The Other Side of France...

Check out pictures from my weekend here.

This past weekend I made my way all the way across the country, from south coast to north coast, and visited my great aunt and uncle (Chris and Myriam) at their vacation house in Normany. I was lucky enough to be able to spend the weekend traveling with one of my close friends from high school, Victor, who is spending the semester studying in London. As he goes to school at USC in California, I haven't gotten to see him much since we graduated, and this weekend was a great opportunity for us to catch up.

I woke up early Friday morning, and made the by now familiar trip to Paris; bus to the bus station, bus to the TGV station, train to Paris. I really am starting to become quite the pro at traveling. I've got packing down to a routine, and it's nice having the feeling that everything I need is in my backpack. Victor and I had arranged to meet in the center of Paris, and as it was his first time in France we decided to spend the day touring Paris. As I'd spent a week there this past summer, I acted as tour guide. It gave me a sense of being more than just a tourist, being able to show someone else around what is rapidly becoming my adopted homeland. I met Victor at Notre Dame, and from there we headed to the Marais (Jewish quarter) to go to my favorite falafel place, L'as Du Falafel. On the way we stopped at the Pompidou Center, Paris's inside-out modern art museum. Walking through the Marais is such a surreal experience which Victor and I (having both visited Israel) really got a kick out of. Looking around, it feels like you could be in the old city. All the store signs are in French and Hebrew, there are Jewish stars everywhere, and Orthodox Jews are everywhere. Inside L'as Du Falafel we heard locals routinely being greeted with "boker tov", and when the host led us to a table I instinctively said "todah". Very weird feeling.

From the Marais we walked about 20 minutes to the Louvre, then through the Tuillerie Gardens, up the Champs D'elysee, saw the Arc de Triomphe, and walked down to the Eiffel Tower. It was a gorgeous day, almost too hot, and we were able to see a good bit of the city. After taking the metro to the train station, we got on a train to Caen and headed for Normandy. Three hours later we arrived in Caen, and had an hour and a half before the next bus to Chris and Myriam's town departed, so we went looking for food. We settled on a pizza place, and unknowingly wandered in to a great travel story.

The owner of the place was a very nice guy, and he and I had a good conversation in French about where we were from, where we were going, etc. Victor and I each ordered a pizza, only understanding what 80% of the words were on the menu. When our pizzas came, mine had some sort of salami on it, and Victor's appeared to have bits of sausage all over it. Victor laboriously picked the pieces of sausage off of his pizza (being Kosher) and, not having time to return the pizza, ate it anyways. When we had finished the owner came over to clear our plates and asked Victor if he was a vegetarian. Victor, not wanting to get into the merits of Judaism, said yes. The owner, not believing him I guess, said (in French) "you know there's no pork in it?" He then went on to explain (all in French) that all of the meat in the pizza place came from a kosher butcher. Ignoring the fact that he sells meat to a pizza place, Victor and I couldn't believe the odds of being served kosher meat in the middle of a small town in France.

We made it easily to Chris and Myriam's, and spent a while catching up and talking with them. They graciously offered to drive us around to where we wanted to visit on Saturday, which was unbelievably helpful. The sights in Normandy are quite spread out, and I don't know what we would have done otherwise. The first place we visited on Saturday was the American military cemetery and memorial at Omaha Beach. They have a nice museum that you can walk through, with stories, testimonials, history, and videos to see. Outside is the cemetery, the one seen at the end of Saving Private Ryan. We actually went and saw the graves of the brothers who the Ryan brothers were based on. The whole experience is really quite powerful, and a bit difficult. Standing there looking out at over 9,000 white crosses (and Jewish stars), you really get a sense of how many American lives were lost in the fight for France and freedom. At the same time, I have no doubt that it was a sacrifice that needed to be made, and I felt incredibly proud to be an American. In my mind, that is one of the greatest things that our country has ever done.

Next we went to Mulberry Harbor. This was where the British forces landed, and where they pulled off a remarkable engineering feat. They constructed a harbor in England in pieces, towed the pieces across the channel, and sunk them in place off of the French coast. This allowed them to be able to dock and unload their battleships which were much to large to come to shore. Many pieces of the harbor are still there, and there's an excellent museum that shows the history of the harbor and its design. The museum also showcased the many different nations that were part of D-day that are not usually recognized (Canada, Czechoslavakia, French freedom fighters, etc.)

Our last stop of the day was in the town of Bayeux. I really loved this town, and it reminded me a lot of Aix, although with a slightly different atmosphere and architecture. There's a magnificent cathedral there, which really stands out in the small town. Bayeux is home to the famous Bayeux Tapestry which we went and saw. The 70 meter tapestry was commissioned in the 11th century and details the story of William the Conqueror. If you really want to know the story, go see it (or you could use Google). It was a very interesting thing to see, and a fascinating look back at how stories were told to the illiterate masses BEFORE they had TV. Go figure.

When we got back to Chris and Myriam's house we had a few hours of sun left, so Victor and I walked over to the beach (only a few hundred feet). Although it was nice getting near the water and getting my feet in the sand, I must say that I like the Southern coast much better. There's something about the Mediterranean that feels more...tropical maybe is the word I'm looking for. The Northern coast just feels rocky and...coastal. Impressed by my massive...word picks? The next morning Chris and Myriam drove us to Caen and walked us through the market, past the castle, and down by the cathedral. I really don't know what we would have done without them. It was so nice having our own tour guides for the weekend. It was so nice having such a relaxing travel weekend for a change; not a big group of people, not having to worry about lodging, not having to worry about transportation.

Interesting side note; every train I'd gone on, someone was very careful about coming through the train and checking everyone's ticket. I had two contrasting experiences on this trip though. On both Paris-Caen trains our tickets weren't checked (much to Victor's disgust, as he needn't have spent 60 euro on tickets) (didn't cost me anything with my Eurail pass). However, on the train back from Paris to Aix they not only checked my ticket, but also asked for a passport, which I luckily had thought to pack.

As I was on the train back to Aix, it was really apparent how diverse this great country is. In just six hours I went from one side of the country to the total opposite side. From green pastures in Normandy to rugged hillsides in Provence. The two regions feel like entirely different countries. The people, the buildings, the landscape, the colors; it was like walking between two different worlds. I loved Normandy, but the whole time it just amplified the fact that THIS world is where my heart is.