“What are your expectations?”

Stepping off the train in Amiens, France, I was excited if not a little anxious as I made my way out of the station to meet our guide, Sylvestre and his question that I was expecting.

Did I have any expectations? Should I have any? It was obvious I had more questions than expectations. “I don’t know,” I replied with a hint of embarrassment. He shrugged.  I guess I wouldn’t be exceeding his.

I sat quietly in the vehicle pondering. The two letter…

Sometimes you can open a parcel or a letter and be surprised at what you find. And then from out of the blue you are handed a suitcase and you look to the tattered old brown suitcase in front of you and a million things race through your mind. I had been pre warned what it contained but nothing could prepare me for the treasures it held. And what treasures they are.

I stared into the little suitcase and all thoughts of the luckless day I was having left. The contents more than made up for the…