• About Marianne

Musings with Marianne

~ Here's How I See It

Musings with Marianne

Tag Archives: travel

London: It’s Not For Sissies

13 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by Marianne On a Mission in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

history, travel

I can describe getting around London in two words: Im. Possible.

Got in on the Eurostar on Sunday night. It was after 11pm….traffic wasn’t bad. We got into our flat near Harrods and hit the beds. Phew!
image
The view from the front window of our flat. That’s Harrods in the middle.

We woke to city sights and sounds, much different from the quiet Normandy countryside we had left. Not until we went out to explore did we find out how many sights and sounds were out there.
image
Each morning, the Queen’s horses came clip clopping down the street, getting their pre-event exercise. The Royal Mews was nearby.

First of all, crossing streets. Impossible. It’s bad enough that traffic is coming from the opposite direction, no matter which way you look. But crosswalks, a supposedly safe place to cross, are not at corners, but staggered in various places along the street.

And the traffic!? Impossible. I have never seen such traffic! Cars, taxis, buses, cycles, just swarms of them, they never stop coming. I must say though that the air was cleaner since last time I was there. They have cleaned up those diesels. But the volume, the sheer numbers of motor vehicles……..
image
Yes, that is a gold Ferrari. No, it is not my rental.

That makes surface travel ….. impossible. We did one of those hop on-hop off bus trips, thinking to save time finding the places we wanted to see: Westminster Abbey, The Tower, St. Paul’s, etc. It took HOURS and we got a nice sunburn sitting on top of the bus. Sunburnt in London…..not impossible this trip.
image

Actually, it was kind of hot. London hot, not Philadelphia hot, but still. And adding to the heat were the masses of people crowding the city. Gangs of them.

To begin with, Britain was celebrating the DDay landings. People from all over the Isles jammed the city, joined by people from Commonwealth countries and former possessions. Many Middle Easterners and Africans. Asians. Europeans. You could hear a different language every few feet you walked. And you walked ssssslllloooowly.

The Queen was back home, the Royal Standard was flying over Buckingham Palace, and the guard needed changing. Let’s all get over there!

It was Prince Philip’s 93rd birthday. We need a 42 gun salute and let’s close a few streets to traffic near the salute venue, just in case it’s not confusing enough to get around.
image
Somewhere in there, Prince Philip is taking his birthday salute in Hyde Park.

But mostly, Saturday, June 14 marks the Queen’s official birthday celebration, a huge event. Another reason for crowds! And more events! And street closings!

At Westminster Abbey, there was noticeable police presence and admission to the Abbey would be ‘delayed’. Well, that was worth the wait because this event included Prince Charles as the senior royal in attendance. I waved; I don’t think he noticed, though.
image
Prince Charles is flanked by Abbey potentates. See him there in the middle?

So even though I did manage to see and do most of what I planned, I gave up on a lot of other things simply because getting around was: IMPOSSIBLE!

Now back in France, in Paris. They aren’t celebrating WW II until August, on the anniversary of the Liberation of Paris. Their Bastille Day is not for another month. And it’s nobody’s birthday. Hoo-rah. Much less traffic. Easier to cross the street. Ok, too crowded at the Eiffel Tower, but I’ve been up there several times so……

Now relaxing. A lot to be said for this relaxing thing. Talk to ya later!

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

D-Day +70 Years

09 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Marianne On a Mission in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

history, travel, WW II

I’m skipping over yesterday and heading right into today: June 6, 2014.

It’s about 3:25 pm here and we just left the American Cemetery at Colleville. Thing is, we arrived there before 8 this morning.

And we got up at 4:30 so we could leave the hotel at 5:30 so we could get our security clearance credentials so we could get to the ceremony on time.

 

We did, particularly since the show didn’t start til10:45.

image

On the way, massive security in place everywhere. Roads closed all across Normandy. Police, soldiers, roadblocks, bomb sniffing dogs, paratroops of our 82nd Airborne Division.

image

We were pulled into a checkpoint; passports scanned, bus thoroughly vetted. Funny incident: the dogs were checking the underneath luggage holds…..they run right on in and start sniffing all around. The one checking
our bus started barking. Soldiers came racing over, gendarmes yelling real loud in French. Bus driver and guide have no idea what’s going on. Concerned looks are exchanged. Lots of Frenchness exploding.

image

Finally, we stand down from red alert. Turns out the dog got a whiff of our lunches, secured in a cooler in the hold.

Meanwhile, we sat. Sat some more. Then trickled our way to Colleville.

