daniellebachan

After a ridiculously long metro ride and 4 station changes I thought we were going to take the metro all the way to Normandy and with numerous bags and other items that would have been the worst thing possible but, no we came out of the metro and there was a neighborhood with actual houses and gardens its rare for that in Paris (think a house in Manhattan) and we go up to one of the houses i wish i could have gotten a picture of it but Agathe's friend Helen came out before i could snap it, and its not really nice o say hey hold on a min can i take a picture of your house? lol and how stupid would I have looked? So we drive for 2 hours in Helen's personal car, also very rare for even a family to have a car much less a girl who is 23... I am amazed as we drive how pretty the north of France is most of it looks like its out of saving private ryan or band of brothers she has a house on the hill of course lol it is a 200 year old court house that was converted into her home... it is only her home for her to ride horses she is ranked nationally in France for English jumping (over the bar kind without the western looking saddle and the cute boots and stuff)... her mother is an heir to a newish furniture family and her sister and father passed away about ten years ago and her mother and her live very well... Helen told me that her mother remarried into a British royalty lineage kind of thing... cool huh? so Helen does what she wants and buys houses and such but for as rich as she is she is very down to earth even wears gap jeans... lol...Her mother is in the rich sightings in Paris section of the magazines how cool Helen is in sometimes Agathe said but mostly to criticize her boyfriend... the story continues with her boyfriend who is so nice and funny is a guy she met who is a stable boy and after 2 years she helped him get a better job and they hope to marry and she wants to live in Normandy and ride horses for a living... a sweet little story out of such sad events, needless to say the house looked like ralph laurens equestrian line was born there... She had her three friends there at the same time as agathe and I, nicolas owns a tack store in Paris, julien; he is a popular news writer and he writes on the gossip of the rich and famous thats how they became friends, and pierre-eve her boyfriend, as well as her best friend fannie... we had a wonderful time with them and ate crab claws the size of my foot last night it was crazy thought dad wouldn't believe it so I got a picture ...

So we stayed in Deauville with the other kids and they rode horses in the morning while agathe and I slept, these kids are devoted getting up at 5am to ride... So the lesson of the weekend Normandy is a REGION of france not a city... i wish i knew that before i asked to go to normandy, they said we are in normandy... lol so omaha beach was planned for Monday afternoon it is a 2 hour drive from the house and that morning it was pouring and about 35 degrees outside and since we all already have colds going and walking around a even colder beach in the pouring rain we opted not to go... it is ok by me because I do not think I would have enjoyed it if it were in that type of weather... so we took the 4 wheelers out and rode around in the pastures and were covered n mud good thing we had jump suits and boots on so we just hosed off after and looked like brand new...

The house in Deauville... cest manifique...

The view from my bedroom window... Looks like band of brothers?

Agathe and I with the 4- Wheelers .... we even wore helmets!

Normandy

The view behind the house...

On Monday we also went to the Darley horse races but this is no sam houston race park sleezys betting a few dollars and drinking sheap beer... This was big time like the president of France and the sec of state were there sitting near us, we looked at the paper the next day for us on the front page because we were so close but, it was of no luck bummer. The races were incredible the amount of money people were betting was unreal a guy near us bet over one million a horse because his wife said it was pretty.. i was thinking wow are you kidding me? he lost and everyone had to hear about his stupid wife and her bad idea, lol. I didn't bet because I didn't know how to bed in french, not something you learn in school but a guy comes around and takes the bets on a slip of paper not on a computer, so it is very old fashioned but interesting to watch almost like stock trading... oh and it appears that brit's like to bet and watch horse racing they were everywhere...

The Horse races... Agathe, Helen, and Me

The Darley Horse races.. the American is in Blue...

We left on Wen today and rode the train back to Paris.. it cost thirty us dollars for a train ride home thats unreal bc the gas would have cost 5X that at home; I slept the whole time and now I am ready for another great day in Paris... any suggestions on where I could charge the camera it looks like a few more days and its dead??... I got my computer to hook up to Agathe's and now I am all French connected with wifi and all...

Also, dad I looked for a Adrienne something helmet but I couldn't find one... sorry Hope all is well in Texas...