Paris

After a couple of days relaxing and exploring Lille a bit it was time for our next excursion. We were off to The City of Lights - Paris.

July 9

Our home away from home in Lille is very central. It is a short walk to the train station. We (Sharon, Arlyn, Calvin, Abby, Kim, and I) left around 10 in the morning and headed to Paris, only an hours journey. Then we braved the Paris metro, which is actually really well laid out and easy to use once you immerse yourself in it. It also helps to have other people travelling with you to reassure each other that you are on the right track (or to support each other if you get lost or turned around). Our group of 6 teamed up in order that we would always have a buddy to watch out for each other while travelling in the city. Team Lush - Kim and Sharon (a fitting team name), Team Formidable - Arlyn and Abby, and Team Awesome - Calvin and me.

Arlyn and I had found a cheap (relatively for Paris) hotel to stay in for the three nights that we were there. Here are the great things about Yooma: it was new, therefore it was clean, free wifi, free candies on the counter each night, the staff was helpful and attentive, the cost, but the best was that is was central. The hotel is a short walk to the Eiffel Tower. We were able to rent one room for all 6 of us. There were four bunk-like pods on one side of the room, with partition like sliding walls, which were way more comfortable than I predicted and a double bed in the central part of the room. I think the hotel is still working out some kinks, so here are the not so great things about it: the air conditioning was a bit spotty - working some places, not working in others. This caused room change number 1. There was a flood through the ceiling of the hallway. It was pouring the first evening we were there and water came through the ceiling and was filling the hallway. We were in limbo a bit that first night, not too sure if we would have to change rooms. But the water did not reach our room and we were given the all clear to head back to bed. The next night, we had room switch number 2 as the air conditioning had stopped working in the second room and no windows would open. So we were off to our third (and final) room. Travel is all about adventure and we definitely had an adventure without even leaving our hotel.

Our plan for the afternoon was to visit two museums. Musee Rodin and Musee Marmottan Monet.


We walked from Yooma to Musee Rodin stopping at the Champ de Mars to enjoy a lunch of baguette and cheese and then passing by Les Invalides on the way. Musee Rodin houses the works of the sculptor Auguste Rodin. His works are located in an old mansion and its surrounding gardens. His most famous works include The Gates of Hell and The Thinker. The Gates of Hell is based on Dante's Inferno. The Thinker was a part of The Gates of Hell but later became its own independent sculpture. Both of these sculptures are located in the gardens along with a number of other pieces including partially completed works. Within the museum, there are many more sculptures over two floors. Having previously visited and thorough loved Musee Rodin, I have had an appreciation for The Thinker. Often, I have considered purchasing a copy of the piece but have held off, until today. I am now the owner of my very own The Thinker and am excited to see where this travel souvenir will fit in my home.

The Thinker

After leaving the Musee Rodin, we hopped back on the metro and headed to Musee Marmottan Monet.There, we were able to see many works by Monet as well as Pissarro.There, we were able to see many works by Monet as well as Pissarro. For dinner, we stopped at a restaurant close to the Seine and our hotel. The bridge that crossed the Seine on our way back to Yooma had a replica of the Statue of Liberty located half way across. Behind Lady Liberty, down the river, we could see Eiffel's other creation, the Eiffel Tower. It was a fitting end to our first day in Paris.

July 10

We began our morning slowly, with a breakfast at Yooma and then a stroll to the Eiffel Tower. We wandered around the tower for a bit and took some photos. Our ever present tour guide, Rick Steves had suggested taking the city bus number 69 to see some of the sites in Paris. We hopped on at the bottom of the Champ de Mars and Kim read aloud to us explanations of the various sites we were passing by. Obviously, we started at the Eiffel Tower, we also passed by Ecole Militaire, Rue Cler, Les Invalides (Army Museum), the Louvre, Ile de la Cite (where Notre-Dame is located), Ile St. Louis, and finishing at the Place de la Bastille. We hopped off at the Place de la Bastille where the 52m-high Colonne de Juillet is now located in the centre of a crazy busy, barely marked, multi vehicular, use at your own risk round about. The round about is attraction enough as we all stood back and watched the trucks, buses, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles scurry and weave their way around the round about.