Where we went through more security and sat some more.

It was great to see how proud those old warriors were, waiting for the Presidents of France and the United States. Frail, some of them, sitting in wheelchairs, accompanied by children, grandchildren…even great grandchildren. Wearing their uniforms from back in the day….or maybe part of a uniform. And their medals, all shined up and in rows across their chests.
So hard to imagine them as cocky young guys barely in their twenties…..many younger…..who took on such an enormous task.

image

The local people of France were there, too, to greet them and to offer sincere gratitude for the privilege to be born in a free country.

image

In the crowd were some Comanche Code Talkers. What an honor to see them. Their contribution to the war was incredible. Only the USA has people who can use their unwritten native language to confound the enemy. (See my later post on the Comanche Code Talkers.)

I don’t recall much about the speeches from the presidents. President Hollande spoke with much passion; President Obama spoke longer but it wasn’t a bad speech. Just not memorable.

image

The Presidents placed this wreath, with assistance from the veterans.

image

French Marines helping with crowd control.

Eventually, the event was over and we were cleared to leave the cemetery. Unfortunately, this is where chaos erupted.

Total. Chaos.

Considering how smooth the logistics went on getting TO the ceremony, getting FROM the ceremony was just horrendous. No one knew what to do. Who should go where. To get on which bus. That would, or might, be going where you wanted to go. The gendarmes had made all the buses clear out to a holding area five kilometers away. But letting them return over those secured roads…well, that’s gonna take some time.

I attended the 50th Anniversary of D-Day Ceremonies in 1994, with my dad, my son and my sister. Things then were even worse, actually, so while I wasn’t particularly surprised, I did think that things might have been ironed out a little better after twenty years.

But no.

We had all been separated at the ceremony, so there were people from our tour wandering around the parking lots searching for familiar faces. Any faces. We were really, really hungry…it was past noon and we’d been on the road since O Dark Hundred that morning. We wanted those lunches that had been ok’ed by the sniffing dog. Tempers frayed, faces broiled in the sun, we were worried about our older companions. The guide contacted the driver but the gendarmes wouldn’t let the bus through back to the cemetery.

We sat. We shared water and some kind of Army rations ( don’t do this) with guys from the 82nd. Who also were stuck. I am very patient particularly when there’s nothing else to be done. But we were all just so tired….

We are still not sure how we managed it, but at long LONG last, the driver called and said, “J’arrive!” I am here!

So as I said, we started the trudge back to our hotel almost three and a half hours after the presidents’ departure let us free. Well, it sure was a memorable experience.

Back at the hotel, everyone who was able showed up at the bar for a replay. More chaos, but much more congenial!

image

image

A contingent of Brits were staying, including the Command Sergeant Major of the Irish Rangers. He was telling us how he’d been chatting with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall while having a break in the British events at Arromanches. I’m pretty sure that’s what he was saying. He had a really, really thick accent….I did a lot of smiling and nodding while he talked.

I think we may have become engaged at one point. Not sure.

image

The Boys From Philly (oh, I haven’t mentioned them yet? Much more about them coming soon!) held court, and wound up inviting the SGM to the Irish Week celebrations in North Wildwood, New Jersey. But he can’t come in that British uniform. This will be SOME clambake. Those of you who are in the vicinity should go!

I don’t know when the festivities broke up. I just know I wasn’t there because I went to bed and slept the sleep of the innocent. The exhausted innocent.

More soon!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

We Re-Invade Normandy and……

05 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by Marianne On a Mission in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

history WW II, travel

Well, the trip did NOT begin according to plan. I came down with a mysterious malady and spent seven hours trapped in a plane with a high school marching band from Michigan……sick sick sique. Won’t go into gory detail…you don’t want to know…..but it kind of set the tone for the first day.

Because when we got to Gare Du Nord in Paris, with me sticking my head in a bag, first thing that happened was that my friend Adam had his wallet snatched. Credit cards, €200, drivers license…..gone in a flash.

While I sat on the floor because there aren’t any benches in the station, retching at random, my sister Joan and Adam filed a report with the police. Which did nothing. But to cut to the chase, the money was gone, Adam cancelled the cards immediately, and Joan went to the drugstore and got me some medicine.

We FINALLY gathered the whole group…..seemed like forever. People kept coming over to me to check if I was still alive. They offered Tylenol. Pepto Bismol. Ginger candy. No, really, just let me sit here and die.

