Excursion in a Mini Car

We rented a car for the last couple of days and took off to the city of Le Havre on the western coast of France, which touches the English Channel. It was a pretty fun road trip: we played lots of games and told stories along the way, but the extra-large sized car was still very tight for the five of us. Believe it or not, most of the French people I have seen are not like us big-boned Americans. The daily white bread, cheese and chocolate does not seem to have an effect on their body size. It must be the small portions that they consume. Also, we stayed in a tiny hotel on the coast of France last night. I had a room all to myself--we got five separate rooms--but when I walked up to the door of my room, I saw that it was propped open with a towel and the lovely smell of smoke odor was coming out the door. I guess that smoking is another way they keep their nice figures because I swear that almost everybody here smokes. When I got in the room, I noticed the sign that said "No Smoking on Bed." Good to know there are some regulations here. Anyway, look at this cool arch behind me in the small village of Etretat. We climbed to the top. It wasn't bad at all, compared to all my hikes of Timp Cave each week back in June, and the view from the top is spectacular!

For dinner, we ate at a small restaurant near the coast. Our server, Laurence, was a lot of fun. I ordered a Cassis Berry Sorbet for dessert. I said that I liked trying out some of the foods in France that we don't have in the states like Cassis, for example. He asked what other foods I had noticed here that I hadn't seen back at home. I told him that I noticed that they have transparent, yellow raspberries in the grocery stores here. He looked at me like I was crazy. "Mon oeil!" (My eye!--means "whatever!) I did not back down. He said I must have had too much to drink. I told him that No!--I don't drink, and he will go and see some of those yellow raspberries at the grocery store sometime in the future and think of me. He then went around the restaurant, shouting loudly at all the cooks, asking if any of them had ever seen yellow raspberries because he was sure that they didn't exist. He came back after a few minutes, looking a bit sheepish and admitted that yes, they did exist. It was definitely a fun time with such an animated server.

Joan of Arc's hometown of Rouen was on our list of stops during the excursion. It was pretty interesting and touching to hear her story and see the exact spot where she was burned at the stake as a martyr. She is really an example to me of standing up for what she believed in and what is right, even when she was criticized for it. The guide said that whatever her executioners did, they could not get her heart to burn to ashes. They ended up having to put it in a sack and throw it into the Seine so that other people couldn't pick it up and worship it as a relic.

This morning, we visited the small city of Honfleur. I think it is so funny how accustomed I have become to seeing dogs just walking in and out of stores and restaurants. Pets are often treated as one of the family here. This cute little dog wanted to take a tour of the gift shop. It looked like he didn't find any postcards or t-shirts to his liking, so he is contemplating crossing the street.