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Vimy Day Five

07 Apr

7:53, on the bus and ready to roll.

I didn’t think I could any more tired, but I am! I had some girls from another school in the room beside me playing music past 12:30 this morning. I was up at 6:00, so my eyes are rather heavy. I’m sure I’ll perk up at Juno Beach and the cemeteries we visit; should be another amazing and emotional day.

The graves of the Branton brothers.

Our first stop today was the Canadian War Cemetery at Beny sur Mer. There are over 2000 Canadians buried there and it was a very emotional experience again. I find it interesting that Beny, like Dieppe, is tucked away in a very quiet location. It is probably better that way. Unlike Dieppe, I did have a mission today, which was to find the graves of Gordon and Ronald Branton. Brothers from Lethbridge, Alberta, they are just one of several sets of brothers buried in Beny. Their inscription reads, “We left with a jest our home in the west. Now here with the best we lie at rest.”


A very short drive later we arrived at the Juno Beach Centre, which was built almost 10 years ago as a museum not only for D-Day, but for all of Canada’s WWII involvement. The Centre was interesting to see, but I really wanted to get to the beaches. The part of Juno Beach in front of the Centre was known as Mike Red sector, and it was where the Winnipeg Rifles came ashore. There was an observation post located just behind the beach, but our Tour Director Hugo was going to take us farther east where there was more to see.

It was very fitting that today was cold, misty and windy, much like it was on June 6, 1944.

German bunker, Nan White Sector, Juno Beach.

Our next destination was Bernieres-sur-Mer, where the  Queen’s Own Rifles came ashore at sector Nan White. The first house they captured is called Canada House and just down the beach is a preserved bunker adorned with the QOR logo. The Queen’s Own suffered the highest casualties of all the assault units, and looking from the bunker tells you why. Designed to enfilade the beach, it and others killed and wounded half of the QOR in minutes. I made a point of picking up some sand and rocks…almost like I’m taking pieces of Canadian history.


We spent our lunch in the town of Arromaches, which is in the Gold Beach area. After eating a baguette with jambon and frites, I wandered the immediate area for a while. There is a museum there, along with several vehicle and artillery displays. In the sea off Arromaches you can see the remains of the Mulberry artifical harbour system. I think the kids were more excited about the gift shops that sold WWII relics, like shrapnel and shell casings.

On our way back to Rouen, we made a detour to the Canadian cemetery at Bretteville sur Laize. It was quite the adventure getting there, driving all the back roads from Arromaches to Cintheaux. At one point we had to cross a two bridges right by each other with a wicked curve in the middle. Our driver had to get out and size things up; he figured we could make it. After a few tense moments, some skillful driving and a little scrape, we made it through. It earned him a well-deserved round of applause. 

The cemetery at Bretteville has almost 2800 burials and is absolutely huge. It was too bad we were pressed for time as the 30 minutes we had was way to short, but I really wanted to visit this cemetery and was glad that we made it. Our first order of business was to hold a short service in honour of those who gave their lives for Canada. Kudos goes out to our friends at St. Ignatius for organizing these little ceremonies…I think it makes it that much more significant for the students. 

Grave of Major Griffin, Black Watch.

For many years I have taught my Gr. 10 students about the fighting in Normandy, and in particular the Battle of Verrières Ridge . This battle was part of a larger, unsuccessful series of attacks called Operation Spring. More than 800 Canadians were killed in Spring, and they are all buried at Bretteville. In particular, I teach them about what happened to the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment of Canada) at Verrieres and how the entire regiment was wiped out. The commander of the Black Watch (who was an acting commander after everyone above him became casualties), Major Phil Griffin, was blamed for the failure of the attack; I wanted to pay my respects to him.I think that it will mean more to me now that I’ve visited his grave and saw the area that was fought over.


There was one more thing I had to do before we left. Prior to becoming a teacher, my career goal was to attend military college and enter the army. When I was 17 I

Grave of Major Styffe, Lake Superior Regiment.

joined the local infantry reserve unit, the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment. The LSSR perpetuates the Lake Superior Regiment, which fought in Normandy as part of the 4th Armoured Division. Forty-two members of the LSR are buried at Bretteville and I thought it was my duty to try and honour them. However due to our time constraints, I was only able to visit the grave of Major Edward Styffe, who was killed in action August 14, 1944. I did pledge to myself that I would return some day and do the fallen members of the Regiment proud.


On our return to Rouen we went to dinner, which was an okay meal of pasta with chicken in a sort of Alfredo sauce. We did take some time to celebrate the birthdays of Matt J. and Cassie who were both turning 16 during the trip. After dinner we had a bit of free time, so the kids could relax, look around the square a bit and unwind. Tomorrow is Easter, so we are heading off to mass at 9:30; I’ve never been to church in another country so I am looking forward to the experience. I’ll finish this off after we return.

