4.9.2008 Another Arrival
Never in a million years did I ever think I'd actually make it to Paris. And here I am, visiting this beautiful city 2 times in less than 2 months. My life is blessed. Truly blessed.
4.13.2008 I've seen the beaches of Omaha through my grandfather's eyes.
I walked with my grandfather once more today, and saw the sands of Normandy through his eyes.
In so many ways, I wish I could explain what it was to go to Normandy and stand where so many others have been and so many men have lost their lives. I walked off the train in Cain knowing that today would be the most important day of my life, that going to Normandy would be the most important thing I could ever do. And it was.It's hard for me to tell others about my grandfather without crying, and this is not because we were particularly close. In truth, I hardly knew the man who was John Packett, Sr. I knew him as much as anyone could know someone from that generation known as the greatest generation. He was quiet, proud, humble, and it was only after he almost lost his life the first time over a decade ago that I really began to see more of the loving, warm, silly side of Grandpa. But there are so many things that I know my grandfather was--an adventurer, a hero, stubborn, a hard-worker--that I only know because of what he didn't tell me. And it is this grandfather--the grandfather who was all of these things--who I walked with in Normandy, who I wept for, and who embodies an ideal to me that I wish I could find around me more often.
I was in Normandy, and I felt like I was in the America I've been looking for forever. And I was proud, and I was sad, and I felt like I could make a difference for once, I felt like things could really change. I was on American soil, but I was in a different country. And I've never felt so happy to be an American citizen in my life.
Go to Normandy. Please, go to Normandy. It will be the most important thing you could ever do.
4.15.2008 Let them eat cake.
I'll be honest when I say the only reason I wanted to go to Versailles was to see the gardens. I've had this image of Marie Antoinette running through miles and miles of beautiful gardens, wearing some beautiful, colorful concoction and not caring a whim that her country is in turmoil.
Ok, that's a little harsh, but I really did have a vision of Versailles in my mind. SO you will imagine my surprise when I finally arrived at the Palace at Versailles and was a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it was fabulous in every way--decadent, massive, beautiful, royal. But I didn't get the same impression I have built up in my mind when I arrived there. Maybe it's because I was with Joe and Karen, and Robbie had already told me all about the fabulous time they had at Versailles a couple days before--rowing on the lake, wandering through the palace, frolicking, doing the family bit. I don't know; maybe I was just jealous of the amazing time they had and wishing I could have my own, but the wonders I went looking for just didn't appear.
I think I have just become completely travel-jaded (word?), is what the problem really is. All of this traveling is really getting to me, and I don't know how much more of it I can take. I am supposed to go to Valencia and Dublin when I get back to Leicester, but I seriously might just say fuck it. I am excited to be grounded again. As amazing as the past 5 weeks have been, I am exhausted. And I am ready to sleep in Digby Yellow Block, room 26, once again.
Hmmm, I think I lasted a good while though. 5 weeks in and out of trains, lugging my massive suitcase up and down stairs, managing to not get into any fights with my travel companions, and seeing as much of 7 countries as I possibly could. Damn, I'm good.
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