Thanksgiving 2009 in France

This past Thanksgiving we got together with several other American expat families in the area as well as some French, Irish, and Jamacians. France does not celebrate so we tought we'd import it for the day. There were 6 families of which were 11 adults and 6 children and 2 babies. There was one French man, one Irish woman, and one Jamacian woman who celebrated their first Thanksgiving ever with us. I think everyone had a good time. As you can see from the pictures we had the normal Thanksgiving fare complete with a 21 lb turkey.

Christmas Decorations

Since we are going on a cruise for Christmas and won't be home we figured we would not get a tree this year. Instead we decided to decorate the palm tree in our house with Christmas lights and bulbs. We've been watching all of our Christmas movies every weekend since then.

Bayeux Tapestry

After we went to Omaha Beach we hopped over to Bayeux to finally see the famous Bayeux Tapestry. According to Wikipedia, the tapestry, which was completed sometime in the 1070s:

...is a 0.5 by 70 metres (1.6 by 230 ft) long embroidered cloth—not an actual tapestry—which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England as well as the events of the invasion itself. The Bayeux Tapestry is annotated in the Latin language.

This website explains each scene of this medieval comic strip.

Armistice Day and Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

France celebrated Armistice Day on Wednesday November 11 . That meant that the kids didn't have to go to school and I didn't have to work. Armistice day:

commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918.

So to remember those who sacrificed for our freedoms, we decided to drive to Omaha Beach to visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial there. Here are the pictures.