Terry and Janice's Big Adventures in France 2007, 2008

June and July 2008
3 Beautiful Weeks in France, with a "Very Hungry Caterpiller"

St Mere Eglise

We continued our drive along the WWll beaches to St. Mere Eglise. We found this a bit strange, as they have a "paratrooper" dangling from the steeple to depict the tragedy that happened there. I guess the villagers got tired of telling all the tourist where it happened. If you have seen "The longest Day" you know the story....It was a quiet night in St. Mère Église - the first town liberated by the allied soldiers on June 6, 1944. Before the 6:30 AM battle of D-Day began, Airborne Rangers parachuted into the town of St. Mère Église around midnight. Their assignment was to secure the town and key intersections and bridges in the French countryside. Small battles ensued, in and around the center of town. One paratrooper, John Steele, had his parachute catch on the spire of the church. He hung helplessly in his harness and was wounded by German soldiers as he dangled from the steeple. As he hung there, he witnessed many of his comrads shot, as they drifted down from the sky.

Le Retour des Alpages Oct.13

A true celebration of all things Alpine, the Retour des Alpages is the time of year when dairy herds descend from their summer grazing on high pastures. Every autumn crowds turn out in their droves from all over beautiful Annecy to wait until the cows come home. The town was full of vendors selling local food, drink, art, etc. Terry and I enjoyed the celebration by sharing a bottle of freshly squeezed apple juice. Then we watched the parade of musicians, geese, sheep, dancers, horses, goats, and cows. The most beautiful cows I'd ever seen.

Arles, France

Arles is a lovely old town in the South of France. It sits on a low hill where the Rhône river branches in two parts to the sea. The town dates back to the 7th century BC, and was a major Gallo-Roman city. The major Roman sites, such as the Arena and the Theater, are unique in that they are integrated into the houses and buildings of the town, rather than sitting apart The streets of this city are truly medieval in character: narrow and winding between ancient buildings. Van Gogh came here from Paris on 20 Feb 1888. He stayed 14 months, until 8 May 1889, having one of his most prolific times, producing 200 paintings. From 23 Oct to 26 Dec he was with Paul Gaugin.

Best Tip when traveling with your spouse:

Home Exchanges

We have enjoyed many delightful home exchanges, offering our Maui condo as our exchange home when the rental schedule allows. http://kuleana415.blogspot.com/.
In Oct. 2007- we combined an exchange to Lyon in the Rhone Valley, with a Paris apartment rental. Our friends from BYU college days, Dave and Gayle Lambert, joined us on this fun trip.
July 2008-Because there is so much more of France to see, we arranged 3 exchanges, one following the other, to the French Alpes, The Dordogne Valley and the Brittany/Normandy Coast. Our friends, Molly and Sam Eckenrod joined us for this trip.