Next we were off for lunch. Once again, Rick Steves came through for us and suggested that we eat at the cafeteria style eatery in a major department store. Located 5 sets of escalators up, we not only enjoyed a delicious lunch but a fantastic view of the city and some scrumptious ice cream!

Our next stop the Louvre. Although we are saving visiting the Louvre for Anne-Marie and Sage's visit, we were still impressed to walk around the outside of the buildings where we took some pictures with the Grande Pyramide. Continuing on we walked through the Jardin des Tuileries and stopped to enjoy a cup of coffee as we sat beside one of the many ponds and fountains. Continuing along we walked up the Champs-Elysees where the sidewalks were packed with people and the streets lined with high end stores. The Champs-Elysees led us directly to the Arc de Triomphe. It was really difficult and a little disconcerting to think about Hitler walking up this exact same road, heading to this exact same monument about 70 years ago. The arc is quite and impressive structure. We walked under the round about that surrounds the arc and were able to stand under the arc and walk around it.

Arc de Triomphe

It was time for a bit of a rest so we headed back to the hotel, picking up a crepe on the way. Our goal for the evening was to head back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night. On top of the lights, every hour, for five minutes, there is a twinkling light display. We were there just before 10pm, when it is still actually a bit light out, and toasted the Eiffel Tower, Paris, and our wonderful adventures as the twinkle lights sparkled.

July 11

Unbelievably, Sharon part of our adventures had come to an end. Today was the day that she was heading home. Sharon hopped in a taxi at about 10am with lots of hugs and kisses and wishes for safe travels. Our little group was down to 5 people.

So, continuing on our journey, we took the metro to a northern part of Paris called Montmartre. My Lonely Planet book had a mini tour around Montmartre for us to follow. Our metro station as one of the deepest stations in Paris with the multitude of flights of stairs to prove it. At the park, located at the exit of the metro station, is located Le Mur des je t'aime, The Wall of Love, and art installation where the phrase I love you is written in many different languages. This is one of the many different art installations, commissioned or rouge, that we saw around this part of the city. The tour had us walk past two windmills - Moulin Radet and the hidden Moulin Blute Fn. Moulin Radet dates from 1717 and was used to ground flour and is now the location of a restaurant. The streets of Montmartre are very hilly and rather steep at times. The buildings are very beautiful. At the top of one of the hills, a busy tourist section, film crews were ushering people out of the area as they completed a 15 second take. This area was so packed with tourists as it was extremely close to the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. We pushed through the crowds and headed to the church. The grounds of Sacre-Coeur gave a very impressive view over the city of Paris. We hopped on a finicular to head down the hill and back to the metro. Our stop let us off close to Pont Neuf where we found a charming crepe maker who made us some delicious crepes. He encouraged our use of the French language. We ate the crepes at the base of Pont Neuf, looking over the Seine.

A short walk further got us to Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris. The line to get in was impressively long and so we simply wandered around the cathedral and took in some of the points of interest courtesy of Rick Steves. Behind the cathedral is a lovely and peaceful garden where we sat and enjoyed some shade for a while.

Our group of 5 quickly turned back in to a group of 6 as we met up with Tim at the Pantheon. Originally a church it is now a mausoleum to some of France's greatest thinkers - Voltaire, Rousseau, and Hugo. We also saw the resting place of Marie Currie. Most resently, some Resistance fighters have been interred here. At the centre of the dome hangs a 67m long wire with a sphere at the end of it. The pendulum swings and displays the time. Foucault's pendulum was used as a experiement to prove that the earth rotates. I was completely fascinated by this. I still don't fully understand it all but I feel like my brain is on the verge of comprehension. I'll get there.

We walked through Luxembourg Gardens, where we saw kids racing mini sailboats on a large pond, on the way back toward our hotel so that we could rest up for the evening ahead!


Today was the day that we had planned the Fat Tire Bike Tour. Our tour began at 6:30 and was planned for about 4 hours. This tour was so much fun. I would highly recommend this company to everyone travelling in Paris. We all loved it so much (even the reluctant Abby enjoyed herself in the end) that we are planning on looking into the tour while we are in London later this month.

