Hanging on by a string: France

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Rememberance

So many poppies in the roadside fields of France.

"A soldier of the Great War"

Beaumont-Hamel, Canadian memorial.

Ypres, Canadian memorial (the towers) with a typical Canadian symbol

The unknown soldier.

So many road side cemeteries. So many white tombstones.

Their name liveth for evermore.


Poppies, everywhere.

Honoring Operation Jubilee in Dieppe

The beach at Dieppe, where the Canadians landed.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

France in photos

On a lighter note, here's a couple of my favorite photos from our long-ago trip to France. Perhaps in a later post I'll show some of the fantastic chateaux we visited in the Loire Valley.

Part of a church in Mont St. Michel, an island monastary from the 8th century.

We missed our cats while on vacation.

A different view of the Eiffel tower at dusk.

The Royal Chapel at Versailles.

Edited to add one more:

Looking down from the Arc de Triomphe at the traffic in the roundabout.

Friday, June 6, 2014

I realize this is a bit off-topic for a fiber-related blog. But ever since my husband and I spent 3 weeks in France back in 2003, touring historic WW1 and WW2 battle sites, D-Day has had extra meaning to me.

It truly was the trip of a lifetime. We both studied history in university, with a focus on 20th century events. We began our trip by heading north out of Paris, then north-west to Dunkirk, Dieppe and south down the coast to Le Havre.

We timed it so that we arrived in Caen on June 3rd. We spent the day of the 3rd visiting some of the D-Day beaches, with a focus on Juno Beach, where the Canadian troops landed. It was also the day before the grand opening of the Juno Beach Center, the Canadian museum honoring the troops who served.


D-day beach, France

By chance, we arrived in time to witness parts of the rehearsal for the opening ceremony for the next day. We were also fortunate enough to snap a photo of the donor plaque with our name on it, as we'd pledged a donation to support the building of the Juno Beach Center.

Words can't convey the experience of being there. Standing witness to the sights, sounds and emotions and trying to imagine what it like all those decades ago when young men served their countries, sacrificing themselves for a larger goal.

D-day beach, France

What also made an impression, was all the Canadian, American and British flags being flown in towns and villages across the country-side. The locals are still truly grateful for the sacrifices made and show their appreciation by commemorating these historic events.

Ceremony marking D-Day in a village by one of the beaches

Each year, in Sainte-Mère-Église they

re-enact the paratrooper who got caught on the church spire. The paratrooper hung there for hours, pretending to be dead before being captured by German troops. There's actually a mannequin attached to the parachute.