Beyond the Games-- 11July

We have switched gears from athlete to tourists. On Thursday as the Athletes went their separate ways Ted and I headed for Paris to catch a high speed train to Caen in Normandy. From Caen we rented a car and drove to Bayeux.

There is a principle in world history-- if you have a great land along the ocean within proximinity of other nations, you can expect someone to battle for that land. It was true with William the Conqueror and in WWII on DDay. That first evening we drove to the ocean and overlooked what is left of the broken concrete of the German Atlantic Defense. The corn and wheat fields overlooking the ocean as the sun set were magnificent. The next day we took a tour of the area and got to understand more of the events of that day. Visiting the cemetery was moving for me. It is pristine and sacred.

We returned to Paris that night and left on Saturday for Munich by Train. We watched "Saving Private Ryan" on DVD on the way down. While I can survive with my language skills in France, I don't know very much German. So we are learning something new every day.

Yesterday we went to the Deutches museum of technology. Today, after some work with LeCroy we plan to head out to see the old town and North town at the 1972 Olympic stadium. We want to have dinner tonight at the Hofbrau house- beer garden.

Tues we're still debating where to go. A day train trip to Austria looks interesting.

We head to Switzerland on Wed.

Be Well,
John & Ted