The tour company fitted us with the proper sized bikes, my bike was named "Effiel in Love", a recess duty vest, and we all chose to wear a helmet. We met up with our Irish tour guide, Ted, who explained the tour and gave us some safety instructions also. We would either travel single file, two by two, or by a swarm that we would use to our advantage to dominate the intersections that we cycled through.

A few times throughout the evening, Ted told us that he had a Master's Degree in French history. I guess he was pretty proud of that. We bike through the Latin Quarter and over to the Île de la Cité, along the river and enjoyed salted caramel ice cream at Berthillon (the most famous ice cream shop in Paris). We cycled around Notre Dame and Ted stopped us and told us some interesting information and facts about the cathedra. We cycled to the Louvre and finally headed to a boat cruise on the Siene. Ted poured the wine and we all enjoyed the views from the boat, espcially the Eiffel Tower, once again lit up for the night. I don't think that I could ever get tired of seeing that sight.

Cycling through the busy streets of Paris was a real adventure, especially after we had enjoyed the wine on the boat tour. I saw Kim cut off a couple of pedestrians which got me started laughing until tears were streaming, which is also another hinderance to cycling, at night, on the busy streets of Paris. The tour ended back where we had started. It was truly a fun adventure that kept us all smiling and laughing.

 The Eiffel Tower

July 12

We purchased our tickets to Versailles prior to arriving there, on the advise of Rick Steves! This was an early morning start after our late night bike tour. We left our luggage in the lock up at the hotel, got some coffee and Pain au Chocolat and caught the train to Versailles. This was about a half hour journey. The station is a short walk to Chateau de Versailles. We arrived about 10 minutes prior to open and lined up with our tickets in hand. Shortly after arriving we were in. The chateau around the tour is set up in a very organized way and we were provided with Audio Guides. Obviously, Versailles is stunning. The Chapel, the Hall of Mirrors, the symmetrical gardens are all so very impressive. Louis XIV transformed his father's hunting lodge into the Chateau de Versailles in the mid 17th Century. It was in use from 1682 until 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution. At its peak, it took 10 000 people to run Versailles. After our audio guide took us through the palace, we ventured out to the sprawling gardens. We walked and walked. The entire property covers 900 hectares. We also visited The Estate of Trianon, sort of a cottage away from the court life of the palace, and The Queen's Hamlet, a mini village built to reflect a rustic countryside, which was mainly used by Marie Antoinette as a play place. By the time we were finished visiting the playful goats at the hamlet, we were all ready to head back. So, we caught a city bus to the train station and headed back to Paris to collect our luggage. A couple of metro rides later we were at Gare du Nord and hopping on our train back to Lille.

Versailles

Exhausted after our busy few days in Paris, we all crashed in the apartment.

Normandy

This summer, travel opportunity has presented itself to me once again through the kindness of the Newbery family. Tim's company has him stationed out of Lille, France. Lille is situated in Northern France, close to the boarder with Belgium.

In the month leading up to our trip, we spent time organizing excursions. Our first 3 nights away took us south of Lille, in the Normandy region, to Rouen, Bayeux, Nonant, the villages along the D Day Beaches, Honfleur, Etretat,Veulettes-sur-Mer, and Dieppe.

July 3

A short walk to the Lille Train station with all our gear for the next three days began our first adventure. We picked up the rental van, crammed in all our gear and were off.

Our first stop was Rouen. Rouen is a medieval city with beautiful buildings lining the old town. It is known as the place where Joan of Arc was tried and burned at the stake. There is a new-ish church at the sight of her death, Eglise Jeanne d'Arc, across from what is reputed to be the oldest restaurant in France. We walked the streets of the old town and saw the Atrium of Saint Maclou, the plague cemetery. Rouen was greatly affected by the plague, in 1348, 3/4 of the area's inhabitants died as a result of the plague. There are carvings of pick axes, skulls, and bones all over the buildings. As we were leaving, we even saw a little window box that had the remains of a mummified cat in it. We continued our walk around Rouen, stopping in front of Cathedrale Notre Dame, an ornately carved building that Monet visited and painted. The main street, or Gros Horoge, passes under an archway where the Great Clock is located. It's original construction only had the hour hand as that was sufficient for time telling in the past! In Rouen, we got our first sighting of the Seine. Our last stop in Rouen was for a delicious crepe lunch.

