Getting Along

The Friday traffic wasn’t too bad today as we drove from Honfleur to Caen. It is bitterly cold and I have resorted to wearing some of David’s clothes. It’s not looking too good in the forecast so we may head out tomorrow exploring some of the shops for warmer clothes to take away the chill. 

Our objective today was to tour the Caen Memorial Museum. It is an impressive museum that focuses on 20th century history and in particular, tells the story of the Normandie Battlefields during the Second World War. It is a museum that in my opinion should be visited by everyone who has the opportunity to travel here to France. It is a moving, emotional, and educational experience and will enlighten anyone who crosses the museum’s threshold about life before World War II, life during the Cold War, Vietnam and touches on many other skirmishes and the political lay of lands all over the world. 

When we got back to our inn, our host Gaelle met us and she and I engaged in a comical back-and-forth conversation about where to find gluten-free bread for sale. She interpreted the conversation as me indicating that I didn’t want them to serve me gluten-free bread in the morning. We tried to help each other out in the other’s language with the help of Google Translate but it still was difficult to get my concept across. With many grand hand gestures, we finally got the gist of what the other was saying and I was given a Google map with directions. I’m relaying this encounter today to share that in a way it really kind of exemplifies that if we can all work together, the world is a much better place. That we might not share the same customs, we might not share the same words and language, but we do share the opportunity to come together and try to get along, to try to understand one another, and to share a laugh. It was a much-needed moment of brevity after a pretty intense museum day. I didn’t take any pictures today. I don’t really have anything to write. It’s really a simple message that the world is so much better when we all try to understand each other and get along and not let our ambitions get away from what is really best for the world at large.