Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Friday, March 8, 2013

Calvados


Traveling With the Troutbirders:

Some fond memories of a vacation trip to France a few years ago.  We were with our friends Steve and Jewel.   We had left the City Of Light heading north and east towards Normandy and the famous invasion beaches from WWII.  One of the many highlights on the way was a morning in Rouen, the capitol of Upper Normandy. I had been urged by Mrs. T’s cousin Joe to be sure and sample Normandy’s most famous adult beverage - Calvados. Sure enough, the tour program included a visit to a place where apples were converted into the famous beverage.
 
It was all very interesting but the highlight for me was (given my perverted sense of humor) the "tasting" that followed the tour. It seems the majority of the entourage had missed the part about Calvados being a rather strong apple brandy. Given the gasps and chokes that followed our group toast with the beverage, it seems the majority of people had expected to be imbibing a fruity apple cider!  Chug a lugging was not a good plan

The city of Rouen itself had a long and exciting history. Here the French kings had been crowned and Joan of Arc burned as a heretic by the English. Naturally, we visited the famous cathedral.
 
Standing in the square, looking back at the church, I recalled that the French impressionist, Claude Monet, had spent many hours here drawing it. His studies of light and shadow fueled much of his later work. As I photographed the church,  standing with a crowd in the square, I had my billfold pickpocketed. Fortunately, my passport and money were safely hanging  under my shirt in a little pouch attached to  a cord from around my neck.  The stolen item was an old billfold I was going to throw away but brought  along and put some Monopoly money in it instead. J
Steve, Jewel and Troutbirder in the town  square at Rouen where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Photographed  by Mrs. T.
 

13 comments:

  1. Too funny about your old billfold and the chug a lugging! How awesome to visit this place with all of it's history.

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  2. This is the second time in two days I've heard about Calvados. It was needed for a recipe, and then you wrote about it. I am glad that thief only made away with fake money! :-)

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  3. Wonderful that you got to visit this place! Love the billfold story!

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  4. oh, that pickpocket deserved that surprise! you were smart!

    love that bottle! i'd buy the liquor just for that - then sip slowly.

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  5. What a sneaky guy you are with the billfold. I bet you are on some pickpockets list to this day.

    You have had some lovely travels, you and Mrs. T. Its great fun for us stay at homes to follow your stories.

    Jo in (still) Minniesnowda

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  6. Thanks for the tour of Normandy. Did you make it to the beaches? At Juno Beach is a wonderful Canadian Museum.
    The next time I visit Belgium I hope we can go to the Normandy Coast. The Last time we went into France and visited some very interesting war time monuments and museums.


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  7. I'll bet the pickpocket was as surprised at the contents of your wallet as the people in your tour were at the tasting.

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  8. Oh my stars! Can you how upset the pickpot was after going theough all that work of stealing your wallet? Love it!
    xo Catherine

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  9. You are a very savvy traveler with your old billfold trick. Lovely photos and I see you have highlighted the book "The Poisonwood Bible" ... it's one of my favorites.

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  10. I bet that pickpocket was surprised..way to go Troutbirder! Very pretty flowers there:)

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  11. I'm glad your quick thinking saved your vacation from ruin in Rouen. I will have to remember that trick the next time we go where there's a crowd.

    Can you imagine how a gal like Joan would be perceived today? She'd probably be given her own reality show. She lived in a very interesting time.

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  12. Oh my! I had almost forgotten how beautiful that place is. Thanks for the updated tour!
    Cool post on the eagles. We members of the local bird club used to carefully guard our couple eagle nests, told folks who claimed they saw one it "musta been an osprey." But now we have quite a few nesting sites and seeing them is not so rare. How great is that?
    Lucky you! Lucky eagles!

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  13. Your photos are lovely. the cathedral is fantastic. Too bad folks choked on the apple brandy. I have never been to Europe and probably never will get there so it is a pleasure to read of trips like yours. -- barbara

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