGunter: Pile of 5 euro "crocs", and the beautifully delicious "Etoile de Mer"
By 2:00, the vendors have packed up, left, and the city workers are cleaning up the streets. You'll only find trash and the odd apple or carrot left on the streets.

I'll add a separate post on Dieppe's Chateau Musee for more pictures....

Dieppe, the town:

• was founded as a fishing village sometime around 1050.
• is part of the "Alabaster Coast" (la côte d'Albâtre): a stretch of the Normandy coast with spectacular white chalk cliffs that plunge into the sea.
  From Guy de Maupassant Le saut du berger (The Shepherd’s Leap). Originally published in Gil Blas of 9 March 1882, comes this poetic description: "From Dieppe to Le Havre the coast presents an uninterrupted cliff, about a hundred metres high and straight as a wall. Here and there that great line of white rocks drops sharply and a little, narrow valley, with steep slopes, shaved turf and maritime rushes, comes down from the cultivated plateau towards a beach of shingle where it ends with a ravine like the bed of a torrent. Nature has made these valleys; the rains of storms have ended with them in the shape of these ravines, trimming what was left of the cliff, excavating down to the sea, the bed of waters which acts as a passage for mankind. Sometimes, a village is snuggled into these valleys, where the wind of the open sea is devoured."
• today, Dieppe's commercial docks unload half the bananas of the Antilles and 40% of all shellfish destined to slither down French throats.
• is well known for it's tasty mussels and scallops; a regional specialty is marmite Diepoise: fish, mussels and shrimp stewed in cream, cider and onions, lightly flavoured with spices.
• is the closest beach to Paris (albeit a cold, rocky one...the "sand" is composed of roughly egg sized flint and sandstone rocks).
• housed France's most advanced school of cartography in the 16th century.
• was Frances first seaside resort, and popular with the rich and famous in the 19th century.
• was a magnet for artists looking for light, natural landscapes, sea views, and historical buildings; famous names who painted here include Delacroix, Turner, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Gauguin and Degas.
• was the site of the "Dieppe Raid": a bloody WWII battle in Aug, 1942 where a combined Canadian/Scottish force landed to seize and hold a major port, gather intelligence, and draw out the Luftwaffe; none of their objectives were met, and 60% of the Allied forces were killed, wounded, or captured; 50 US Rangers went into battle for the experience and suffered the first US land deaths in Europe; the Dieppe failure influenced planning for the later Operation Torch and Operation Overlord

Photo: August, 1942 by unknown: Dieppe beach, after the raid an abandonded Dingo Scout Car (British light fast 4WD reconnaissance vehicle) is in the foreground. The white cliffs are in the distance. Photo: April, 2010 by L Gunter: The Dieppe beach and white cliffs pretty much look the same.

Week 2 in Rouen -- by Lola

April 12-16, 2010 Rouen, France

Knowing what to expect made things easier this week. We're still mentally tired after class--several hours of trying to speak and comprend everything in French burns up alot of brain power!

Our classmates this week were a sweet woman from Japan (Eri), a quiet man from Japan (Hiroyshi), an earnest woman from Germany (Marion), and a fun loving German man currently living in Switzerland (Tomas). In class, we had interactive instruction in French on:

• how to form the future proche verb tense
• how to form the future simple verb tense
• how to do comparisons (more than, less than, the same...)
• vocabulary related to the Icelandic volcanic eruption
• listening exercises and vocabulary related to shopping and markets

Outside of class
Our life is settling into a comfortable rhythm. This week:

• After class, we walk over to the medieval section of town and get a bite to eat from a streetside vendor for lunch.
• We might run (walk) some errands, visit a museum, explore or just head back to the apartment.
  
• Back home, we drop off our school bags. If we get mail, Madame Lejamble puts it on the buerau in the hallway. There might be a nap.
• We'll then walk a couple of blocks to the boulangerie for fresh bread and perhaps stop into a store for wine or something else needed for diner. We might take the subway back into the center of Rouen.
  
• Afterwards, I'll either make dinner (frequently) or we'll go out (not as often).
• In the evening, there's usually some surfing on the Internet, studying/homework, email/Facebook...then conking out in bed.

We went to the Ironwork Museum in Roeun. It was fantastic! There are literally thousands of GORGEOUS handmade iron objects-everything from signs, railings, doors, hinges, tools to coffee pots and corsets. Yep. They had iron corsets. Hmm....I'll have to make a separate post JUST on this museum!

Icelandic volcano causes major travel problems throughout Europe

Monday, April 19, 2010 update:
Day 4 of flight disruptions because of the volcanic ash over Europe. Airports throughout Europe continue to be closed. Airlines are getting very grumpy. UK sending 3 Royal Navy warships to Spain to pick up stranded passengers.

