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Published: October 25th 2011
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Visit from Michelle and John
My days off last week were spent with my sister and my soon to be brother-in-law John. As part of a week long trip to France, they spent 2 days and a half in northern France with me (they must be crazy).
As soon as they got off the train, they remarked on the cold weather - surprise! While catching up, we walked in Arras to see if we could get a rental car. My sister and John would soon find out the French tradition of taking an extra long lunch from 12h to 2h and closing all stores and businesses for that time. So instead, we walked to their hotel to check them in and try to find some sandwiches for lunch.
At 2h, we went to Avis to find out they had no car available. Same story at Europcar. Beginning to get worried, we went to Hertz and luckily were able to rent a car. Not just any type either, a VW Golf, making John feel at home!
After a quick lesson in driving in France for John (the car being a standard, I couldn't drive it), our first stop
of the day was at the Lochnagar Crater, which I had visited during my training and thought they might find impressive. Next stop was my own site of Beaumont-Hamel. It was strange to be there out of uniform. I approached one of our "regulars", a British tour guide who comes almost daily with Austalian tourists and waved at him until he recognized me.
I took the two love birds around the whole site (something I rarely get to do) explaining the story that has become so important to me, as we went along.
Leaving Beaumont-Hamel, we drove back to Arras for the evening, stopping at a grocery store on the way. I think it was at this point that they realised just how cheap good wine is in France - over 3 euros for a bottle and you're splurging!
For supper, I took them to our favourite raclette restaurant - delicious as always.
Next morning, I met them at the room at 11h am, hoping to grab a quick lunch and head to Vimy. Change of plans however: not feeling well and lacking sleep, they decided to put the trip to Vimy on hold. Michelle and
I went to the local Wednesday morning market. A man was selling clothes and trying to convince us to buy, complimenting us, asking if we were sisters and offering us a “dressing room” in his (creepy white) van. He was actually very nice and so happy to hear that we were Canadians – we still didn’t want to try anything on in his van though!
Around 12h30, we headed to Vimy and got in right on time for a private tour with one of my colleagues. We saw the trenches and the tunnels and then headed to the monument for a few pictures. My two visitors feeling tired, we went back into town for them to take a nap while I got supper ready.
In the evening, they came over to our house for a pork roast, with a side of quinoa and vegetable. The household got to meet my sister and John and hang out for a bit with us after supper. A quick Skype date with our parents back home and it was already time for our goodbyes. I had to work the next day and they had to catch a train to Bordeaux for a more
romantic portion of their trip.
Having some family time definitely helped to ease the homesickness a bit.
Working at Vimy
From Friday to Sunday this week, I was on exchange at our other Canadian Memorial site, Vimy. Though having done my training there in the beginning of the work term, I still hadn’t had the chance to give a tour on site. In my 3 days there, I got to experience the different operations of the site, the relaxing moments when tours do not run and the crazy Sunday afternoon when all the locals are asking about “les sous-terrains”.
Although I was meant to give a tour on my first day, the reservations never showed up and I instead had the luck to follow 3 tours. The second day, I gave two tours (both British groups, one of elderly people, one of all boys of 13 years of age). The third day, known as “Sunday fun-day”, I spent many hours reading and researching as my two scheduled tours did not run. In the afternoon, I had the pleasure (sense the sarcasm there) to spend 2 hours in the visitors’ centre, talking to French locals about tours and learning
how to operate the cash in order to sell books to Canadian tourists. Good thing they were patient – took me quite some time to get their order through.
Although the atmosphere at Vimy is very different and stressful, I know that it’s mostly due to my lack of experience at that site. With more time, I would certainly get to love the site and the story, much like I did at Beaumont-Hamel. I must admit, I did tell everyone that they should visit Beaumont-Hamel while in the area...
Day in Ypres
Yesterday (Monday), as part of ongoing training, we spent the day in Ypres, Belgium. We each had been assigned a site to research and present to our colleagues. We visited an Indian Memorial, an Australian memorial, Essex Farm (where a 15 year old soldier is buried and where John McCrae is believed to have written his poem “In Flanders Field”), Langemark (a German cemetery), St Juliaan (a Canadian memorial), Tyne Cot (an enormous Commonwealth cemetery), Passchendaele (a Canadian memorial) and finally, my site, Hill 62 (Canadian memorial). Although an overall sombre trip in terms of the stops we made, the time spent together in the car
and over lunch and supper was very fun. The whole team met together in the evening for a very special ceremony.
The Menin Gate memorial to the missing is located in Ypres. It stands in commemoration of the soldiers of the Commonwealth who fell in Belgium during World War 1 and whose bodies were never found. There are almost 50 000 names on the gate. The names of those who feel after August 1917 are located at Tyne Cot, since there was not enough space at the Menin Gate. That puts things into perspective, don’t you think?
Since 1928, every night (apart from when the town was under German occupation) there is a ceremony known as the Last Post. At 8h, the road is closed and the last post is played by buglers from the fire brigade. Two of our colleagues laid a wreath while we looked on, standing in a line, in dress uniform. It was a very solemn and touching ceremony.
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