Since I was a little boy, I have had a dream of visiting Sainte-Mère-Église. First known to me through the great World War II movie The Longest Day, I became even more fascinated with the city as I read more and more military history. Finally, at 50, I had my chance and visited the lovely town with my family — jabbering non-stop about dates, times, and people in the battle. It was everything that I wanted it to be. The locals love Americans and they have left a life-sized mannequin hanging from the church where John Steele once dangled.
Continue reading “The Turleys Land At Normandy: Sainte-Mère-Église”
Category: International
From Honfleur, we were finally able to launch our much anticipated landings at Normandy. As a military history nut, this has been a dream of mine for many years. We started with two of the airborne landings on June 5th and then proceeded to Omaha beach.
Continue reading “The Turleys Land At Normandy: Pegasus Bridge”
After leaving Mont St. Michel, we drove to Normandy and the incredible port city of Honfleur. As a history nut, I always wanted to visit Honfleur but I was not prepared for its beauty. We booked two nights at Le Cheval Blanc hotel right windows on two sides looking out over the small harbor and old section. The kids were immediately enchanted by the town.
Continue reading “Day 16: Honfleur”
Most people approaching Mont Saint-Michel from miles away suddenly gasp when the massive monastery comes into view — perched on the top of a mountain in the middle of sandy flats. It is one of the world’s most beautiful and inspiring sights. Visiting Mont Saint-Michel easily surpassed all of my expectations — built up over many years. It is a testament to the creativity and brilliance of man. Everyone should put this on their bucket list for a visit.
Continue reading “Day 14: Mont Saint-Michel”
In planning our trip around France this year, there was one place that intrigued me: La Colaissiere. This castle (with parts dating back to the Fourteenth Century) is a glorious structure sitting on an impeccably maintained estate in the Loire Valley. You may recall that I recounted another wonderful trip earlier to the Loire Valley — a place filled with great wine and chateaus. I had read that La Colaissiere was in the middle of nowhere but worth the trip. Both statements are true. La Colaissiere is a unique and magical experience for anyone who has not been raised in a Medieval castle. It is living history for anyone with the sense to drive a little out of their way for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Continue reading “A Jewel In Brittany: La Colaissiere”
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty-Guest Blogger
Since we have been all so absorbed by the ongoing political saga involving the imaginary debt ceiling crisis, I thought it would be therapeutic to discuss something totally unrelated to that nonsense. As you will recall, the CIA destroyed hundreds of hours of video tape documentation of the infamous CIA Torture Program during the last Administration. Continue reading “The CIA Destroyed Evidence..So Why Shouldn’t They Be Held in Contempt?”
We left Gascony with the kids with a deep love for the region and its people. Leslie and I joined our friends in climbing to the top of the église du Heux next to the Chateau to look over the Gascon countryside one last time. The Church was built in the 13th Century with additions in the 17th Century. After obtaining the keys from Madam Fezas (of the winemaking family next door) we climbed the ancient wood stairs to the top. It is quite a journey in which you have to crouch up winding stairs occupied at night by bats. When you emerge, you are greeted by a wonderful sight of rolling hills and vineyards.
Continue reading “Day 8-9: Farewell To Gascony . . . Hello To Normandy”
Submitted by Gene Howington, Guest Blogger
The July 24th catastrophic crash of a high speed train in Wenzhou, eastern China, made world wide headlines. The dead and injured totals as of today, July 30th, stand at 40 dead and 192 injured although earlier reports indicated as many as 210 injured including 2 foreigners. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but the preliminary facts indicate that train D301 in service from Beijing South Station to Fuzhou (in Fujian province) and train D3115 in service from Hangzhou to Fuzhou, were derailed when D301 struck the stationary D3115 at around 8:30pm local time. Although both trains are limited to traveling at a maximum of 250km/h (~155 mph), it is uncertain how fast D301 was moving at the time of the accident.
This is more than just a human tragedy for China, but possibly an economic tragedy as well. With China looking to compete globally to sell high speed rail systems that are going to become increasingly important to countries around the world as fuel prices rise, their systems have been plagued by unstable performance and this crash caused the stock of state owned CSR Corporation to plummet 14 points on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Although CSR is technically the world’s largest manufacturer of high speed rail equipment, it faces stiff competition from German and Japanese manufacturers who have more mature and refined products. While none of this is unfamiliar to anyone who has followed businesses in the wake of a disaster in the West, what is unusual is what happened next.
Lawyers were told not to take plaintiff’s cases related to the rail accident.
Continue reading “A Jewel in Gascony: Domaine Chiroulet”
Today was a misty day in Gascony with light rain all day. While our falconry demonstration was cancelled at Larressingle, we were still able to have a great time. We went to the picturesque Chateau de Lavardens. Note: We are having difficulties with internet connections (which are hit and miss in Gascony) so there may be continued delays in upholding pictures and blogs from France.
I am sitting here with everyone still asleep listening to the light rain over of the fields and a red squirrel rocking in the hammock. The fields are a perfect Monet with fog playing through the lines of the vineyard. Yesterday was another glorious day in Gascony.
Continue reading “Day 3-4: Heux, France”
Continue reading “Day 3-4: Heux, France (The Arrival of the Plague Doctors)”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
A startling thought occurred to me recently and that is while I’m only approaching the age of sixty-seven, I have lived in eight decades on this planet. Every one of those eight decades has had an American involvement in a foreign war. To be sure there is a massive degree of difference in magnitude let’s say between World War II and Grenada, but both were wars nonetheless. There is a common thread in all of these involvements that goes beyond the immediate causes and that is the quest for Empire. A persistent undertone in American thought has been expansive since Jefferson made The Louisiana Purchase. While this need to expand hasn’t always been present in the public political debate as a motivation, those whose thoughts held sway over the political and intellectual backbone of our country openly discussed it. While America, which initially remained primarily an agrarian nation, was expanding into the vast frontier of this continent, our dreams of empire focused on taming the country and overwhelming its Native American population. By the mid Nineteenth Century, the industrial revolution influenced American thought and the need to expand to acquire natural resources, replaced agrarian needs, while making the taming of the frontier more urgent.
Given our constitutional underpinnings and the magnificent sentiments of the Declaration of Independence, many felt qualms about our displacement of Native Americans in our expansion westward. Darwin’s Origin of The Species, published in 1859 became an instant sensation for intellectuals worldwide and for those with the power to shape a nation’s thought processes. Social Darwinism, survival of the fittest, was the new model for developing rationales and mythologies, which absolved the country of residual guilt in our struggle with the native population and allowed opinion shapers and ideologues to frame the issue in terms of the struggle of civilization against savagery.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Norwegian television has identified a suspect in the shooting spree on the island Utoya as Anders Behring Breivik, 32, describing him as a member of “right-wing extremist groups in eastern Norway.” The shooting at the youth camp has reportedly resulted in more than 80 deaths.
In his Facebook account, now deleted, he describes himself as having Christian, conservative views. He also has a Twitter account with only one tweet, a quote from philosopher John Stuart Mills: “One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100 000 who have only interests.”
If the reports are accurate, don’t expect denunciations of right-wing extremism from Fox News. If the event in Norway had been caused by a Muslim, would Fox News classify it as a terrorist attack instead of a massacre by a madman?