The church was locked, so I guess there wasn’t mass. Can you cancel church?

Tonight I had the chance to speak to my wife Jo-Anne and the boys for a bit. Although I am enjoying myself immensely, I do miss them very much. I really want to take my boys here one day to see this for themselves…I think it is something that all Canadians should do. It really makes you thankful for the life we enjoy. After to speaking to my boys tonight and experiencing all the history over the last few days I wanted to leave you with this. I thought it would be a fitting way to end given the purpose of this trip. It was pointed out to me by my colleague Sara at Bretteville. Please click on the photo and read the inscription at the bottom; I became so choked up I had trouble taking the picture. Until then…

Grave of Rifleman Janson, Regina Rifles.

 
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Posted by on April 7, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Travel, Writing

 

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Vimy Day Four

06 Apr
7:15am. Showered. Packed. Fed. Ready to roll for the day.
Today is Good Friday, the most solemn holiday in the Christian calendar; somewhat fitting that we are headed to Dieppe, scene of Canada’s worst military defeat. Visiting the graves of Canadians killed on the beach is probably a good way to remember the crucifixion of Jesus. Sacrifice.
I am a bit tired today; I was up to midnight finishing yesterday’s blog. Then it was an unending parade of people, conversations, door knocks and door clicks in the hallway. I don’t know which school these kids were from, but it was very annoying since my alarm was set for 5:50. The 2:00am phone hang up was the coup de grace (I thought it was the wake up call). Needless to say I’m a bit tired. Probably why I started off the day in fine form. As I finished my first helping of food at breakfast I then remembered it was Good Friday…as a practicing Catholic, today is one of the few days of abstinence left on the calendar. So I guess I blew it with the sausages I ate; I think God will understand.
While we drive to Dieppe I wanted to comment on one of those curiosities of Europe that I experienced yesterday. I’d never been in a “unisex” washroom before, so I shall explain. Basically guys and girls enter through the same door; the guys go to the urinals one way and the girls have stalls the other. However, the girls walk by the guys who are only covered by a chest high wall. Kinda awkward watching ladies walk by and vice versa while you do your business. Interesting.
So we were almost an hour and a half late getting to Dieppe because of the traffic in Paris, but we were all excited go be there nonetheless. I’ve taught Gr. 10 students about the Dieppe Raid  for almost 10 years now, but it was an amazing experience to actually walk the beaches. Standing on the shore you are just awestruck by the huge headlands to the east and west. You can feel the shingle underfoot that disabled the tanks. You’re amazed at the distance the soldiers had to run to get off the beach. It was just an experience to walk on a beach that so many Canadians died on. I picked up a few rocks for myself and my boys.
The city of Dieppe itself is quite pretty and I wish we had more time to explore it. I didn’t eat lunch today, choosing rather to spend some time by myself. I went back to the beach and walked around a bit more, just soaking in the experience.

Beach at Dieppe from the West Headlands.

From the beaches we visited the castle on the west headlands; from there it really gives you an idea of how difficult the landing was. I wish we had more time to explore the castle, but we were pressed for time. There were some bunkers on the cliff we looked at and it gave you a view from the German perspective. We couldn’t dwell though, as we needed to visit the cemetery before heading to our hotel in Rouen.

The Dieppe Cemetery is tucked in a quiet little corner away from the city; maybe it was better that way. I’d never been to a Canadian war cemetery before and it was an eye-opening experience. There are over 700 burials in the cemetery and I was proud to be there. After taking some pictures and video, I began to walk around and look at the graves; there were

Unknown Canadian burial, Dieppe Cemetery.

so many names. As I circulated, I started to read the inscriptions on the headstones (families could add text to them for a fee). Overwhelmed, I tried to do it again and I had to walk away…it was way too emotional. So I sat down on a bench and played with my phone to distract myself. The best part of the experience was watching the kids…watching, reading, crying…I was proud.

On the bus again, we drove to Rouen and our hotel. There wasn’t time to check in, so we walked to our restaurant for dinner. Tonight our restaurant was called “69,” which solicited laughs and smirks from everyone on the bus. The meal was roast pork and potatoes (again), which was good, but the portions were to small! The creme brulee desert was awesome!
After eating we made our way to the hotel, visiting a few places along the way. The best by far was the Rouen Cathedral…Gothic architecture at its finest! We went inside the church, trying not to disturb mass. What a spectacular interior! We didn’t make mass for Good Friday, but at least we got into a church.
So it’s already past midnight and we have an early morning again to go to Normandy.
Until then…
 
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Posted by on April 6, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Travel, Writing

 

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Vimy Day Three

05 Apr
Ok, it’s 7:15 and I’m here in the lobby waiting for breakfast. It’s amazing how good a decent night’s sleep feels; hopefully by tomorrow I’ll be caught up. The bed felt great, and the hotel is pretty nice. We’ll see how breakie measures up! Today we’re going to be on a tour of the city, and whatever else comes up.