 Examples of buildings.

Notre Dame, Rouen

Clock in the archway in Rouen.

Evidence of bullet holes still remain in this building where Canadians were shot by an SS Nazi division.

 German cemetery.

Casements at Longues-sur-Mer.

Pointe du Hoc, looking over the English Channel.

Pointe du Hoc.

Poppies

Omaha Cemetery

Etretat

The beach at Dieppe.

Our next stop was the city of Bayeux. Apparently known for its world famous tapestries, I did not see one. Bayeux was the first French town to be liberated June7, 1944 (a day after D-Day). It, therefore, remained relatively unharmed. We walked along the main street to Cathedrale Notre Dame where we climbed underground to the crypt. I lit a candle in memory of a very special person. We enjoyed dinner out, French Onion soup for me, to complete our first travel day.

We chose to stay in an Air B&B in Nonant, a tiny village close to Bayeux. Our host, Chantel lives in the same house that has been owned by her family since 1697. She was a lovely host. The home and setting were spectacular. Chantel had a couple of lively dogs, some donkeys, a few horses, and a number of chickens and ducks. Everyone enjoyed interacting with the animals, especially Abby. We enjoyed a glass of wine on the back deck of the home as the sun was beginning to set. A very civilized way to end a day in France.

July 4

Chantel served a traditional Normandy breakfast of homemade bread, toast, spice bread, butter, homemade jam, and coffee served in a bowl. Lots of delicious carbs. But when in France... As we were eating she headed out to her garden and picked some raspberries for us. The freshest fruit we will likely eat this entire trip. They were magnificent.

We set off for Arromanches at about 9. This was our first of the D-Day sites that we visited. All of the information I learned here was new to me and completely fascinating, thanks in main part to my most recently acquired historical crush - Winston Churchill. The allied forces needed to have a harbour in order to unload supplies needed for the war effort. Where there wasn't a harbour, Churchill conceived of one. Mulberry Harbour, a portable harbour, was set up at Arromanches. 146 cement caissons were towed over from England and sunk to form two semicircular breakwaters in which floating bridge spans were moored. After WWII, the area became known as Port Winston. At the Visitor's Centre, we watched a 360 degree movie that was effective in its ability to explain what had occurred without using any text or spoken word (beyond what was quoted by the original speakers). I was able to purchase a beautiful poppy scarf at the gift shop after the movie! We walked down the winding path toward Gold Beach and enjoyed a walk along the shoreline. Although there are remnants of the cement caissons still visible, it is difficult to imagine the carnage and destruction of what occurred in 1944.

At 1pm we met our guide, Philip from Normandy Sightseeting Tour, Canadian Edition, at the Place du Quebec in Bayeux. We had a private group tour so the 7 of us climbed into the mini bus and Philip shared some information about the Canadians and D-Day as we travelled around. At our first stop, we were shown a house off of a square called Place du Canadiennes in a small village. There is still evidence along the outside walls of the house of the bullet holes that were fired at Canadian troops. We learned about Kurt Meyer, an SS officer of Nazi Germany. He commanded the Panzer Division, also known as the Hitler Youth, a division made up of mainly 17 and 18 year olds who had been in the Hitler Youth since they were around 10 years of age.

Our next stop was Ardenne Abbey. Philip took us to the back of the abbey where there is a memorial garden to 18 executed Canadian Prisoners of War. Kurt Meyer and the German army took over the abbey on June 7, 1944 and brought their prisoners there. Kurt Meyer was complicit in the killing of these men. He was tried and convicted after the war. He even served some time in Canada. His lifetime sentence was commuted and he was released from prison in 1954. They abbey is now home to government offices.

