Chateau de Guillaume (that’s Castle of William, as in William the Conqueror)

Best Week(end) Ever, Part Six

I’ve made peace with the fact that I did so much on Sunday that I just won’t be able to remember everything. And some things might be out of order. But here’s the best recap I could manage:

I woke up on Sunday and little Alice, C’s 3-year-old daughter, was standing next to the pullout bed that I had been sleeping on. She is just the most adorable thing. She’s got a beautiful face with striking eyes and a full head of the curliest hair I’ve seen on a kid. When she came under the covers and relaxed with me, I could have melted. I really like speaking with her too, because her vocabulary doesn’t intimidate me quite as much as that of other French speakers who have had many more years to learn words and grammar. Still, at three years old, Alice has had double the experience with the language I have, so she wins!

The family and I started the day with some baguettes with butter, honey and jam – one was organic blueberry and the other was rhubarb, which will always remind me of Donna, Rach, and pie. The conversation over breakfast was awesome, as I think all conversation this weekend was. We talked a lot about stereotypes and where they come from. I think it’s really fascinating how many of the famous French stereotypes have no relevance at all in France today. No one that I’ve been in direct contact with has had horrible BO, and I’ve only seen one person in a beret the whole time. It turns out she was a tourist.

After breakfast, Allan (I hope I’m spelling that right) and petite Alice took me to the Sunday market. On the way, he pointed out this building, in which you can still see bullet holes from the war. Those tourist websites weren’t lying when they said you could see the effects of war on the city. Anyway, the Sunday market in Caen is huge compared to the Saturday market in Lisieux. There were rows upon rows of anything you would need to buy – produce, meats, cheeses, bread, ciders, clothes, bags, shoes, lots of jewelry, flowers, artwork…you name it and it was there. Except for books, which is actually a bit of a relief. See, I have this obsession with books. Especially very old books. And I’m very afraid of it. If I start buying old French books I won’t be able to stop, and then my luggage will be way too heavy, so it’s probably better that there were no books at the market.

After the market, A, Alice and I met with C and we decided what to do with the rest of the day. From the street we were on, we could see William the Conqueror’s Castle, so I voted we go there. And it was awesome. I have never actually been to a castle before and, even though this one was mostly just ramparts left, it was still awesome. Just standing in the center makes you think about how magnificent it must have been when it was first constructed. As the fam and I walked up the drawbridge, and later when C and I climbed the ramparts, I thought about how cool it was to be seeing this chateau. Not just because it was an awesome experience to walk around the remains of a castle, but because it was completely free. I couldn’t help but think about how much something like this would have cost in the USA. So I was grateful that I had the chance to see it gratuite.

After the castle C and I took a walk over to the Abbeye aux Dames, the church that William the Q’s wife Matilda demanded he build. Sorry, but it was just about this time that my camera decided to crap out on me, so I have no pictures to share. And you know, I’m OK with that. Sometimes I’m happy to just enjoy seeing the sights without feeling compelled to snap a photo every five seconds. The inside of the abbey was just gorgeous. Mathilde’s tomb was there; it has clearly been kept in immaculate condition since she died in

For the rest of the day, C showed me all the cool old buildings to be seen in Caen. She is truly an awesome tour guide. As someone who was born in the city (I know I said she was from England before but I was wrong) and raised in the city, she has massive amounts of knowledge that she shared with me. And she’s knowledgeable about way more than architecture and history – we had great conversation all day long about all kinds of topics. Sweet! My favorite piece of convo: I found out her mom met Seamus Heaney once. Win!

C knows I love books, so she took me on a tour of the bookstores in Caen. Rock! It was Sunday so they were closed, but it was fun to window-browse. I could see that some of the stores had lots of old books and they were so beautiful and I was so excited I could have peed my pants. Here’s an interesting segue: speaking of pee, I smelled some funny smells in the alleys in Caen, and I learned that it is still normal for men, when out late at night drinking, to just pee in the street. And Saturday night a lot of men must have done that, because some of the side streets really reeked. Oh well. For those books, I might wade through a piss-river. Please know that I exaggerate.

The last building (I think – it’s all jumbly in my head) was the abbey aux hommes, where William the Conqueror’s tomb is. We met a nice volunteer guide who asked if he could tell us a little about the building. He then talked to us for a loooong time about history and architecture, which I really wish I had understood completely because it seemed fascinating. He even had some binoculars so we could look at how intricate the sculptures on the arches were. It was awesome. Maybe some day when I have more time and am more versed in French I can return and have another tour.

After that I just had time to go back to C’s, collect the pictures from the D-Day beaches, and say goodbye. I could have stayed straight through until Monday, but my clothes were really starting to reek, and I forgot to pack socks. One more day without a fresh pair and I may have had to amputate.

If you’re reading this C, thanks for the awesome weekend! I had such a good time, and I hope we can have another one soon!