Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Let's face it, today is as much of a holy day as christmas to us heathens, eh?

I have just borrowed Hitchins' new book "god is not Great" from the public library, but have not started it yet. Probably much like Dawkins' "The god Delusion" which I read last year. Religion is the cause of all evil in the world. Seems like evangelistic atheists are coming out of the woodwork. Isn’t that an oxymoron?

Well, we are back from France, and I must say, it was a fabulous experience. My only regret is that we did not do it 30 years ago when we would have had more energy to walkabout and the capacity to stay up late and enjoy the nightlife. Also, the exchange rate was more favorable 30 years ago. Today $100 USD buys about 67 Euro's (with exchange fee factored in), and a cappuccino in Paris costs 4 E.

We had 5 days "on our own” in Paris and 4 days touring the countryside. The weather was boringly mild and mostly sunny. We were fortunate not to have experienced any lost luggage or travel mishaps beyond the expected delays and attendant annoyances.

Our command of the French language was so inept as to be distressing. (Yet another reason we wished we had been there 30 years ago when our college conversational French was good enough to read Le Monde). Yet, the French reputation for being rude to tourists seems over exaggerated. We generally found them to be helpful and earnestly appreciative of our feeble attempts to communicate with them. Ordering in restaurants was particularly challenging, although we did find a few that had English versions of the menu. We became more vigilant after discovering that Tartare does not mean Grilled.

We usually ate informally in Brasseries or Creperies, where you could manage to have a meal in less than 3 hours. The food was amazing. Fresh, tasty delicious. Salads were crisp, the bread was wonderful. At most eating places, the "service charge" is included in the price and tips are not expected as they are in US. I usually tipped a few Euros based on friendliness and effort, and a few times the wait person personally expressed surprise and pleasure and even shook my hand. Ugly American? I think not.

Nowhere are Americans more appreciated than in the Normandy area. We visited the D-Day memorial sites, the beaches where more than 6,000 US troops were killed in just a few hours, the cemetery, the Peace Museum. Normandy is famous for their Camembert Cheese, but we also learned about the events of WW2. My knowledge of history has always been a "C" at best (according to the Western Civilization professors' grades on my blue book exams), so I had forgotten how rapidly the French were defeated by Hitler's armies. After a few days of fighting and staggering losses, the French army simply gave-up. The country was subsequently (for about 5 years) occupied by the Germans. Thus, most of the damage to French towns was caused by Allied bombs during the liberation.

The route of our travels took us through Brittainy south to the Loire Valley. Wine Country. Mmm. Lunch would usually include a glass of rose or white vin de pays, which cost about the same as a coke (2.5E). We stopped at dozens of churches and chateaus - each with its own history and story of monarchs, political intrigues and (of course) wars. We saw the place where Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last three years of his life.

The jet lag has not entirely dissipated, but I am now back in the humdrum rat-race of a retiree: Awakened by the sounds of a spouse readying herself for work, I descend to the quietude of the kitchen to read the papers and drink a hot cup of Starbuck's Verona blend (Did I mention that you cannot get a good cup of brewed coffee in France?). I enjoy a renewed appreciation for American plumbing and fixtures; then, I take my coffee and papers to sit on the screen porch to consider how the day will unfold. Shall I read the new Hitchens book? Shall I call someone to arrange lunch? Is it too cold to go fishing? Hmm, the lawn needs mowing. And the temperature really is cool enough to paint that fading North side. Judy has a "honey-do" list as long as a freshly baked baguette (mmm). The thought of doing physical work creates dissonance with my mood of lassitude, so I go inside and close the slider. I decide to update the blog.