A whole lot of random stuff.....

France. This word seems to stir up many different opinions. Since my first trip to France was just to Paris, about seven years ago, I formed a certain perception of it. Having recently been through a much larger area, I found that I really enjoyed France.
We started in the big city of Paris and drew a line through Versailles, Normandy, the D Day beaches, Bayeux, Mont St. Michel, Brittany, St. Malo, and Arcachon. We mainly stayed along the west coast, and I am happy to report that France is filled with friendly people, beautiful countryside, and lots of chateaus! My favorite? I would have to say Normandy. We found a great place to stay near Omaha beach (just by following hand written signs nonetheless). It was in an old but charming place, and included: a huge clean room, great garden outside, an actual queen mattress and not two twin beds pushed together(the first we had found in all of Europe!!), and an adorable non creepy French man who loved Americans. From there we visited the War Memorial in Omaha, which is the largest American cemetery in Europe. It was a very well done memorial, and a good to reflect on such an important part of history. Standing on the calm sandy beaches, it was hard to imagine the battle that took place there-but you could still see old rusted tops of ships sticking out of the water.

Since it has been so long since our last entry, this one might be a bit scattered, so I apologize in advance. I do have some things to share with you that I have learned the last few days. These are both French specific, and some apply to Europeans as a whole:
~When traffic stops suddenly, the last few cars put on their hazards as a warning to other quickly approaching cars. My thought is when you are braking so hard, how do you have time or reflexes to worry about your hazards?
~When a hotel or bed and Breakfast says it includes breakfast, ask what specifically. We have been presented too many times with old bread, butter, and stale coffee.
~If you would like to blend in in France, it's easy: just hold a baguette in your hand. Everyone's doing it. They are kinda hard, maybe they double as a weapon?
~When Euro's hit traffic, they take a break. They ditch their cars, walk around, chat with their fellow traffic sitters, smoke, etc. In America, we will sit in traffic for five hours before we might jump out of our seat in a panic and run to the trunk for a bottle of water. Meanwhile, traffic will have moved a whole five feet, two cars will have already squeezed in, while the person behind you incessantly honks.
~Ah, the European radio. We did bring an ipod, but no adaptor since we thought we would be using headphones in a train. There are a surprising amount of English songs on the radio. In fact so many, that it has been hard to find authentic regional music. (which Bran has been thankful for, his "favorite" being the french singing men) . You want country, rap, or classical music? No need to change the station cause they play it all. Red neck yatch club, Justin Timberlake, Mozart, and even classic Rock.

Friends Corner:
~A French man came to greet us in St Malo (yes, it is the town that the one in Carlsbad was modeled after, so cool!) to show us his guest room. The first thing my eyes were drawn to were his tight leather pants as he stepped out of his minivan. All I could think about was Ross and his attempt to wear them. My favorite part, when Joey recommends, "make yourself a pair of paste pants" .
~Brandon has a great French voice. He makes this funny face and his voice goes real low, and he just mumbles words together, alfjdaklhd akjdfkl. It makes me laugh every time. Remember when Phoebe is trying to teach Joey French, so he can "do" all the things on his resume? She says to repeat after her, 'Je m'appelle Claude' Joey says," blah blah hakdfhi fjslidu"
~We have made it a habit to practice a few words of the language of the region we are going. Most of the time, we have no idea if we are pronouncing anything right. In the last episodes, Rach is leaving to go to Paris and says, "Aur Verior, oh man, they are really going to hate me!" I know how she feels.

Awkward moments:
~We told our nice hosts, breakfast at nine would be great. Nine o clock. No one is around, its dark inside. So, I ring the doorbell. They come to the door, half asleep, in their robes. After trying to explain the situation in French, it turns out there was a time change the night before (which we did not know about) and it was actually 8. oops. To make us feel worse, they had breakfast ready in 10 min, with homemade croissants too!
~We were the only guests in a deserted house, while grandma and grandpa lived close by. We were starving, and got some veggies at a stand close by.We needed something to cook them with, so we did some snooping and found butter and pepper to cook some veggies in, and a bag of croissants. Well, they showed up unexpectedly, luckily we were upstairs, and we knew we had been caught. Oh, and we used thier washer, which Bran is convinced they also noticed. But, they never said anything!
~We set up the tripod near the Eiffel tower, and several people stopped so they wouldn't be in the picture. Two men were approaching, one saw the tripod and couldn't stop his friend in time. He stopped right in front of it, as another guys yelled at him in French. We just laughed awkwardly , and quickly walked away.
~We were in Archanon, walking beside the beach and stopped to splurge and get some crepes. I ordered first, not too hard to say "un crepe s'll vous plait." He smiled and got my crepe. Bran wanted a waffle with chocolate and nuts, and proceeded to order such. He got no such smile, and the other patron and him started talking in French. Bran did get what he wanted, and the best part was when Bran paid him, he handed the change to me. I laughed, Bran didn't think it was so funny.
~Our hotel in Versailles had Internet, for 4 Euro per half hour. Mind you, this place was kinda ghetto. Anyway, the Internet was close to the receptionist, but in a tiny room. We devised a plan. I was the bait, and distracted her, and Bran when in to check our email real quick, and get a phone number. James Bond snuck out successfully on his own. It looked easy enough, so I tried it. I had to email Nikki for her birthday! I got in ok, but only 3 minutes into it, a man opened the door wanting to use it. He actually jumped, not expecting anyone to be inside, and my cover was blown. I just walked away instead of trying to explain in French.

Favorites:
~St. Mont Michel. I tiny coastal town in France. It has an old monestary/castle out on an island. When the tide is high, which it was when we went, you can drive out to it and park outside the walled "city" It was breathtaking. And, very odd to thing the parking lot we were in would be covered in ocean in just a few hours!
~Our stay last night. We stayed just oustide of San Sebastion in Spain. We were trying to find a place to stay, heading to a smaller rural area outside the crazy city. God took care of us once again, and we found the best place. It was high on a green hill, with views of the ocean all around. It was clean, they had a jacuzzi, and everything for breakfast was home made.
~Stopping at a vegetable stand, trying to communicate what we wanted in French. Then, going back to our place and making our own home made dinner. It was the best meal. Granted, it was our first that day, so we were kinda bias, but so nice to have local veggies and to have cooked it ourselves!
~ Brugge. This was on the west side of Belgium. A small town, cobble streets, many water canals. Plus, we met some two couples at a Brewery tour, and chatted for a while. We ended up meeting them for dinner, and it was so nice to feel like we were back home, out with friends, chatting and drinking the night away!
~ All the chocolate. It is everywhere. Belgium was the best, with a chocolate shop on every corner. Yum.
Adios for now.