The Norman Conquest: How Normandy Conquered Us

ISBN 0-915492-07-5 pages 437 (e-book, Microsoft Word) Hard Cover : $10

This book recounts the adventures Bill Romey and his wife Lucretia had during a year when he directed the St. Lawrence University Program in France. He has described some of these experiences in his book, Plus Ca Change. This new book provides a far more detailed account of what it's really like to live in Rouen for a year, with digressions about aspects of the program which took place in Paris, Provence, the Loire Valley, the Alps, and Brittany. Romey ruminates in detail about the geology of the areas they visited during this year and provides descriptions of much of the back country in Normandy. He enjoys being Monsieur de Directeur of the program and tells many stories about his relationships with the French faculty members who worked and traveled with him as well as about the problems of taking care of a dozen and a half American students trying to learn French and to get along with their French families. A ccounts of various "petits triomphes" in learning about the nitty-gritty of French life add spice to the narrative. The last two chapters describe further travels and experiences in France and with the French after the students have left and he and Lucretia have been free to roam further on their own.