D-Day

Just got back to the school from going downtown to buy my bus pass….Now all I have to do is wave my pass at the driver as I enter the bus and I am good to go.  I had to have my picture made in a little photo booth, and it is SAD.  My eyes are really wide from trying to center my eyes and face in the little target they give you.  I look both frightened and highly derranged.  “Mildly unhinged” doesn’t even cover it(for David and Henry):-)

Today is the anniversary of D-Day.  While it is not an official holiday in France like V-E Day, it is a big deal in the area we are in, because Cherboug is just adjacent to the beaches where the Allies made their landings.  There are ceremonies, speeches and lots of warm feelings from the French toward Americans on this day.  We are to be treated to a lecture (in English) by one of the professors here at IUT about the history of the area and of the D-Day landings in particular.  This weekend we will receive a guided tour of the beaches and Le Memorial, which is a museum dedicated to honoring the events of WWII and D-Day.

Having started actual classes yesterday, I have journals from my students to read this afternoon, as well as a quiz to write.  It is a good day to work inside because it is COLD (maybe 40 degrees F) with a really brisk wind blowing and overcast.  It has sprinkled rain a couple of times today, but so far no downpours.   It can’t all be sunshine and roses here in Cherbourg:-)