Although I have visited a number of commonwealth cemeteries before, the experience is never redundant. Our guide took us to The Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. Here lie the remains of the Canadians who died on D-Day. In total, there are 2,048 soldiers buried there. The majority are Canadian, 4 are British and 1 is French, 19 are unidentified. There is a headstone that is turned to face the opposite way to all of the other headstones. This is a grave to honour a soldier whose remains are located elsewhere in the cemetery but due to the sheer numbers of dead at the time of burial, his specific location within the cemetery remains unknown.There are 9 sets of brothers located in this cemetery. Two towers, located at the entrance of the cemetery, allow visitors to climb and gain an elevated view of the cemetery. That is a sight that makes you pause. We all wandered through the rows of headstones. As always, it is jarring to read the ages of these men, some as young as 18 or 19 as well as to see the commonality in many of the dates of death on the headstones.

Our next stop was Canada House, located in Bernières-sur-Mer, the building that has become known as the first home in France to be liberated. Canada House is an iconic building and is privately owned. The owner, who recently died, had set up a permanent shrine to the Canadian soldiers and it was known that he would welcome any Canadian soldier who stopped by for a visit. The home is adorned with Canadian flags and memorabilia from the war can be faintly seen through the front windows. It is always a thrill to see a Canadian flag while away from home but these flags and this home as a greater meaning.

Our last stop of the tour was at the Juno Beach Centre. Here we were given about an hour to go through the visitors centre. Thankfully, I had been here before as an hour is not enough to explore the entire centre. Fortunately, we were able to watch the film as the final stop in the centre. It is entitled "They Walk With You" and is, in my opinion, a wonderful film that captures the reason why so many Canadians want to visit Juno Beach and why so many Canadians should want to visit Juno Beach.

Another interesting and new bit of information I learned on this tour was about funny tanks. Hobart's funny tanks were basically unusual looking vehicles used during the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy. These vehicles were designed as a result of the tough lessons learned from the Dieppe landing the previous year. Tanks like the amphibious swimming Sherman tank, the crab flail, the crocodile flamethrower and the bobbin carpet layer were all used.

Our tour ended where it began, back in Bayeux. We walked around town searching for a place to eat dinner and ended up enjoying our meal on pleasant outside patio.

July 5

Chantal once again started our day with the traditional Normandy breakfast, this morning, adding a traditional sweet bread, similar to a brioche. Obviously, it was delicious! With extra fruit in hand we set off for our next stop which was Longues-Sur-Mer. Longues-Sur-Mer is a part of the Nazis' Atlantic Wall. Located just west of Arromanches, large cement casements were built with 150mm German guns. They were designed to hit targets up to 20km away. The guns and the casements, as well as soldiers bunkers and lookout points are open for people to tour and climb in. It is very difficult to imagine the horror of war time as, when we visited, the sun was shining, the skies were blue, the fields were planted with their crops, poppies and wildflowers growing along the sides of the pathways, and I was happy to be with my adventurous travelling companions and to be near the ocean again. It just does not seem possible that this site was once one of blood and fear and destruction.

After we had walked around Longues-sur-Mer we climbed back in the van and continued west, down the road to Omaha Beach. This is the beach where the most brutal fighting took place on D-Day. US veterans refer to this area as Bloody Omaha. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is where we stopped to explore this area. We walked to the cemetery first. This is a most impressive site. There are 9387 graves in this cemetery, a mere 1/3 of the American causalities of Normandy. Here there are 33 pairs of brothers. The remaining 2/3 of the dead were repatriated at the request of their families. See almost 10 000 white crosses or stars of David is truly overwhelming. Just when you think your eye has reached the end section of headstones, there is another section to gaze upon. The vastness of this cemetery is difficult to describe and is unbelievable to think that it consists of only 1/3 of those who died. Again, we spent a lot of time wandering through the headstones, reading names of those we do not know. Many of these men died at an incomprehensibly young age. At both ends of the centre mall there are memorial structures. The larger of the two is a huge semicircular structure with a statue called The Spirit of American Youth. There are massive and excellent maps in alcoves located on either side of the statue. These maps clearly explain the order of battle. Behind the statue is garden and a shorter semicircular wall with the 1557 names of those soldiers who were not found. Although beside very few of the names there is located a small rosette which indicates that he remains had been located after the memorial had been built. In the visitors centre, there are some artifacts from the war as well as some excellent films that describe different aspects of D-Day from the American perspective. This was an exceptional and overwhelming memorial.

