There are times when one is traveling when comparisons between cultures are so powerful they make one wonder if one's culture is damaged, broken or possibly destroyed.
Today is Independence Day in Norway. We are in the town of Kristiansand watching their celebration with a delightful parade made up entirely of bands and children marching and singing as they joyfully parade through the old part of town. No artificial stuff... no Snoopy balloons, no floats or TV stars... just each school by grade, marching, waving flags, smiling and singing. After the parade we strolled through the quaint small town (pop. 80k) and ended up at a beautiful new concert hall located on the edge of the harbor. It was such a remarkable structure we stuck our noses in even though it was obvious the hall was not open. We had no sooner entered the lobby when a nicely dressed man greeted us. We explained we were American tourists and were simply being snoopy... he was delighted that we took the time to visit "his" hall (he's the manager) and gave us a brief history of how the unique building was constructed and then gave us total access to all three concert halls on our own... no escort... no search... no concerns. We explored the beautiful structure and 30 minutes later returned to the lobby where he met us and asked if we had any questions. He thanked us for coming and participating in their country's Independence DAY celebration.
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| Concert Hall |
Roll back the calendar FOUR days when we visited the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach in Normandy. We approach a newly constructed Visitors Center that looks like a cement block. We are immediately accosted by TSA agents and instructed to open our bags and empty our pockets before passing through a metal detector. We are on truly sacred ground where thousands of Americans died with over 9,000 buried nearby. Thoroughly depressed and angry by the offensive attitude of these government minions, I seek out the manager and ask them why they feel the need to insult those who come to pay their respects to the fallen? Evidently the US ambassador to France insisted on it when the new center was opened a couple of years ago. So a line of Americans, most of which were obviously veterans, had to be searched and x-rayed before they could watch a couple of sterile movies about D-Day.
I know some will think that because of 911 we have to give up certain freedoms to stay safe... do you really think terrorists want to attack buried soldiers? The Norwegians have had a horrible mass killing (50+ died) in the last couple of years in addition to some serious problems with muslim immigrants but remain open, seemingly unafraid, hospitable and refuse to allow the weirdoes among them to dominate their lives.
I will write more about Normandy, D-Day and Overlord in a separate blog. It was an emotional event and requires much thought before putting my feelings on paper (well, virtual paper anyhow).
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| Chateau in Anger |
We decided to leave our cozy little abode in The Vendee earlier than planned as we wanted to visit some ancient places as well as Normandy before heading to Kristiansand Norway on business. Our first stop was the ancient city of Angers where there is a fabulous chateau with an awesome moat. The chateau is the home to the world's largest tapestry. Although photography was proscribed Jill managed to sneak this pic (sans flash) of a about three quarters of the tapestry... amazing (both sneaky Jill and the tapestry!!!)
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| Largest tapestry in the world |
After touring the grounds we had lunch at La Theatrè restaurant... when was the last time you actually saw tartare (raw meat) on a menu? Had to try it... yum yum!
From Angers we drove toward Rennes. We were delighted to discover the oldest structure in France quite by accident... a 7,000 BC dolmen, otherwise known as megalithic tombs. Truly a profound place filled with mystery and wonder. Come to find out there are dolmens located all over the world including Korea (greatest number) and even in Vermont. No one knows what they are or why they exist but it pretty much makes the
case that we really don't know the true history of mankind.
After touring the dolmen, we drove to Remees where we spent the night after having the best meal since arriving in France. It was an expensive meal of a whole John Dorry. It cost us over $100 ea. for the fish, some great wine and dessert... $200+!!! Indeed we were very disappointed in the quality and price of the food in France in general. Other than two excellent and costly meals, we found the food quality poor and the prices ridiculously high... e.g $6 for a cup of coffee... a small cup with no refill.
Gasoline was over the top at roughly $7 per gallon. Taxes in Europe are destroying their economies. Take a look at this graph... because of fracking, US energy is among the least expensive in the world, indeed our low energy is attracting many European manufacturing firms. Of course the green weenies among us will inaccurately scream that fracking is fooling with the water supply when in fact there is no proof of any kind that is the case. Gotta love the libs!
The next day we headed for Normandy stopping at the famous Le Mont Saint Michel on the way. 1,000 steps to the peak ... we did it!
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| Le Mont Saint Michel |
After three days in Normandy we drove to Paris, dropped off the car and flew to Kristiansand in southern Norway. Had a great meeting with my paint distributor. The next day was Norway's Independence Day. The pics say it all. It felt, in many ways, like the 50's in the USA. If I were a young man I would move to Kristiansand!!!!
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| Independence Day parade Kristiansand |
When we left Kristiansand the equivalent staff of TSA at the airport discovered a bottle of water in my backpack. I had just purchased it and forgot I couldn't take it with me. The lovely TSA lady who discovered this potential aviation disaster handed me the bottle asking if I would like a drink of the water before she trashed it. So I had a big gulp and gave the bottle back to her saying "this is a bit crazy" she smiled and said "I agree, have a nice flight".
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| On a Pont in Paris |
We flew to Paris where we stayed for two nights in the St. Germaine area on the left bank of the Seine. The last night we had a disappointing dinner at Le Deux Magots (Hemmingway's former hangout located across the street from our hotel) followed by a glass of Pernod. We then walked a few blocks to Sainte Chapelle on the famous island in the Seine (where Notre Dame is located) to attend a concert of Pachabel Canon and Vivaldi's Four Seasons orchestrated by seven excellent string musicians. We had front row seats and the atmosphere and music made the entire Paris hassle worth the effort.
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| The traditional kiss under another arch ... this time in Angers |
