Final days in Orval

Strangely enough, this will probably be my last blog post from France. I can’t believe it, but tomorrow is our last full day here. The past week has been such a blur that I don’t remember exactly what we’ve done daily, but I can tell you that we’ve eaten some great traditional French meals, wandered around Coutances, visited an ancient abbey, toured a castle owned by Steve Forbes, and relaxed in our rental. The weather has been terrible lately, so we get wet if we do much outside.

In many ways I’ll be sad to leave France. Yes, there have been some times when I’ve been frustrated by the cultural differences, but I’ve learned that we can look beyond our dissimilarities and respect one another for what our two cultures have contributed/continue to contribute to the world. I can see how Americans could annoy the French and I understand how the French can irritate us at times; we simply view the world differently. My world view, as an American, isn’t any better than that of the French; it’s simply more comfortable to me and I’m proud of it, but I can also respect France.

Here are some photos from our trip. During the rainy weather, I’ve had time to do some much-needed work on processing so now I’m caught up and ready for all the photos I'm going to take at Isabelle’s wedding.

Enjoy!

View from a garden in Coutances

Garden in Coutances

American D-Day Cemetery 

Omaha beach

View from outside "our" stables

Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel

Château

Sainte-Mère-Église 

Château

Château de Pirou

The mighty beach tractors

Bayeux

Inside a church

P.S. For our final leg of our trip, we’re driving to Caen, dropping off our rental car, taking a taxi to the coast, riding on a speedy ferry to England, catching a train, spending three nights in Liphook, and flying home from Heathrow airport on Tuesday, July 26. It’s been a splendid trip; it was the perfect way to decompress after our school year in China.