There’s a duet by Maurice Chevalier and Frank Sinatra (what a combo!) in the Cole Porter film “Can-Can” that includes the line, “I love Paris in the fall”. That’s a fine time of year to be there, for sure. Two of our class members, Bonnie Holzhauer Bean and Camille Procassini, good friends and francophiles, decided to make a sentimental trip to France in September. “Sentimental” for reasons you’ll understand in a minute.
But first, Paris. There’s a reason why it’s one of the most-visited cities in the world. Many reasons, actually, and for Bonnie getting her first taste of Paris, many were breathtaking: the view from the Eiffel Tower; Impressionist paintings at the Musée D’Orsay; “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre (worth a 2-hour wait in line? Debatable); spectacular stained glass in the Sainte Chapelle; and Notre Dame Cathedral after the fire, breathtaking in a sad sense. Good food and wine, of course. And you’ll be impressed to hear that the shopping they did was in thrift stores, not designer boutiques.
There was another destination that would be as memorable for Bonnie: the beaches of Normandy. She writes, “It was quite emotional to visit Utah Beach where my dad landed with the 535th AAA on June 7th 1944. The American Cemetery, Sainte-Mère-Elise (where the 82nd Airborne Paratroopers landed on D-Day), the 100 foot cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, and Omaha Beach (2,400 casualties) were all overwhelming. If you are ever in France, I encourage you to take a D-Day tour.” Bonnie said that even though the cemetery was crowded, it was silent.
On Camille’s bucket list was the 8th century Mont Saint Michel abbey and fortress—“a BIG hunk of rock surrounded on all sides by salt marshes”, Bonnie remembers. There are 350 steps up from the main street to the church and Camille and Bonnie climbed them all.
Another stop was at La Rochelle, a 10th century harbor town on the western side of France, to visit Camille’s cousin, James Trombley. The cousins had not seen each other in decades and it was a very warm and fun visit. (This could be said of anywhere Camille goes...) Their 8th great grandmother, Ozanne Achon, was from the town.
They wrapped up their trip with a stay in Bordeaux and counted up their miles for the whole visit: 72. Un trés bon voyage or, as Bonnie put it, “Magnifique!”
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