Interesting links:

• Iceland 2010 A great list of links about the volcano: blogs, webcams, satellite and other photos, seismic information, etc.

• SwissEduc: Source for the spectacular photo at the top of the blog. Aerial and ground shots of the volcano.

Fri., April 16, 2010 update:
In our Friday French class we covered vocabulary in the following sequence. We found the progression quite amusing...

• volcanos (un volcan: volcano, "un volcan est entré en éruption", la cendre: ash, la lave: lava, la caillou: pebble, le nuage: cloud, etc.)
• airplane engine (le moteour d'avion)
• phobias (avoir peur de ....)
• spiders (une arignée, une patte: leg for animals/insects)
• earthquakes (un tremblement de terre)
• dizziness ("J'ai la tête qui tourne.", s'evandour)
• bungee-jumping (le saut à l'elastique)

Thurs, April 15, 2010

Like a scene in a disaster movie, the Icelandic volcano under the glacier with the unpronounceable name of Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH'-plah-yer-kuh-duhl ... see? even with the guide did you say it correctly?) erupted again on Wed, April 14 2010. This same volcano erupted just prior to our April 1 flight through Iceland, though the March 20th, 2010 eruption only caused a few disruptions.


Friday April 16 update: With the volcanic ash able to bring down aircraft, some 60% of flights in Europe have been grounded, and more than half of trans-Atlantic flights cancelled, the European air traffic agency, Eurocontrol, said.

As a gigantic cloud of volcanic ash drifted towards Europe, it caused upwards of 6,000 of flights to be cancelled. Half of North American flights are expected to be affected on Friday. On Thursday, France shut down 24 airports, including the main hub of Charles de Gaulle in Paris, and several flights out of the U.S. had to double back.

Airspace over the United Kingdom was closed to all flights except emergencies at least until Friday. The National Air Traffic Service said Britain had not halted all flights in its space in living memory, although most flights were grounded after Sept. 11. Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands also announced the complete or partial closure of their respective airspace.

...An aviation expert said it was the first time in living memory that an ash cloud had affected some of the most congested airspace in the world, while a scientist in Iceland said the ejection of volcanic ash — and therefore disruptions in air travel — could continue for days or even weeks.

It's the second time in 200 years this particular volcano has erupted. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye out for some beautiful sunsets here in Rouen!

Friday, April 16 update: Sunset was faintly pink. Perhaps Saturday will be more dramatic....

Tempus fugit! The Great Clock

April, 2010 Rouen, France
Sitting in an outdoor cafe, sipping "un cafe" and people watching .

Wandering through Vieux Rouen (Old Rouen), a warren of tiny streets lined with hundreds of half-timbered medieval houses, you will find the Le Gros Horloge (the Big Clock). The symbol of Rouen, the clock is located on a beautiful stone archway crossing the rue du Gros-Horloge.

In 1409 a clock face was installed on the archway over a gate in the ancient Roman walls.

The current archway and clock faces (one on each side of the archway) were rebuilt between 1527-1529. On the two Renaissance clock faces:

• a single hand indicates the hour: time didn't need to be more exact!
  
• under the number VI, an image representing the day of the week (Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Sun) appears on a chariot at noon
• above the clock face, a globe indicates the phase of the moon

Because it speaks to me...

"...Man has no harbor, time has no shore;
It flows, and we pass! ..."

from the poem Le Lac by French poet Lamartine:
...L’homme n’a point de port, le temps n’a point de rive ;
Il coule, et nous passons !...

"But meanwhile it flees: time flees irretrievably, while we wander around, prisoners of our love of detail."

from the poem Georgics written by Roman poet Virgil:
Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus, singula dum capti circumvectamur amore

"I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive." Joseph Campbell

So, I Have a New Hobby...

Just down the block from me is a little convenience store. Its really the only thing open in the evenings and on Sunday. If you imagine a 7-11 without the prepared food, combined with a liquor store, all of which fits neatly into a large walk-in closet, you have the picture.

My new hobby is playing "what the hell are you" with the owner. Really, he doesn't know what my nationality is, and it seems to be driving him slowly mad. I have never, EVER, spoken anything but French to him. Now my French is far from fluent, let alone perfect, so he has to know that I'm not French. Tonight, when I stopped by to pick up a couple of beers, he spoke to me in French, English, and Spanish. I answered each question in French, and waved goodbye as I left.

I'll let you know if he tries German or Chinese next :-)

Update: 12 April, 6:30 pm

Tonight, he tried Italian...

