Caden’s City Hall. Caen was known as the city of 100 bell towers before WWII. Many were lost in the bombing
Typical architecture of Normandy
Our home away from our homes away from home
I’m about to wrap things up here in Caen, so one last post before I leave for Spain! Not sure how available wifi will be once we’re on the Camino. I’ll try to include highlights that I haven’t before. You can always get more of the gritty details at my Facebook page. It’s just so easy to dump stuff there. When I’m here I have to think through what I’m doing, and at this point thinking in any language is not one of my strong points!
The whole gang having lunch together: Pauline, Michelle, Julie, Léa, and Johanna. We miss you, Florine and Sarah!
Johanna (from Sweden via Belgium) mans her post!
Sometimes people would line up two hours before a competition. The guy in red is security – in charge of moving barriers to let the crowd in. But he would yell at me if I held up his line while handing out brochures. They take line management seriously in France!
Once they let in the frenzied mob the guys in green would scan tickets. Through experiences like this I learned how to say “this is completely f’d up!” in French. (C’est le bordelle! bordelle=bordello) This guy was a Québécois now living in Savannah, GA
One of the little things we provided- wristbands for children with the parent’s phone number.
People working inside the stadium had a serious emergency with a rider down. Our emergency? The guy making sandwiches outside our booth cut his finger! So we called the Croix Rouge!
Meanwhile back at the expo Breyer did not miss the opportunity to sell 10€ ($13) horse blankets with the 2014 Games logo for model horses!
The Pony Tail Bar at the expo (just a gimmick to get you in the booth)
Pieric – one of the shows for children at the expo
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Beezie Madden jumps the windmill jump. You can see the Camembert jump behind her – painted like a cow
One of my favorite jumps – a triple. From Lexington, KY to Caen, Normandy to …
… To Bromont, QC
Canadian jumping fans!
Bought this American scarf at a British beach (Gold Beach) in France so people would know to expect less than perfect French out of my mouth. And some guy had the nerve to ask if I was German!
Meanwhile back at the racetrack people were tearing down fencing to take a look at the driving marathon!
This shot was taken through a hole in the fence!
Typical view from my booth at the end of the day.
Typical end of the day for the Dutch team -at the tapas bar!
One of the reasons for a Dutch celebration – gold in both individual and team jumping. Patrice Delaveau of France took silver and Beezie Madden of the USA took bronze. However, her horse Cortes C took the top horse award for jumping four clear rounds with four different riders!
The back yard at home. Patrice complained about all the hazelnuts that fell from the tree!
Packing all my loot!
Agathe (on the day she left for her first year of college), Fabienne, and Patrice
I can’t say enough about how wonderful this family made my stay. From taking me to the stadium for early morning shifts to playing tour guide at the beaches of Normandy, I got way more than expected from airbnb.com!
My proof of participation and a parting gift!
Next stop, Spain!
Reflections on the Road 
Looks good in spain !
So far, much better!