Well, I’m sitting on the bus back to the hotel trying to type with frozen fingers; I’ll explain later. Today was another busy but exciting day. I have a lot to tell about so hopefully I warm up in the process.

After we left the hotel and drove downtown again. We picked up a local guide and did a driving tour of Paris. We saw somethings we didn’t see on our walking tour. After that ended, the bus left us near the Eiffel Tower.

We spent some time taking photos at the Trocadero Esplanade before heading down to near the tower itself. We stopped for a bite to eat and this time I actually had something resembling French cuisine, though I’m not sure a panini “Italien” qualifies-it was good, but only wops know how to slice prosciutto! After we ate it was time to visit the tower.

The line to take the lift up was about two hours long, so we decided to walk up to the first level. 5€00 to walk up a few hundred feet…my fear of heights loved that. It was quite the view, but unfortunately the sun disappeared and it got very hazy. It also became very cold; I dressed for 14C it was supposed to be. Therefore the short-sleeved shirt I was wearing and just my Vimy jacket left me rather chilly! Actually I was more like frozen.

I even ventured to the second level, which did almost make me nauseous. Some of the kids took the elevator to the third level and said it was great experience…I’ll take their word for it! When the clock ended our visit, we still had free time left, so we had to figure out what to do next. Hugo had given us Metro passes, so the plan was to try and get to the catacombs before dinner.

This wasn’t my first time on a Subway, but Toronto is a bit different from Paris. Trying to navigate around with 7 kids in tow is a bit of a challenge as well (St. Ignatius has 18 kids, so we were one big caravan). We took the number 6 subway to the catacombs, but got there at 4:00, just as it was closing! So we had go back on to the subway and take the B line to our next destination.

After being frustrated in our initial quest, we thought we would head to Notre Dame again, which was near our meeting place. Some of us (me included) were too tired yesterday to stand in line to get in, so we thought this time would be better. Well, our luck held, so the line was ten times longer than the last time! Some of the kids did a bit of shopping while a few of waited near the cathedral. At 5:30 our trudge to dinner began.

Today we ate at a place called “Flam’s.” I was a bit worried when the hostess led us past the tables and into the basement. Down a few windey staircases led us into a series of very Gothic looking rooms, which was a rather interesting dining experience. They served us Flammekueche style pizza, which is made with a very thin, stone baked crust, something like alredo sauce, cheese and either bacon/onion or bacon/mushroom topping. Along with some plain salad, it was a very good meal. Desert was the same crust with either apples or chocolate on it. Yum!

Eiffel Tower at night, April 5, 2012.

We decided in the morning that since dinner was early, we would take a boat ride on the Seine at night. We had to go back on the subway, taking the number 1, then the number 6 again to Bir-Hakim station. It was a bit crazy since it was rush hour, but we made it okay. From there we walked to close to the Eiffel Tower again, and boarded the boat. It was busy, so we didn’t get good seats and the boat had glass sides and roof, but it was interesting nonetheless. I think I got some good video. The best part was when we got back and the tower was all lit up-wow! I got some great shots…you’ll have to make due with one from the Playbook!


It was freezing cold again, and my finger were borderline numb, so I guess now things make sense. Anyway, I need to get to bed since we’re up at 6:00 to head off to Dieppe, Rouen and a new hotel.

Until then…
 
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Posted by on April 5, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Travel, Writing

 

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Vimy Day Two

04 Apr
So I’m sitting here on the floor just outside of the Denon Gallery of the Louvre. I am completely exhausted! What a day!

So our plane arrived almost an hour late, and then we have to wait forever for our bags. Of course mine was one of the last, coming out almost 15 minutes after everyone else got there’s. Then we met our Tour Director Hugo, boarded the bus and went to our hotel. As we expected, we could not check in and instead stored our bags until tonight. After a quick meeting and bathroom break, we were on the road again.

It took us almost an hour to navigate the streets to reach the Louvre. Paris is a beautiful city, but I would never want to drive here; talk about insanity! We almost got into a dozen fender-benders by Canadian standards, but I guess people are used to it here.

When we arrived at the Louvre, it was lunchtime, so Hugo gave us an hour to eat. The food court was insane! There were a lot of choices, but I was too tired and hungry to bother…I ate at McDonalds! Yes, I know what you’re thinking, but it was the easiest choice. Only Matt J tried some local fair; everyone else opted for McD’s or pizza. I did promise myself that tomorrow, when I’m rested and have time, I’ll eat better!

