Omaha Beach on the Normandy Coast

Just the other day while having lunch with my daughters, the elderly man sitting with his family at the table behind us began talking to me for some reason. Upon finding out we were American, he stood up, put his hand over his heart and sang 'God Bless America" at the top of his lungs. His name is Jean-Marie.  Jean-Marie is a retired veterinarian and in his wallet he carries three black and white photos taken (by him) when he was 17 years old on the day US troops arrived in his village back in 1944.  It was his first glimpse of an American.
 

Chasing Normandy

Having spent many a childhood summer on the vast and dramatic Normandy coastline, it wasn't difficult to say 'YES' when invited along on an expedition to the area. The purpose of this trip?  To locate, once and for all, a lovely little 'Folie' (maddness) built as a hunting lodge for Louis XV that my friend had seen in a book and obsessed about ever since!

Chateau de Chambord & the May Day Brocantes

 

As the largest castle in the Loire Valley, the Chateau de Chambord seems an unlikely, yet perfect, location for the biggest annual 'brocantes' (flea market) in France. Built by Francois I in the early 16th century, this palace is a classic example of French Renaissance architecture, and a gorgeous site for the most enormous selection of treasures (and trash) I have ever had the pleasure to lay eyes upon.  

Marché des Batignolles - Organics in the 17th

With so many amazing shops and marchés to choose from in my quartier (the 15th), people sometimes wonder why I'll travel across town to check out what is being offered at another marché.  It's simple: every marché is different.  I'm also just a bit neurotic about Organics, so when my favorite organic butcher told me they could also be found at the Saturday marché at Batignolles, I had to pay a visit. What I didn't know at the time is that there are TWO Marchés des Batignolles...

Excideuil in Dordogne - Gite "Lo Meijou"

My dad, Sidney, did not gamble.  Nor did he drink (much) or live a reckless life.  Heck.  He married a French woman with 2 small kids (and adopted them) while having a complicated family life of his own involving 2 daughters.  He did, however, have a weakness for airplanes, cars and boats - which in a round about way brings us to Excideuil and the medieval Knights Templar Commanderie he fell in love with and subsequently bought in 1998.