Born in the French alps, Now living in Pattonsburg, Dodging a terrorist bomb in London
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It’s a small world when a woman raised in the French Alps winds up in Pattonsburg. It’s an even smaller world when she happens to be in London during the deadly bombings there this summer.
On July 7, Sylvie and her husband Bevo Stitt of Pattonsburg took a two-week vacation to Sylvie’s country in Southern France to visit her family. She hadn’t seen them in 11 years. Her family are winemakers and live in an old castle.
The Stitts visited a cave in Roquefort where they make the only blue cheese in the world and it is sold globally. They also visited a silk museum where the whole process of silk making was explained to them.
They went to the French Opera to see the story of “Joan of Arc.” Sylvie’s 13-year-old cousin was one of the singers. They finally drove to the French Alps to see the tallest viaduct in the world. It opened in December, 2004. It was built to eliminate many hours of mountain driving. They were able to see one of the roads that Tour De France biked on.
They began their return trip to the United States by way of London, England. Flying British Airways the Stitts landed at Gatwick Airport in London at the same time as the bombings, July 21. A series of bomb attacks on London’s transport network killed more than 30 people and injured about 700 others. Their plane was delayed overnight.
“That was scary,” said Sylvie. “Soldiers with machine guns were patrolling the airport. They had bomb-sniffing dogs checking packages. If you left a carry-on unattended, the soldiers took it and destroyed it.”
The Stitts got back to the states on July 26.
“Otherwise, we had a good trip,” Sylvie said.
Sylvie was raised by her uncle in the French Alps. She came to the United States in 1968. She was a TWA flight attendant for 10 years. She lived in Kansas City for 25 years. She raised three children by her first husband. They were divorced in 1991. An aunt and uncle of her ex-husband lived in Coffey. She met her present husband, Bevo, through them. Sylvie and Bevo were married in 1993.
Pattonsburg is a long way from the French Alps, but Sylvie said she’s glad she wound up there.
“I love it,” she said. “I love the farm life.”