En fin! Our first guests have arrived. Can we call them our first guests? As the previous owners took the reservation, are we in a position to say that? I guess the most important is that they have arrived and we have done our best to make them feel welcome.
They would have been our first guests, even if they had been booked by the previous owner; however, this morning we received a telephone call from a Canadian gentleman who lives in Paris. He decided that he wanted to come to Normandy and spend a night with his wife and children at our house. I like spontanaity and I was impressed that he woke up in the morning, decided that he wanted to come and by 1600 hours, he was in Carentan. I had arranged to pick him up and loan him the use of our second car. I realise that I was probably damaging the car rental economy in Normandy; but it seemed much simpler to do this than for him to go through process of renting.
I had planned a special surprise for our guests that would arrive later in the evening. I have made some friends in the area and they are fanatical about the war. They are also do parachute jumps all over Europe to celebrate D-Day and other airbourne operations that took place during the war. I had planned for them to greet my new guests, dressed in their full authentic world war 2 American Airborne uniforms.
Our guests had indicated that they would arrive at 1915 and true to their word, they turned up. Where were my paratroopers? This was a disappointment for me and the show did not start well. As they say though, the show must go on.
A little later, my new friends in their uniforms arrived. My children are in awe of them, but also very scared. Just like in the war, the G.I's offered sweets and chocolate to my kids. My children were very happy with this, but not with me telling them that they can't have it as it was almost dinner time. I don't suppose that happened during the war.
I retired to the garden area to have a beer with my allies and they explained that they had been to Carentan to sort out some paperwork and that they had been delayed. French beauracracy getting in the way of plans once more. Never the less, our guests had seen the soldiers pass by their window and no doubt were very intrigued. I was very happy when the decided to come outside and join us for a beer.
As it stared to get dark, my paratrooper friend suggested that we take a look at his equipment. Luckily, he had brought his collection of world war 2 items and my guests had the opportunity of handling some weapons. I am not sure how much they enjoyed this experience; however, by the looks on their faces, I would say that it went down well.
All's well that ends well; at least that is what they say. It appears that their is a new front opening and I am feeling a little over stretched. Despite being in a new country, speaking a different language and running a new business, it appears that my wife is not feeling too good either. As a result of the pregnancy and the change of life, she is feeling really low. I just hope that we can live to fight another day and not be missing in action after just one week in Normandy.
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