Sunday, October 26, 2008

Caen et Joseph


No, not my Joseph. Our Joseph.

Joseph is the day desk clerk at the Hotel Etap in Caen and the sweetest fellow you can imagine. He was born in Senegal, educated here in Caen, and hopes someday to find a job more rewarding than day desk clerk at the Hotel Etap. He loves his iPhone. He is a huge follower of basketball and the NBA and is probably Allen Iverson’s biggest fan outside of the US. He speaks excellent English aside from his native French. He knows good wine. He was a great help to us on our trip through Caen.

First, Caen. Caen is the capital of the Normandie region of France. Caen is known for its Calvados (apple brandy), its history (William the Conquerer to the D Day Landings) and its weather (Seattle with better booze). So it rained, we drank Calvados, and we visited Omaha Beach. Check Caen off the list.

In between, we found some good eats (Joseph with restaurant suggestions),

visited the Memorial du Caen Museum (Joseph printed out a map with the bus route),

got a really good deal on our budget hotel (Joseph gave us a break on the price),

and bought a couple bottles of Calvados to mail home (Joseph is bringing them to the Post Office for us on Monday).

Seriously, I’m sending this guy an Iverson jersey.

3 comments:

Lynn C. said...

Hmmm! Apple pie with Calvados.....
Thank you for letting us travel with you - it is a blast. Did I comment that the shadow pictures of the two of you remind me of Nick and Nora Charles?
Shabu - Lynnie

Tex said...

imagine that....making friends abroad!! I'm counting off one more day till my own trip. hmmmmmmmmmmm somehow I dont think it will be quite as cultured as yours....but perhaps mine will be abit more risque' :)

Anonymous said...

What an incredible journey!!! Thanks for taking sooo much time to share! Sue