Old Glory

In our apartment, I spend time every day in a small alcove off the living room .  We call this area the Bubble...as it is rounded and bubbles out of the apartment's boundaries and perches out over a terrace and the the rue Sommerad below.  From this spot I write...my blog, recipes, posts on Facebook wall and letters to loved ones.

It is from this vantage point that I look down the street to the Best Western La Tour Notre Dame and watch two American Flags, yet wave, to me, connecting me to the land of the free and the home of the brave.  It is hard to put into words the connection, the feelings I have when I look at those flags, but it is important that I see them.

A couple of days ago, I was putting the finishing touches on a blog and I glanced  down the street.  The wind was blowing a slightly more than gentle breeze and the US flags, along with their French and EU partners danced.  But something wasn't right.  I stopped writing and I stared at the flags.  One of the US flags was obscured by a French flag.  Its orientation was wrong.  At first I thought the flag must have been tangled on its angled pole.  I then realized that the flag was hanging incorrectly.  The field of blue with white stars was on the bottom left corner of the flag.  I looked and looked to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me.  I hoped a good gust of wind would fix the optical illusion.  No wind would fix this.  The flag had been hung upside down.  Being a military brat, I panicked a little.  A US flag hung upside down is a sign of distress.  And if not a call for help, then it can also be a message of disrespect.  I told Bill about it and he thought like me that the flag must be caught up on itself and we could check it out after dinner when we walked the dog. 
Well one thing led to another and the wind brought in the rain and we never made it over to the hotel that evening.  But all night long it bothered me.  Was there a problem at the hotel?  Was somebody intentionally disrespecting my flag and country.  In my head, I practiced how to say in French that the US flag was hanging incorrectly and ask that it please be fixed.  I was also stealing my nerve to go confront French people about my Patriotic angst.  I kept asking myself, "Why is this bothering you so much...why are you worried...what are you prepared to do?"

The next morning, the very first thing I did was to check to see if the flag had been properly display.  It had not.  I pointed this out to Bill and after fetching Emily at the airport and depositing her at home, we walked over to the hotel to ask why our flag was being displayed this way.

As stated before, this is a Best Western Hotel...and American franchise, owned and operated by someone here in Paris...but connected enough to the US to display American flags.   Of course they would be interested in knowing that one of the flags was hanging incorrectly, right...I kept talking to myself, assuring myself and practicing what I would say if the staff did not speak English. 

As we approached the main doors, we both looked up and confirmed that indeed Old Glory was still upside down.  We entered and there were three staff members watching us and looking at us in a bemused way.  I inquired, "Parlez-vous Anglais?" to which the young woman behind the reception desk said yes.  Okay.  I proceeded to ask if they knew if and why the US flag was improperly displayed.  She responded that she did not know why, but for a couple of days now, Americans had reported the situation to the hotel and the maintenance man had been informed but had not fixed it. I politely asked that she please ask that the flag be properly and respectfully displayed.  She smiled and said they would let maintenance know.  I thanked her and started to walk away.  But something, or more likely someone in the guise of my dad, the retired Coast Guard Captain, sitting on my shoulder, made me turn back and tell the staff members there assembled that the US flag as displayed was a warning signal...it indicates that there is distress or something is wrong at the hotel.  At least this is what I thought I said.  Bill told me later that he heard me say there is something wrong WITH the hotel.  I don't think I said that but maybe that is what people heard.

I watched and waited all day for the flag to be fixed.  Nothing doing.  At 10pm, I found a Best Western customer service e-mail address and sent of a quick note detailing my concern and the mini-adventure above.  I went to bed wondering if I should contact the US Embassy! 

The good news is that when I checked first thing this morning, the Star Spangled Banner was flying correctly.  I was happy again.  I don't know why it happened but I can let that go.

We are blessed to live in a country that proudly shows its colors.  White signifies purity and innocence; red, valor and hardiness and blue, vigilance, perserverance and justice.  For me, it is not just a flag, not just a symbol.  To me, our flag is home.

"A thoughtful mind when it sees a nation's flag, sees not the flag, but the nation itself. And whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag, the government, the principles, the truths, the history that belongs to the nation that sets it forth. The American flag has been a symbol of Liberty and men rejoiced in it.


"The stars upon it were like the bright morning stars of God, and the stripes upon it were beams of morning light. As at early dawn the stars shine forth even while it grows light, and then as the sun advances that light breaks into banks and streaming lines of color, the glowing red and intense white striving together, and ribbing the horizon with bars effulgent, so, on the American flag, stars and beams of many-colored light shine out together . . . ."   Henry Ward Beecher


"There is no place like home."  Dorothy

I love our flag.