Stoner

Stoner was published in 1965 by the author John Williams. The story is about a boy who grew up on a farm in Missouri. His family was dirt poor and he was the only child. His parents expected that he would inherit the farm someday. He was sent to agricultural college. After his sophomore year he switched his major to literature. He didn't tell his parents because he was afraid they would be disappointed. At his graduation ceremony they were very disappointed but tried to hide it as best they could. He went on to get to get higher degrees. Eventually he got a job as a professor of literature. He meets a girl at a college event and falls in love based on her looks. They end up marrying. She turns out to be a very poor spouse. She was less than a wife and more of an enemy. All of his life he is very accepting of the bad luck that falls his way. He does get some petty revenge against a plotting coworker but other than that he leads a very sad life. The book is about a literary hero suffering through a stark life of disappointments with very few real friends.

 

 

Mistletoe

 On our trip to the Netherlands, Belgium and France spring appeared in various stages. In the Netherlands the forsythia was in bloom and the trees were barely beginning to leaf out. Twas the same in Belgium. In Paris the trees were halfway leafed out and the lilacs were in bloom. I stopped to smell every lilac I could reach in Paris. In Normandy the forsythia was back in bloom and the trees were beginning to leaf out. Along the journey we saw trees infested with mistletoe. Some trees had 30 plus globes of mistletoe hanging from their branches. Others had one or two globes. Mistletoe is a parasitic growth. Too much mistletoe can kill a tree. Mistletoe spreads via birds eating the seeds and excreting the seeds on tree branches. One bird likes mistletoe berries so much it is named the Mistle thrush. Once the mistletoe seeds pass through a bird's gut they become very sticky and will adhere to the branches. Normandy has an abundance of mistletoe and exports it during the holiday season. Mistletoe threatens the apple trees that Normandy has in apple orchards. If humans eat the mistletoe berries or drink a tea infused with mistletoe the results can be deadly. The mistletoe we did see was mainly in hedgerows which are rows of hedges with a few trees mixed in between fields. I didn't see any mistletoe in forests nor areas where trees were close together. Years ago I saw mistletoe in Poland but it wasn't nearly as common as in Normandy. As we traveled by bus and train we saw miles and miles of European countryside. Not once did we see a raptor. We saw no eagles, no vultures, no buzzards, no hawks, and no kestrels. We saw several gray herons, lots of gulls and several sparrows. Also, just in case you are wondering where the milk is in a grocery store, don't bother looking in the refrigerated section. You can find cream in the refrigerated section but the shelf stable milk is kept on the shelves.

 

Mistletoe

 

Etretat

We took a train and a local bus to travel from Bayeax to Etretat. Etretat is famous for the tall chalk bluffs and stony beach. We got to the top of this bluff by taking the hop on/hop off mini train. The beach was crowded with people. I can't imagine the crowds in the summer. We watch two motorized boats help sailing students navigate the English channel.

This is a beautiful section of northern France.

Here is the view from the top of the bluff.

Also at the top of the bluff are the Etretat gardens. They had a dozen faces stuck in the bushes. Each section of the gardens had a sensory theme. We heard music.. We heard the word "art" spoken in 30 languages. We left Etretat on a Friday morning. As soon as I awoke I could see the farmer's market setting up in the town square. Besides vegetables and fruit they had flowers, leather goods, striped long sleeved shirts, scarves, scents, shoes, dresses, clothes in every size, food and pastries. I was able to successfully navigate a Americano coffee by myself and come back to our apartment without getting lost.

The author Maurice Leblanche lived in Etretat. We visited his house and saw where he wrote his mystery stories. His famous character is Lupin who was known as the gentleman burglar. For example he stole a necklace from the Queen when he was six. As an adult he returned the necklace and won accolades for finding it for her. The character Lupin has a series on Netflix which I plan to watch once I get home.

 

Mont Saint Michael

Today we took another tour about 45 minutes away via van to Mont Saint Michael. This church, Abby, fortress, former prison is on the coast of the English Channel. We came at low tide. During high tide the structure can be completely surrounded by sea water. We walked up about a thousand steps to get to a balcony. We saw great views of the English Channel and the Normandy countryside.

 

John Steele

On D-Day a paratrooper named John Steele got tangled on the steeple on the church in Sainte-Mere-Eglise. That night there was a fire in the town. The townspeople broke the curfew imposed by the Nazi's to fight the fire. The fire illuminated John Steele so he played dead. He actually survived this ordeal and lived into his 70's in North Carolina. He was awarded the Bronze star for valor and a purple heart. This town has an American Airborne museum that was very interesting.

 

Utah Beach

We also visited Utah beach which had better success on D-Day. The beach is straight and shorter in length than Omaha beach. The hills behind the beach are not as tall.

 

American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer

Next to Omaha beach is the American cemetery. The United States was the only ally that gave the families of service men and women the choice to leave their loved one in France or have their body shipped home. Sixty per cent of families had the bodies shipped home. All the white crosses are made out of marble from Italy which is the whitest marble in the world. The cemetery is very well kept up by the ABMC (American Battle Monuments Commission). Although these are government employees they do not have their salary withheld during government shutdowns. Years ago some veterans came to visit this cemetery and could not get in due to the shutdown. Congress approved a bipartisan bill to prevent that from happening in the future.