Friday at the sea

I set my alarm for even later today, and yet again when I arrived downstairs, this time at ten-thirty, no one else except Mr. Beguin had left their bedroom. A few minutes into my breakfast, Julien arrived in the kitchen to prepare breakfast for him and Marie so they could have breakfast in bed together. Just like M. et Madame Beguin. I need to find a French husband who will bring me breakfast in bed…it’s a lovely tradition. Last night at dinner they asked me if the American husbands did the same thing. I replied with a puzzled look and said not exactly.

After breakfast M. Beguin took me out on the bicycles to their other house/garden to pick up his car. Turns out he completely restored an old car like Mme. Beguin’s…a small “primose yellow” (the exact name of the color according to him) convertible that is British in origin but came to him from Florida. It’s absolutely adorable and we cruised around the countryside in it. We stopped at a Canadian cemetery along the way, and then arrived home for him to show me his other automobile pride and joy…and American jeep from the disembarkation in 1944.

After a lovely lunch outside in the sun, M. Beguin and I hopped in the car and headed to the American cemetery. It was a beautiful drive there, past a boatyard and lots of sailboats and a beautiful golf course. The cemetery was packed with tourists and even in the small car we had trouble finding a parking space. The layout was extremely moving, although the atmosphere was slightly disrupted by the hordes of people. We didn’t spend much time there as the sun disappeared upon our arrival, and we had to get home by convertible and bicycle before the rain came. (Weather here is very bizarre…the temperature has varied by about 15 degrees up and down throughout the course of the day, and has alternated between blue skies and sunshine, grey and clouds, and rain.) The cemetery excursion was definitely interesting and I’m glad I’ve gotten to see what Normandy is known for. It’s been interesting being here, and in France in general and hearing about WWII, because the war and the memories are very alive here. Perhaps it’s because I took two classes with historical components, but in France WWII is the point of departure for so many historical phenomenon, political events, memories, monuments, etc. France essentially fought on both sides, with collaborators and resistors, and it seems that they almost overcompensate for the collaborators with their commemoration of the resistance. It’s definitely a point of great difficulty for the French, with a government who wants to forget Vichy and people who are conflicted about how to view the regime. Part of the presidential inauguration includes a ceremony in honor of the resistance at the Arc de Triomphe, and a second in the Bois de Bologne. It will be interesting to see how long the memories and commemoration continue…if they’ll fade with the survivors and resistors or if France will continue to commemorate WWII like it does the revolution.

Alors, after our little excursion I went for a run through town and along the cliffs, and now I’m headed next door to Jeanne’s house where all the young people are having a BBQ.