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‘69’s French Invasion Raises $25,000 for CSFFifty two classmates and spouses experienced what many of us felt to be the trip of a lifetime in ‘69’s first overseas mini-reunion – the France Invasion of September 2010. Organized (and the word gained new meaning) by Dick and Marian Bott with plenty of assistance from Jesse Okie (Chef de la Cuisine), Bruce Freeman (Chef du Personnel), Dan Harman and Curt Kehr (Chefs de la Communication), George Sheridan (Ministre de la Culture), and the Charriers (Factotums Généraux), the main excursion lasted eight days and took us from Paris, through Giverny and Bayeux, to the invasion beaches of Normandy and finally to Mont St. Michel. To top it off, through the combined generosity of the Forbes family and the trip participants, over $25,000 was raised for the Class of 1969 Community Service Fund.
Four days of thoughtfully planned, museum intensive exploration
of the City of Light followed, guided by our two delightful and knowledgeable
art historians, Alice Jouve and Louise Aujay. We barely scratched the surface at Le Louvre but gained a
somewhat tighter focus on medieval Paris and the Impressionists at the more
manageable Cluny, l’Orangerie and Musée D’Orsay. Patrimony weekend (when many buildings are open to the
public for the only time in the year) and a variety of Paris walks (one of the
Père Lachaise cemetery led by our very own George Sheridan) provided plenty of
quasi-guided exercise and opportunity to master the Paris mass transit
system. In fact
the Best Old Bus of All, Route 69, Other memorable dinner venues (it did seem like we ate a lot) included the Seine yacht Acajou, Le Procope (the oldest café in Paris where we dined in the Franklin Room) and Maison de l’Amerique Latine, where we managed to herd the cats together long enough to take the one and only group photo on the entire trip.
As many have said, the invasion beaches at Normandy cannot
be described, only experienced,
Classmates who joined in the trip included: Jay Bestman and Pam Weinberger Dick and Marian Bott Thacher and Lloyd Brown Andy and Jerry Brown Jim (Bison) Brown and Ann Brophy Bill and Anne Charrier George Cowen Frank Dalton Vince and Clotilde Farrell David and Étel Fisher John and Tina Fox Bruce Freeman Jim and Carla Green Dan and Leigh Harman Cary and Alice Haywood Peter Hooper and Nancy Sullivan Curt and Vicki Kehr Mike and Tertia Kiesel Rick and Chris Kitto Ken Mertz Alan and Rosemary Meyers Jack and Pam Meyerson Jesse Okie and Mary Harrington Sheldon and Diana Reaven Bruce Rosenberg and Debbie Solomon Fred and Lori Shearer George Sheridan and Jill Blackhurst-Sheridan Tom and Joan Weidner Chef de la Cuisine Jesse Okie was even inspired to doff his toque and grab his poet’s quill to render Operation Tiger Tour. All in all, a magnificent time. Click here to view the photo albums of the trip. |
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Opening night found us at the Botts’ historic
Paris apartment for a get-to-know-you wine-tasting, more than proforma since most us knew fewer than half of our fellow invaders well enough to
pick them out of a line-up.
provided our lift from Père Lachaise to the Tour Eiffel
for lunch. Another highlight was
the lunch arranged at the French Sénat by honorary classmate André Maman, who
spoke movingly of the context set in World War II for French-American relations
as a backdrop to the second half of our trip. Pictured in this sumptuous setting are Étel and David Fisher, who, together with Fred and Lori Shearer, provided able
representation of our Europe-based classmates. David’s exceptional (he and Étel
invite 
Then off to Normandy, via Monet’s studio and stunning
gardens at Giverny. On the way to our home base at Chateau
de Balleroy we stopped off in the wonderfully preserved medieval town of Bayeux,
home of the renowned Bayeux tapestry (which is not a tapestry at all, we learned,
but an embroidery), an early graphic novel of the first cross-channel invasion,
the one in 1066.
The Forbes family graciously opened Chateau de
Balleroy to their fellow Princetonians, and in lieu of most of the normal
charges, we created a Forbes family PICS fund within the CSF. Like so many other aspects of the trip, we had unexpected
good fortune of favorable exchange rate movement and the additional generosity
of several of the participants resulted in combined gifts of over $25,000 to
the Class legacy program. The many and varied accommodation levels at Balleroy (Ducal suite to maid's quarters) provided the perfect opportunity to relive the joy of Princeton room draw!
and it was a privilege to have that experience
in the company of fellow '69ers and their spouses, all of whom by this time had formed a unique
bond. Serendipity once again
played a role in Ste. Mère Église as our guide William Jordan (part historian,
part character actor) noticed the presence of 90-year-old resistance fighter André Heintz,
who recounted his personal recollections of the first morning
of the liberating invasion and the landing of scores of US parachutists in this picturesque Normand town. Our last dinner together at Balleroy
featured classmates’ personal stories of their relatives who were a part of the
The Greatest Generation. Our
Normandy experience reached an emotional peak when the six vets in the group were
invited to help retire the colors at the American cemetery at Omaha Beach.
A half day at the living architectural museum of Mont St.
Michel rounded out the main part of the trip, but for that dozen who had not
had quite enough food and wine, three days in Burgundy ensued. An early cold snap had accelerated harvest, and we landed
in
a hive of activity, which did not prevent the Burgundians from receiving us
with their accustomed charm and enthusiasm for introducing all comers to the
magic of chardonnay and pinot noir.
Rick Kitto took on much of the planning for this part of the trip, and a
shot of him leaving the restaurant in Mont St. Michel reveals his suitability
for the task.Powered by Bonfire™ - a Reunion Technologies Solution.