the French countryside and then some!

Pics from Normandy, where we visited the memorial and cemetery, as well as Omaha Beach:

^ The statue at the memorial, The Spirit of America's Youth Rising from the Waves or somesuch.

^Me being thoughtful on Omaha Beach

^Beautiful Omaha Beach

Wow, I’m actually driving through the French countryside… who’d have imagined? It’s amazingly beautiful, in the way that a lot of European countrysides are. Everything is, of course, green, and I can’t help but think of the history. I’m listening to Regina Spektor’s “The Call” from the Prince Caspian soundtrack, and if anyone’s seen the movie, it’s played near the end, in a point of reminiscing, and sort of lightly revolves around soldiers and war and such. It’s really a sort of sad song, and I can’t help but think of all the soldiers who have walked this countryside. From the knights and peasants of the middle ages to World War I and II, it’s sort of a sobering thought- so many young men and some women, marching off to an uncertain fate in the trenches. I can’t help but imagine so many war stories of that sort…

--reminiscing point, where generally I’d insert a well-thought-out short story, but where I haven’t put it together quite yet--

… Anyhow, the French countryside is amazingly beautiful, and I wish I could come back to see it again. As for right now, I’m glad to be able to go through here. Little towns dot the landscape, while fields are separated by tufts of green hedge. Trees spread their leafy branches over the occasional herd of cows. There are plenty of trees here, all of them a green that’s almost unbelievable. For too long have I lived in a desert city- trees like this seem almost unnatural to me. The entire land beneath me is a tapestry of greens and red- and gray-tiled roofs. Sometimes some of the trees have been planted in rows to line a path, and sometimes there are full orchards planted. It’s orderly, in general- even splotches of trees seem to fit a natural pattern. Car ride’s getting bumpy, so I’m off for now.

… Aaaaand, I’m off ‘til the next weekend. Yes, it is Friday the 27^th of June. I am in… Germany! Quick recap of the past few days. I got home from France on Thursday of last week, I think. Friday we lounged around and got our Eindhoven bearings back, then forged off to Delft, the home of traditional painted-blue porcelain on Saturday. But before Delft the family and I braved the traditional ordered chaos of Eindhoven’s flea-market!! Aaaah! Just kidding, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. It’s nice to know that wherever you go, you will always find a farmer’s/flea market somewhere. Of course, the market was a bustle of tents and tarps and all sorts of food and goods.

There were plenty of fish stands, where you can buy fried fish and sauce to eat while you walk around, or French fries. Have I mentioned how the Dutch love their French fries? Anyway, at the fish stands you can buy little pre-un-boned herring, which you down in one chomp. You hold it above your mouth, tilt your head back, slide it into your mouth as far as it can go, bite, and swallow. Think… baby eagle. Yeah, you eat it like a baby eagle would eat, well, a fish. So there are no bones to worry about, and they give you a napkin to clean your fingers off. It’s apparently tasty, but I couldn’t try it myself. Just… couldn’t. Maybe some other time, when I’m not with my brother who intentionally loves trying to creep me out.

So, yes, lots of people are out and about on market days. Fabric stalls, clothes stalls, antiques stalls, bread stalls, fruit stands, everything was there. Oh, and don’t forget the infamous cheese stalls!! Wheels of cheese and wedges of cheese for sale and on display! Mmm, cheese. I myself like Old Amsterdam, but that’s pretty expensive (up to 9 euros/kilo, and one wedge is about a kilo), but the younger cheese I like Maas… something cheese. It’s Maas… something. I can’t remember! Eeks. >_<

So, I’ll prolly get more into marketplace info later on. But after the Saturday market we headed to Delft, where we shopped for a bit then went home. The next day we went to Madurodam, where there was this little amusement-park/museum thing where all over there are models of famous Dutch places, teeny models with teeny little people. It’s quite an odd place, really! But very cool. Here's a pic of the teeny Anne Frank House. The bushes are probably calf-height, which gives you a bit of a sense of proportion. All the important models are marked by number.

The week itself was fairly uneventful, and on Wednesday I met my dad’s co-worker’s daughters, who are living here for two years. Unfortunately, one is going into fifth grade and one is going into eighth, which doesn’t make for incredibly… stimulating heart-to-hearts or anything. They’re nice girls, just young. So yeah, I’ll live without speaking in English to non-family members for the next few weeks… I hope.

So, that’s it! I’m here in Germany, we just arrived this evening and had dinner. The hotel’s very comfortable, and tomorrow we may be heading out to the US military base here to look around and buy stuff from the Exchange and Commissary (cheaper and in US dollars as opposed to Euros), then head out to Rothenburg.

I’ll add some belated Paris pictures!

^ Me, beside the obvious structure...

^The Arc!

^Notre Dame Cathedral!

^ Me reading on the Champ de/du/d' (?) Mars, in front of the Eiffel Tower. Feel free to ignore the very unflattering view of my chin(s).

^Final view of the Tower!