Day 13 - Normandy Day 2

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Hobbit Writes About Normandy

I knew Wendell would practice sleep deprivation. I did not realize he would also attempt to starve me to death. Last week I was sick and except for bringing me porridge in the morning, I got zero sympathy. Now he is sick and expects all kinds of sympathy.
We took the ferry to France overnight, but the night was not long enough. Upon arrival in France, we saw our first classic French thing. An auto accident played out exactly the way you’d expect. A van backs into a car. A guy gets out of each. Hand are waving, loud exclamations are made in French.
The two drivers look at the front of the car. The car owner kicks his car, smacks the van driver up the backside of the head. You know what I mean; a light smack on the back of the head as if to say, “You idiot!” Then they both get into their cars and drive off.
I had my second (or is it third?) nervous breakdown in France. Two words: English Schoolboys. We went to the Bayeux Tapestry. It was awash in English Schoolboys. I don’t know why their teachers take them. They don’t care about the tapestry. I stormed off back to our room and refused to leave for the rest of the day.
Wendell was amused that I was chased off by English Schoolboys. He went to see the D-Day beaches without me. The bed in our room was really comfortable as long as Wendell wasn’t in it. I had a lovely nap. The next day, we saw the rest of the tapestry and Wendell took me to the D-Day beaches.

Wendell Writes

We got up early, had a fantastic breakfast at the hotel, then walked across the street to the Bayeux Tapestry. We were the first people in the museum that morning so we had the tapestry all to ourselves. We walked the length of the tapestry with the audio tour, then we did it a second time with me translating the latin text that is above the tapestry.
The text is written at the third grade level so that anyone literate in latin could read it. I translated for Hobbit (with occasional humorous interpretations of the text.)
After the tapestry, we went on a tour of the Normandy Beaches - there was no fog and we could see all the floating dock pieces that were used to make the harbor at Arromanches.


Floating Dock Section, U.S. Army Issue


The harbor of Arromanches

The Scenic Train Tour Of Normandy And Paris

We returned the rental car, then went to the train station. We caught the afternoon train to Paris, where we had a few hours to kill before our night train to Zurich. We went to the Marais District and found a laundromat, did laundry and emailed out our trip report. After our laundry was finished, we took the Metro to the train station and got on the train to Zurich.
When we arrived, I asked how much it would cost to upgrade from the Second Class Couchette to First Class. The conductor quoted us a price of 54 Euros - much better than the 154 Euros that we had been quoted earlier that day at the station in Bayeux. We gave him almost all of our Euros and got a two person cabin to Zurich.

A Romantic Evening In Paris ... Doing our Laundry

On our way to Zurich, we stopped in Paris to do laundry. Wendell took us to the gay part of town to do laundry. I went into the dyke bar to use the bathroom. Dykes are the same all over the world except Paris dykes do not have mullets.

Hobbit Tours Paris By Metro, RER and Train

I feel like I am seeing more of the inside of Europe’s great transportation system than Europe’s great sights. We took a night train to Zurich. Where does overnight transportation always seem to lead to? Could it be nervous breakdown? Wendell is ready to go so this is a cliffhanger....

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