On the walk to the bus, a couple blocks from the station, in the rain, dragging luggage and stuff, we had to walk through some construction past some barricades. A construction ‘official’ stared at us. We stared at the barricades. Our wonderful tour guide, a charming Brit called Paddy, a chubby, jolly old elf, instructed us to follow him under the fencing, the construction guy ‘helping’. Paddy ducked under a portion of fence, zigged when he should have zagged, and well, he became wedged in the fence. With his luggage.

Construction official, trying to avoid a lawsuit and be helpful, started pushing on Paddy’s head, the way you see on TV when the cops are putting a perp in the back seat of the cop car. An anxious mob formed. The pushing on the head wasn’t working real well. The rain continued. The tour patrons looked on, jet lagged and helpless. I stared, stupefied.

Finally, something worked and Paddy was able to be dragged out from the killer fence, head still attached. Mon dieu! His reaction ( read this in a British accent): “Dearie me!”

Got on the bus, went to sleep, didn’t care.

The medicine worked and I felt better by the time we got to the Pegasus Bridge. Take a look….

image

That was all about enough for D-Day – 2. I have more to report for D-1, but I have to go to bed early because tomorrow morning, we have to get out at 4:30 so we can head out to Carentan, be vetted by the US Secret Service, and creep our way through the restricted traffic areas and be at the American Cemetery at St. Laurent, Colleville Sur Mer. Fifteen heads of state and heads of government will be there, including Obama, Queen Elizabeth and oh, yes, Vladimir Putin. Envision that scene.

I have to have some Calvados now. Look it up. Be back later.

image

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

D Day – 4 and other musings

02 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Marianne On a Mission in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

history, travel, WW II

Met a young man yesterday who was at a baby’s christening celebration. It came out during our conversation that I was going to France for the D Day remembrance and he told me that he really wanted to be there with his 90 year old dad but his status as a new father (to a two-week old boy) prevented the trip. They had gone to Normandy in 2008 for a tour of the beaches. His dad was in the 29th Infantry back in the day; that outfit was hit hard in the invasion. He mentioned the St. Lo breakout…my dad’s bunch took part in that, too. Funny, these connections life tosses at you. Thank you, Mike, for sharing some of your stories with me. Also enjoyed meeting your pretty wife, Jordan.

Still tying up loose ends here on the home front: checking the weather forecasts for Bayeux for the rest of the week, and it looks like a little bit of everything. Friday, June 6, apparently will be dry and kind of warm. Good news for sure.

Also picking up a few euros at the bank. Better exchange rates than at the airport. Good to have a little cash in hand.

My wonderful son Mike and my ‘baby’ brother Jim are house sitting for me. Check. Making copies a passports and credit card info in case of disaster. Check. Gathering all the charging devices for the electronic gadgets. Check, I think.

I’m taking my Ipad, cell phone, digital camera….and the implements needed to charge them overnight…..plus gizmos to give them a fast jolt. If I forget one of these, I’m doomed. Gotta stay connected, right? I figure that at some point I will just put all this stuff away and be in the moment!

Tomorrow’s liftoff is @6 pm. Let’s see how the travel experience goes…..from scanning vouchers for boarding passes to having the approved size and shape luggage to getting through security without setting off alarms by carrying more than one ounce liquids. It ain’t your grandma’s way to travel, that’s for sure!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

D-Day – 8

30 Friday May 2014

Posted by Marianne On a Mission in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

history, travel, WW 2

Details… Went to the bank to get euros and pounds sterling. The dollar is not worth as much! And pounds cost more than euros.

My Facebook page is filling up with lots of posts about the upcoming ceremonies…..it sounds like France is getting ready to PARTY! I read that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip headed there today….they were with us on Omaha Beach at the 50th anniversary. Maybe I’ll run into them again! HA!

A check of the weather in Bayeux tells me to bring the rain gear and some warm clothes. I knew that from last two times…it’s not balmy in the north of France. Of course, who cares, right??

Looking forward to to a lovely weekend and some frantic last minute stuff on Monday. Time goes so fast!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Marianne Kirby Rhodes

Marianne Kirby Rhodes

Calendar

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Feb    

Archives

Archives

Musings With Marianne

Musings With Marianne

Marianne Kirby Rhodes

Marianne Kirby Rhodes
Follow Musings with Marianne on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 95 other subscribers

Blogroll

  • Discuss
  • Get Inspired
  • Get Polling
  • Get Support
  • Learn WordPress.com
  • WordPress Planet
  • WordPress.com News

Archives

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Feb    

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Musings with Marianne
    • Join 47 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Musings with Marianne
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: