Proud to be Canadian at Vimy, Three days, one in Lyon, one in Arras and one in Rouen

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Hello everyone,
Well we are back in London hoping to see the Queen this time. Her Royal Standard was flying as we dropped by but she didn't have her teapot on so we were refused entry for tea... may be next time. At least the Canadian Embassy let us in to send this message for free. Oh to be a Canadian!

We have had quite a busy few days since we left the south of France. We headed north to Paris on Monday and stopped in Lyon to break up the long train trip. Lyon is a very nice city that sits between the Rhone and the Saoune and has a nice pedestrian walking area through the old town. We had a nice dinner in Bellecour and had seafood salad (yes, Katy ate the whole thing)... fresh shrimps, salmon, oysters and other things... then had bavette de boeuf avec sauce au poivre et un chocolat fondant. We treated ourselves. In the morning we headed to the train and arrived in Paris mid afternoon.

Desiring to find out where the rich shop we went to Les Galeries Lafayette and had tea on the 8th floor overlooking the Opera de Paris. Jenn made a small purchase and we tried to dodge all the perfume and cosmetic sellers on the first floor on our exit.

Our next stop the following morning was at Vimy Ridge. Many of you know the historical significance of this monument to Canadian History and World War I. The first time that all four Canadian divisions fought together on April 9th, 1917 and conquered the ridge for the allies. Also to note, this is my grandmother's birthday... she is 90 years old young! Therefore this monument and day are very important to my/our heritage. Jenn and I spoke about how there was an eerie silence while walking down the road alongside the scarred landscape of the battlefields and were in reverent awe to see the two pillars of the monument, beautifully restored at the end of the path. Beforehand we had a tour of the grange subway to see where the troops would have prepared for battle. We also walked through some of the trenches. Vimy is special. We both talked about how unless you are Canadian you dont' really get the significance but we also know that the moment represents the lives and sacrifice of all soldiers who died in the war.

We spent the afternoon at the market and interestingly enough, before we left for Vimy we met two Canadians from Kingston and were able to help them get to Vimy too and we shared a cab with them... so Canadian of us to help each other out .They were grateful and we had some great conversation with them.

Yesterday we spent the day in Rouen, which is where Jeanne d'Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. This unique town bears interesting archictecture that has very German and dutch influences. The beautiful Gros Horloge, la Cathedrale and the cobblestoned streets made for an interesting self-guided walking tour we did around Rouen.

We are now in London as we said and are doing a few last minute visits to places we want to see before flying home on Wednesday afternoon.

We have seen a lot in a short time but hope you have enjoyed following our adventures.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon... or speaking to you or hearing from you via email.

love Katy and Jenn

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Comments

[Gladys]

Hey Katy, Yes...Place Bellecour...one of the sites of my misspent youth. Glad to hear you're having such a good time. I liked Vimy a lot, too. Such a beautiful and moving monument. Never did make it to Arras, though it looked good from the photos. Bonne continuation! Gladys