There is so much to see and learn on the beaches of Normandy. We decided to have lunch on the go and picked up some grocery food at a road side store on our way to Pointe du Hoc, the furthest point west that we visited. It is also the highest pointed located between Utah Beach and Omaha Beach. It was here that US Army Rangers scaled the 100 foot cliffs in order to seize German artillery pieces. This mission was completed on D-Day, June 6, it was successful but at a high cost. Of the 225 Rangers, 81 were killed and 58 were wounded. Today, the area is open to the public to visit. The land is still pock marked with giant craters left behind by the bombing that occurred. The German command post and a number of bunkers and casements are still there and are able to be explored. Standing at the top of the cliffs and looking over, it is remarkable that anyone would be able to scale the cliffs at any time let alone at a time of war. It truly is a testament, yet again, to the desire by the Allied forces to overcome and defeat the German forces.

To end our time in Normandy, we decided to visit a German cemetery. La Cambe German war cemetery contains more than 21 000 German war dead. The headstones lay flat on the ground. Interspersed between the flat head stones are groups of 5 crosses. The stone of the headstone is black or brown. The cemetery is a contrast to both the Commonwealth Cemeteries and to the cemetery at Omaha Beach. In this cemetery, each headstone contained the names of two German soldiers. The centre of the cemetery housed a large hill which was a memorial to almost 300 unidentified and later discovered remains. Notably, many of the headstones indicated that the men had been born in 1926 and died in 1944. The entrance of the cemetery explains, "The German Cemetery at La Cambe: In the Same Soil of France Until 1947, this was an American cemetery. The remains were exhumed and shipped to the United States. It has been German since 1948, and contains over 21,000 graves. With its melancholy rigour, it is a graveyard for soldiers not all of whom had chosen either the cause or the fight. They too have found rest in our soil of France."

It was time to move on. Our education over the past couple of days had been enormous.

We were heading next to Honfleur to find our beds for the night in our next Air B&B. This was a contrasting location to Chantel's beautiful and historic home but we only needed a place to rest our heads so all was well. After dropping our luggage off we took a very short walk to the harbour of Honfleur. It was interesting to note that this was the location the Samuel de Champlain had sailed from a few times on his way to explore Acadia, Canada, and the founding of Quebec. Honfleur is another example of a city with beautiful old buildings including a church that we peeked our heads into that was built in the 15th century! We enjoyed our dinner overlooking the harbour. After dinner, we explored the lively market place, followed a marching band who seemed to have a set of 4 songs, and watched an ice cream kiosk employee that made homemade curly ice cream. Here ends another wonderfully busy day in France.

July 6

Today turned out to be the first really hot day we have experience in France. Temperatures reached 37 degrees. Our first stop was the sea side village of Etretat. Etretat boasts beautiful chalk cliff and arches. Some of the cliffs are as high as 300 feet. We hiked up to the top of the cliffs which gives a dramatic and impressive view over the English Channel. Back down on the rocky beach, Kim, Abby, and Calvin jumped in the water for a refreshing swim!

Tim marked a place on the map between Etretat and Dieppe (our final location for the day) and found Veulettes-sur-Mer, which became our perfect stopping point for lunch on the waterfront.

A short drive later and we arrived in Dieppe. Dieppe boasts a large and rocky covered beach. It was also the location of a disastrous battle in 1942 - 73% of the men who took part in the battle were killed, wounded, or missing in action. In the middle of the beach, there is a small and important monument to the Canadian soldiers who battled and lost their lives on the beaches of Dieppe. Our main objective in visiting Dieppe was to swim. And so, with Sharon watching on, we all jumped in the chilly but refreshing English Channel. A wave of appreciation is extended to all of those who battled so fiercely so that we could swim freely in these waters in 2017.

Here ends our first mini excursion of the summer of 2017. Our journey home to Lille took us about an hour and a half. After returning the van to the rental garage and picking up some groceries on the way home we ended our day watching the film Saving Private Ryan. Although most of us had seen the movie before, it sure took on a deeper meaning after all that we had just witnesses and learned.