Regional qualifications

Benjamin also finally got to swim in a meet again. As with Noah's meet, parents weren't allowed to attend, so the coach took Benjamin and his teammate to St Quentin for the meet. 

 

 

Benjamin improved his times on every race, finished first in 200-meter backstroke, and qualified for regionals in 3 races. Not bad for the first meet in 16 months!

Tour du Général Mangin

 Today, with our friends who were visiting for the weekend, we went to the Tour de Général Mangin, located near us in the Retz forest. The original observation tower was a key element in World War I, and this replica was reconstructed near the original location. 

From here, you can see our village, Puiseux-en-Retz

Frédéric was not so excited about being 25 meters above the ground.

American WWII Vehicle Exhibition at Margival

We've visited Margival before. This was the site of Hitler's bunkers on the western front, built by 30,000 forced laborers. After the war, the camp was used for multiple other purposes, including the 3rd US Armored Division, a recruitment center for female personnel in Indochina, a NATO command center, air defense, commando training center, and parachutist center, before being decommissioned in 1992. Now, it's maintained by a group of volunteers. 

We visited it today to see an exhibition of American WWII vehicles and camps. One of the members of the organization took us on a tour around the grounds and inside the bunker.

American Jeep in front of German bunker

Inside the bunker

Benjamin

Noah

First swim meet in over a year

Noah finally got to swim in a meet again today!

 

Because of ongoing covid restrictions, parents weren't allowed to attend, making this the first meet ever that neither Frédéric nor I was at. 

But Noah did great even if we weren't there to cheer him on. He improved his times and came in first in 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter breaststroke, 50-meter freestyle, and 100-meter freestyle, and his team won both their relays.

Opening Up, and Poppies

Starting today, June 17, the nationwide mask mandate for outdoors is lifted except for places with a lot of people - stadiums, markets, crowded places, etc. Masks are still required indoors.

Starting Sunday, June 20, curfew is lifted. 

 

And France approved the vaccine for 12-17 year olds starting June 15th, and yesterday, reduced the wait time to three weeks between vaccines, instead of 39 days as had been the practice since March. So the boys get their first dose today! 

Poppies near our village

And wheat.