Thwarted by a Flea

April 10, 2010, Rouen
On Saturday morning, we rather spontaneously decided to take the train out to Dieppe for the day. It is only a 45 minute train ride from Rouen, via the French SNCF train network. So, basic plan in hand, we hopped the Metro into Rouen to the train station.

The Gare de Rue Verte (or train station) in Rouen is built in the art nouveau style and is quite convenient; there is a metro stop right at the train station.

Upstairs, there are a whole series of ticket machines making it very convenient to buy your tickets without ever having to talk to an actual human. At this point, dear reader, you might be wondering where the whole "Thwarted by a Flea" title comes in. Patience... in fact, we're there now.

In most of Europe, bank debit cards are different from those in the US. In addition to having the magnetic stripe, the bank cards here (generally referred to as Carte Bleue) also have a small chip in them. In French, the chip is referred to as une puce, or a flea.

So, I walk to to the ticket machine, punch up a couple of tickets for the 10:15 train to Dieppe (it being 10:05 at this point), put in my card, and have the machine tell me "no no no, you don't have the right card". Well, actually I do have a French bankcard with une puce, I just haven't gotten my bank in the US to put money into my account in France. So while I have the right card, I CAN'T BUY THE DAMNED TICKET with it! Given now that it is 10:10, and there are 15 people in line for the ticket window, we waved off on the trip for this weekend.

On a very up note, we did have a fantastic dinner at at La Toque d'Or (which translates as the Gold Cap).

We each had a delicious meal, right by the fireplace below.

• foie gras with a fig and preserved fruit compote, served with brioche toast
• tagliatelle and wild boar in a sauce with a wine poached pear,
  
• cheese course (a creamy goat cheese, and an unexpectedly salty, rich Neufchâtel),
  
• all topped off with a warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream
  

Yum!

Week 1 and Studying French -- by Dave

One of the main reasons that we came to France was to study French.  There is nothing like being in an immersion situation to make you improve quickly and consistently,  If you have to shop, ask directions, and order dinner in another language, you tend to figure it out pretty quickly.

We selected French in Normandy as our language school for several reasons.  First off, we didn't want to be in Paris.  Don't get me wrong - I love Paris.  But, I didn't want to live in a city of 11 million people while working on learning the language.  Rouen is a much more approachable city.  Second, French in Normandy has won several awards of distinction over the years - based on week 1, they are well deserved.

We took a verbal and written exam on the first day, and got moved between a couple of different classes until we were situated in one that was the right level of difficulty.  Students come and go every week, but in week one, we had one man from Indonesia, one man from Argentina, and two women from Japan.  Most of them spoke no English, and well, my Indonesian is even worse than my Japanese - and I don't speak Japanese.  So, clearly from the start, French would be our common language.

The classes are high speed and low drag.  When we get out of class, we are pretty brain-fried for a bit.  The instructors do make it quite fun, and really do manage to integrate speaking, listening, writing, and reading.  We wrapped up the week by doing some research, and presentations, on French musicians.  We then listened to a bit of their music, which was quite a bit of fun, except for getting a song stuck in my head...

First Week in Rouen and French class -- by Lola

Wandering around jet lagged our first few days, we still managed to find freshly baked baguettes and croissants, French wine, and cheese. Madame Lejamble and I had a pleasent 2 hour conversation--with the aid of a French-English dictionary. I ended up saying "death" (mort) instead of "word" (mot), but other than that, things went pretty well.

Because of the Easter holiday, our first day of class at the French in Normandy school was Tuesday. All of the instruction is in French. To give you an idea of my level starting out, well, I've been studying French for about 6 months with Emily Carmichael. She's an excellent teacher, but I was thrilled when I could understand a French toddler in the grocery store pointing out items on the shelves. In other words, I have a fairly basic understanding.

Now this particular Tuesday, the letter "y" didn't exist for me. I couldn't remember how to say it when reciting the alphabet in French, and it fell out of any French words I had to write. On the board in front of class. It was that kind of day.

The teacher made a "tut tut tut" sound that was the verbal equivalent of a Catholic nuns' ruler. However, she quickly realized Dave and I were actually capable of conjugating être and avoir (the next hurdle in her class), and so moved us to a more advanced class. One that, thankfull_, did not include the letter "y".

And so, we began the week by conjugating French verbs in passé compose. My mind melted, but I still had fun. My classmates-two sweet Japanese ladies (Rei and Eri), a wise-cracking Argentinan man (Emiliano), and a calmly competent Indonesian man (George)- all helped to make things easier. To help each other understand words and concepts, we used a combination of pantomime, drawing, bits of French, English, Spanish, or whatever language we could find in common. When we listened to French singers on Friday, the teacher asked us what the album name "Dig Up Elvis" (Julien Doré) meant. Pretending to dig up a zombie Elvis, everyone was quite amused-and horrified-at the same time.

