Posts

Posted on

We were in Normandy, France…

So we did not go to Singapore for the summer as we would normally do. Our annual trip to Singapore will be in November because Tobias has finished school and will be registering for National Service (military service, for those non-Singaporeans) after he gets his Swiss driving license (a process he had already started and should finish in October).

We thought we do a trip to somewhere in Europe and the husband suggested a visit to the D-day landing beaches and to visit some sights around Normandy. And that is what we did. Packed the dog and ourselves into our car and drove to Normandy.

It was a long way… made longer after we discovered how expensive the toll-roads (expressways) are. So after the first day, we took to the national roads (country roads). It takes longer, no service stops but was much more scenic.

Our first stop was the city of Orléans, its most well-known citizen is Joan of Arc. So we saw some sights that evening (see pictures below), and had take-away Chinese in our rooms (because the restaurant didn’t allow dogs 😦 ).

The next morning we headed to Caen, the big city on the Normandy coast, with a pitstop in Le Mans for lunch. We had a lovely light dinner at a pub. The next day, we set off on our tour of the D-day sights, starting at the Pegasus Bridge, onto Ranville Cementry to pay our respects to the people who gave their lives, finished at Sword Beach and Gold Beach.

Unfortunately, it was at Gold Beach that I injured my foot. There was a pothole in the street, which I didn’t see, fell, scrapped my left knee and hurt my right foot. We had to hobble back to the car and drive round to find a pharmacy. They were very nice at the pharmacy.

The next day, I stayed at the hotel with our dog while the husband and the son went to Mont Saint Michel. They said it was nice but too crowded. No pictures from me on this day besides one of the dog and I in the room.

On Day 5, my foot felt better so I decided I could go on this last day of sightseeing. We did the Overlord Museum, near Omaha Beach. Then to the beach and onto Pointe-du-Hoc. Unfortunately, we were finding France not as dog-friendly as we had hoped. No dogs on beaches even. Finally, at Omaha Beach Lexi was able to run around. She played with the waves, which was unexpected, it was so fun to watch her zooming on the beach.

We started our drive home that Saturday, with an overnight stop at Auxerre and arrived home on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the accident I had, it was a good trip. We might go back there again but maybe without Lexi because she really wasn’t allowed in many places.

Enjoy some pictures below.

syc

Posted on

Book Review – Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

This book is translated from Japanese by Geoffery Trousselot. I am mentioning the translator because translators don’t get enough credit for their work. It takes skill and know-how to translate not just words but nuances of one language into another.

I picked up this book because the premise of the book is so interesting – there’s a cafe down a little side street in Japan where you can travel back in time to meet or do whatever you feel you need to. Who would you meet? What would you do?

Of course, every time travel mechanism has its rules. This one is no exception – you have to stay in that one seat and have to return to the present before the coffee gets cold – will the many rules stop you from attempting to travel back in time?

A woman wants to travel back in time to say the things she didn’t say at her last meeting with her boyfriend. A wife wants to receive a letter from her husband who is losing his memory. A sister to speak to her estranged sister one last time. A mother to meet the child she never met. Although it seems to start out as four different stories, there is a fine link between all the stories and it’s not just the location (the cafe) where these stories take place. I will leave you to find out for yourselves.

I like the simple way the stories are written; direct yet with a certain quietness that I associate with the Japanese culture. I find my heart warmed not only by the people who are so desperate to travel back in time but also by the people who run the cafe, especially by the twist at the end which personally affects the owners of the cafe. It was also interesting to get an insight into some aspects of Japanese culture.

I highly recommend this book to those who want something which tugs at the heartstrings, offers some cultural perspective and leaves you asking questions of yourself and your own heart’s desires.

This book left me wanting to know who are the other people who might have travelled back in time. So it’s a good thing Kawaguchi wrote 3 more books, which I will be adding to my TBR list 😀

Happy Reading!

syc

Posted on

Graduated! Matura Done! Next Chapter…

I am a proud mother of a young man who has graduated from the Gynamisum in Solothurn, Switzerland. That’s pre-uni level for our family and friends in other parts of the world.

So he has breezed through 2 years of kindergarten, found his feet during 6 years in primary school, survived 2 years of secondary school and put in the hard work for his 4 years of Gymi (pre-uni); a total of 14 years of formal education!

There was a lovely graduation ceremony at the end of June. I really liked it. It was filled with speeches, music and dance. One of the more moving and inspiring speeches was by this well-known singer/poet who has Iranian heritage (I have sadly forgotten her name) and she spoke so movingly about how women in Iran have no movement in all aspects of their lives, thus have little choice in their direction in life. The ceremony’s theme was Movement – so she encouraged the graduates to take hold of their options to have choices and to move forwards in life.

Here are a few photos from that lovely ceremony, which took place in a redevelopment of an old cement factory:

Next chapter for my boy – National Service in Singapore. While he has deferment pending renunciation of citizenship, he has chosen to serve. We fully support his decision. It would be good for him to experience life in Singapore and have some time to consider what he might want to do for further studies or a career.

syc