Thread: Great trip to Europe

Honfleur is spectacular. My cousin lives in Paris and has very good friends that lived in Le Havre. They bough a piece of land about 15 minutes from Honfleur. So many great things to see and so many beautiful places to stop for great cuisine and fantastic wine. Mont Saint-Michel is very nice but can get rather busy. We visited the Canadian cemetery in Bretteville-sur-Laize. My grandmother's cousin is buried there so it was a touching visit. The entire Normandy area is packed full of history, culture, and things to do. The day we visited the cemetery happened to fall on the anniversary of The D-day landings. The cemetery appeared to be quite busy with many individuals walking around placing tulips on the graves. The cemetery has an information booth and directory area to help you find a soldier that was buried there. As I was looking at the list to find my grandmother's cousin, I was approached by an elderly gentlemen (who turned out to be the mayor of the small town) who came to ask why I had come to visit. Thankfully I speak french and had a fantastic conversation with this man who turned out to be a veteran himself. He was very emotional and appreciative that I had taken the time to venture to this somewhat out of the way area. After I explained my story to him he became very excited an insisted on helping me find my relative. My wife and her cousins were with me as well. The mayor asked if they could help hand out tulips, and they gladly agreed. As we walked through this large cemetery the mayor called over two individuals who happened to be reporters, and I was asked all about my grandmother and her cousin. I was truly touched at how appreciative these individuals were in regards to my cousins sacrifice in France. We found my cousins resting place and the reporters took pictures of the mayor and I. Once we were done I was asked to say a few words to a rather large grouping of individuals that were there to celebrate the day and to honor the fallen. Words can't express my gratitude to the locals for taking such good care of the Men and Women who gave so much for all of us.
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