10 Tips to Make Flying Coach Less of a Pain

We've been on many long (3++ hour) domestic and international flights over the years. Travel has become more of a hassle with crowded flights, reduced services and increased restrictions. Here are a few simple things we do to help keep us sane when flying coach.

What about you? Do you have some good plane travel tips?

1. Wear comfortable clothes. Light layers work well; a seat near an exit door can get mighty chilly while another seat on the same flight may be too warm. Comfie, easy to remove shoes make getting through security-and taking shoes off when on the plane-easier.
2. Go to the bathroom before getting on the plane. I’ve been stuck on the tarmac for several hours waiting for takeoff, and caught behind the service cart as it slowly inches down the aisle.
3. Bring water with you. Dehydration can lead to headaches, itchy eyes, contribute to fatigue and may increase your chance of getting sick. I take an empty bottle through security and fill it on the other side or purchase a bottle of water in the terminal prior to boarding. Saline nasal spray works well as does eye drops if you are prone to dry eyes.
   
4. Bring food with you. BYOG (bring your own grub): nuts, jerky, cheese, dried and fresh fruit are all filling and compact. When flying internationally, I usually either eat or toss food I’ve carried on before going through customs to avoid potential food importation hassles.
5. Keep a few items handy; try not to put anything under the seat in front of you. Put items you want to have handy-water, snacks, etc. in a small bag to keep in the seat near you or put them in the seatback pocket.
   
6. Count seats to your nearest exit(s). This tip came from a friend who survived a major plane crash. While unlikely I’ll need to a) evacuate a plane when b) I can’t see, it’s trivial to do as I’m boarding or buckling my seatbelt. On this trip, I counted in French.
7. Change the time on your watch to match your time zone destination after you are on the plane. This way I start thinking--and try to act like I'm in--my new time zone for sleeping and eating. The only caution is if you are changing planes in yet another time zone.
8. Reduce your personal noise level. Earplugs are cheap and tiny. Sometimes I play white noise on my iPhone/iPod/MP3/other device or use noise-canceling headphones. Even without other noises, just the sound of the engines makes me tired.
9. Move around and take off your shoes...after getting to altitude. Feet tend to swell on long flights. Pick a pair of shoes you can slip back on after having had them off for a few hours. I regularly flex and extend my feet while seated, and get out of my seat every hour or so if not sleeping.
10. If sleeping on the plane, make your own small travel kit. I bring a small travel pillow, and a blindfold in addition to the usual earplugs. I having like a window seat: there's something to lean against. I don't sleep well on planes so I've started taking some kind of sleep aid-on this trip, ambien worked well for me. For when I wake up, mints and hard candies containing caffeine are handy.
    

It All Begins with a Plane....

April 1st and 2nd, 2010 Seattle via Iceland to Paris


Icelandair planes are named after Icelandic volcanos. Our plane was the Hofsjökull, which is the largest active volcano in the country. On March 20, 2010, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted and caused some flights to be rerouted or cancelled. Luckily, we didn't have any problems.

As if to calm the nerves of anyone who noticed their plane was named after a mountain that randomly spews fiery molten death, the captain spoke reassuringly to us in Icelandic. Or perhaps not…my Icelandic is pretty much limited to coffee (kaffi) and he never said that. Pity.

Stewardesses in their dark blue pillbox hats ensured our seatbacks were upright. In the event of a crash. we were now safely locked in that razor thin 3 inch zone separating “alive” or “dead”.

On a positive note, the seat was comfortable with at least reasonable legroom. My sleek personal seatback entertainment system refused to play Tetris, offered to teach me Icelandic and carefully pinpointed my flight’s progress. There was even a USB jack! I kicked off my shoes, took a sip of water from my Sigg bottle, popped in my earplugs, and settled back into my travel pillow in the yoga pose known as “airplane pretzel”.

An uneventful 6 hours later, we landed in Iceland. That was one odd landscape. Treeless, snowless and flat, the land was smoothly undulating yet also fissured. Fascinating geology. But in just a few minutes we were on the ground, quickly clearing EU customs, and off to catch our 3 hour flight to Paris.

Other than one exploded bag (figuratively, not literally), all our luggage arrived intact in Paris. Monsieur Blanchard met us at the gate. He spoke a little English; our sleep deprived, jet lagged brains didn’t offer up much French. After a 2 hour ride, we arrived in Rouen. And so, we begin the next part of the story at Madame Lejamble’s home, which will also be our home until June...