Now the Louvre. Wow, what a place! We only visited the Denon Gallery, but it was amazing! I’m sure it would take days to fully visit this place…unfortunately everyone is exhausted, so that’s why we’re chilling on the floor. I’d love to take my Gr. 11 history class here when we do the Renaissance. The only bad part was that we kinda got lost, and couldn’t figure out how to get to the lobby. It didn’t help that they closed one of the floors we came in through, so we couldn’t just backtrack. Obviously it all worked out in the end.

After leaving the Louvre, we did a “little” walking tour of the area. It was more like a two hour power walk, which was especially nice on a couple hours sleep. We did see some great stuff, but it was all too fast. There was finally a 30 minute break near Notre Dame, which gave me a chance to wet my parched whistle to the tune of 2.70€. Need to bring the water bottle tomorrow!

Notre Dame Cathedral, April 5, 2012.

Notre Dame was magnificent…too bad I could not see the inside (we are going to come back tomorrow). This week is holy week, so there are masses every night and the cathedral was full. It is truly a architectural marvel.


Within walking distance was our restaurant for the evening Lodies. We had a nice dinner of salad, whipped potatoes and roast pork. The chocolate mousse desert was a nice touch. Now we’re on our way back to the hotel to check in and hit the hay…I think everyone is falling asleep on the bus. I have to upload these latest blogs and then retire myself as we have a 6:30 wake up.

Until then…
 
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Posted by on April 4, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Travel, Writing

 

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Vimy Day One

04 Apr
Well we’re on our way! We just took off from Thunder Bay and now headed for Pearson Airport in Toronto to make our first connection. There’s only 55 minutes between flights, so we don’t have a lot of time to hang around before we head to Montreal.

Some of my initial nervousness has dissipated, but I’ll feel better when we get to Paris. The kids are very excited, and it is contagious! We are travelling with a group from our sister school St. Ignatius, so it’s nice having some familiar adult faces around. I know we’re going have a great time.

I’ve already started the Tweeting, and it will continue once we get to Toronto. I’m going to sign off for now, since it’s hard to type in these cramped seats (never flown on a Q400 before).

On our way to Montreal…late. The flight was supposed to leave at 5:00, but because of a catering delay, we left behind schedule. The flight we are on continues on to Brussels, so I guess the food is important. Apparently we are supposed to fly a bit faster than usual (595 mph)to make up time (I think our scheduled arrival is 5:30, which still gives us an hour layover).

So we spent a lot of time standing around at the gate, but at least there is some elbow room on this 767. Before we know it we will be landing and hustling to our gate. Hopefully there will be time to grab something to eat…I’ve only eaten a granola bar since 11. I’m dying of thirst more than anything else; between this cold I’m getting over and the dry air it’s horrible! Anyway, going to sign off again until we’re over the ocean.

Air France A380 beside us in Montreal.

Back in the air again, this time 40 minutes late! The joys of air travel I guess. This time the issue was an Air France A380 that was preventing us from backing up. I didn’t even realize it was an A380 until after I had taken a picture of it. This time we’re on a 777, the newest plane in Air Canada’s fleet. Cruising at 32000 feet and at 621 mph…very cool, especially since the air temp is -49C!


Our flight is pretty much full of students going to France, which might make my prospects of getting some sleep slimmer. I wonder if they are doing the same tours as us, just with a different guide? That would make some of these places we are visiting insanely busy! I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

They are probably going to serve some food soon, which is great since we did not have time to eat between the connecting flights. Hopefully it’s good! After that will be sleepy time…I’m exhausted! I’ve been going since 6:00am and at airports since noon. Tomorrow will be another crazy day as we’re not expected back at our hotel until 10:00. I’m going to be bagged! 

So dinner was not bad, for airline food. Chicken breast in some sort of mushroom sauce, with wild rice pea carrot something or other. There was a bean corn carrot salad that wasn’t bad either. The brownie was very good! Anyway, I’ll shut it down for now and get back to this before we land.

Sunrise over Ireland, April 5, 2012.

Wow, that was the best, most restful four hours of sleep I’ve ever had! Good Lord! I have certainly forgotten how much flying across the ocean sucks! Boy am I exhausted. I just couldn’t find any comfortable position. Maybe I could have been more like my seat partner Allister who managed to sleep with her head on the tray table. I’m obviously awake right now, and just finished devouring the blueberry muffin and apple juice they gave us for breakie. 


Since we’re going to be landing in a bit, I guess this wraps up day one (even though it technically is day two already). I’ll start today’s adventures with our arrival in Paris.

Until then…
 
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Posted by on April 4, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Travel, Writing

 

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