France (Days 3-5: Mont Saint-Michel and Omaha Beach)

Wednesday morning we drove to a little mall to do some shopping.  We purchased a cell phone with a French number.  We figured out the French system of parking in their parking garages.  We are learning new things as we move along.

Wednesday afternoon we drove 3 1/2 hours to a Bed & Breakfast owned by Jacquie and Jim (https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/306880).  We love their little place (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/62944?sug=50) and they have been so good to us for the past three days.  They are from northern England, up near the border with Scotland.

http://www.gitedumontitier.co.uk/Home.html

Jarem and Sara, we thought of you when we looked around a bit.  I picture you two running a place like this in the countryside of France (or England) one day.

We paid a bit extra to have Jacquie make dinner for us two of the three nights, and boy was it worth it.  Fabulous food.  In the photo above, Doogles would not give me a "cheese" or even look at the camera.  He was still not feeling well on Wednesday.  In fact, Wednesday night was rough for all three of us.  The weather was unusually warm, and as many of you know, Europe is known for NOT having air-conditioning.  Most of the time they don't need it.  So Wednesday night was warm and Doogles was extremely restless.  He threw up another time or two as well.

Normandy pork prepared by Jacquie.

As I said before, Douglas maintains his sense of humor even when he's not feeling well.  Rather than eat on his place mat, he chose to wear it.

Dessert was a delicious apple pie with some kind of raspberry topping and cream to pour over the top.

Wednesday evening we took a stroll on a dirt road running through the corn fields.  You see the Mont of Saint Michel in the background.

He's practicing his typing skills these days.

Jarem, you will be proud of Doogles when you see this video.

Almost every evening for the past seven years Jacquie and Jim have helped block the road for a local sheep herder, who happens to be their neighbor.  What a fun little event for us to experience.

Breakfast of various breads and homemade jams, fruit, Swiss cheese, and home-grown tomatoes.....and of course a French breakfast wouldn't be a French breakfast without Nutella.
Jacquie and Jim grow much of their own produce.

Sam wisely decided to change our itinerary on Thursday.  We were going to visit the D-Day beaches north of here, but she decided that we would stay in the area and let the little man relax all morning.  He fell asleep again around 9:00am and woke up at 12:30pm.  Tired boy.  While they stayed at the B&B I followed the sheep trails for four miles toward the Mont.  Oh, what a beautiful morning it was.  I walked back with a lady from New Jersey and a man from England.  I believe they are dating. Among other things, we chatted about the LDS (Mormon) Church and the pros and cons of capitalism and socialism.

Thursday afternoon all three of us took a shuttle back to the Mont to hike up inside the monastery.  We had the pleasure of joining a singing group on the shuttle.

Doogles and I waited at the bottom while Mom climbed to the top.  The little man was feeling much better.  He even popped out for some sunshine . . .

. . . and then he decided it was too bright.

"Sun in my eyes!  Want shade!"

Then it was my turn to ascend.

View of the shuttle route to the Mont.

Sam took this photo of our funny boy being goofy.

Thursday evening we tried a local favorite:  Moules-frites.  French fries with mussels.

I think we both agreed that one time was sufficient.  It's like eating clam chowder with French fries.

We got to experience the sheep crossing again Thursday night.

The little black, diesel, manual Peugeot is our rental for the time we are in France.  I really enjoy driving that zippy little thing around the narrow, back-country French roads.

Another daily occurrence in the neighborhood.

 A few photos of the Mont with the "Painting" setting on my camera.

Douglas was clearly feeling much better Thursday evening.  He deposited a log into the tub during bath time.  Nothing like a warm bath to relax the body. :)

 I wrote the lines just above this photo early this morning, before we began our day.  Then I took this photo before Sam and I went downstairs for breakfast.  We placed extra pillows around Doogles so he wouldn't roll off the bed, because he moves all over while he sleeps.  We were surprised to find him still asleep when we came back upstairs.  We were even more surprised to find his eyes swollen shut. No wonder he was "sleeping" so long!  He couldn't open his eyes!  He had a thick layer of hardened puss holding his eyes shut.  We used a washcloth with warm water to clean his eyes and pry them open, but eventually we had to visit the local pharmacy to purchase some eye drops.  His eyes are improving, but we'll see what tomorrow morning brings.  Oh, the joys of foreign travel with a sick child.  We are making memories, and none of them are necessarily bad.  There are simply memories on which we will look back and smile, and others on which we will look back and roll our (non-swollen) eyes.

 After finding some relief for Doogles we drove 90 minutes north to Omaha Beach and the Normandy American Cemetery.  This is the Omaha Beach Memorial.

 This photo appears to show a scene of beauty and peace, but in reality Douglas had a "terrible twos" morning.  A boy who normally loves the sand, he was extremely angry when Mom took his shoes and socks off and put his bare feet on the sand.  The extra crying/whining didn't help his swollen eyes and runny nose.  Then he was deeply offended that a nut from the Lara Bar he was eating happened to be in his mouth.......after he put it in his mouth!!  He insisted that Mom pick it out of his mouth.

 We were finally able to distract him by throwing shells and chasing seagulls.

 Goofy

 Happy

 And a sudden change of mood.  Children (sometimes) make me want to pull out what hairs remain on my head.

 Normandy American Cemetery

 The ceiling of a small chapel at the Normandy American Cemetery

 I must say that 90% of the time we have a very pleasant, funny child.

The Normandy American Cemetery is a beautiful, peaceful place.

Tomorrow morning we head to Vichy, where we will settle down for the next month while Sam perfects her French and I become a connoisseur of French food.  Connoisseur comes from a French word.

Thank you, Jacquie and Jim, for being such wonderful hosts!