The Magnet #68: Things I've Seen in France, Part 2
The Magnet #68: Things I've Seen in France, Part 2
Napoleon's field kit, a visit to the D-Day memorial, and a game with an unbalanced ball
Carla and I have been back from Paris for a couple of weeks. It took me longer than usual to adjust back to Pacific Time. I’m still not completely acclimated. I wake up at about 5 am and go to bed at 9 pm, which I like because it lets me work for 4-5 hours before I start attending Zoom meetings at 9 am. Hopefully, I can keep this schedule.
Now that I’m in Los Angeles, the thing I miss most about France is the sidewalk cafes, where, for the price of espresso, you can sit at a table and relax for an hour. I miss being able to walk around Paris and Lyon and see beautiful buildings everywhere. I miss the museums, the charming streets, and the boutiques.
But I’m happy to be back home, too. It’s nice to have my own bed, to be able to cook my own meals, to be able to work at my own desk with a large display. I’m happy to see my cats and my friends and family.
In the last issue of The Magnet, I wrote about some of the interesting things we saw and did in France. In this issue, I’ll share some more.
Napoleon’s field kit
The Palace of Fontainebleau has a collection of some of Napoleon’s personal items. The custom field kit that he brought along with him on his military campaigns caught my eye. It consists of three trays that swivel on a hinge. The top two trays contain grooming and toiletry tools, and the bottom tray has cutlery and a small saucer. It’s amazing that the designer was able to make this without power tools or modern technology.
103-year-old D-Day veteran
We visited the Normandy American Cemetery, which is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission and is located right above the D-Day beaches. Over a million people visit every year. An American who works for the Battle Monuments Commission gave us an excellent explanation of the Normandy landings, in which the U.S., British, and Canadian troops stormed the beaches on June 6, 1944, and fought the Nazis who were shooting at them from concrete bunkers. While we were there, a group of people from the UK were honoring Fred Adamson, a lance corporal who was one of the survivors of the D-Day invasion. He is 102 years old. I took a photo of him with his grandson.