Visiting Vimy (and the tombs of some famous Norman Conquerors)
Why hello there, everyone! A quick update before I head off to the South of France for the next little while... Oh, and quick, amusing site note: I have just learned that I will be going to be spending my Christmas in an even French smaller town near Agen which has the most amazing name: Condom. Actual name, actual town. Google map it. Seriously. :3
So far, my Christmas vacation has been going rather well! I started the holidays off with a trip to Caen with John the Irishman, and despite the fact that he missed the train he intended on taking from Caen to Rouen to meet me and so arrived in Caen like two hours after I did, we still had great fun! We visited, for instance, the graves of William the Conqueror and his wife (and equally awesome member of the aristocracy) Queen Matilda. Fun fact: apparently, during the French Revolution, William the Conqueror's tomb was raided and desecrated, and all it contains today is his left femur. Still! William the Conqueror's left femur is under that stone, guys! How cool is that?
The grave of Guillelmus Conquestor, Normanniae Dux et Angliae Rex.
We also visited the Second World War Memorial Museum, which, while it had an expensive entry fee (with the student discount it was 12 euro each), was amazing. The displays were interesting and moving, as were the films that were scattered around.
I also went to Lille to visit a Canadian friend who is only studying there until the autumn. We had moules frites (steamed mussels and French fries) one final time, then, the next day, took the train to Arras and then a taxi to Vimy Ridge. This is the site of one of the most important battles (to Canadians) in the First World War. The battle is said to have defined us as a separate country from Britain. It's also the sight of an absolutely spectacular monument built in the 1920s and 1930s.
(One of the requirements of visiting Vimy Ridge is to look as epic as possible in all photographs.)
Detail of the towers - one represents France, the other, Canada, and our two countries war dead.
This is what it looks like from a distance. The bottom platform is inscribed with the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who died during the Great War but whose bodies (at that point) hadn't yet been found.
The statue representing Canada looks out over the battlefield and mourns the dead of the Great War.
For perspective for those who haven't been to this place in person: she's about twice as tall as I am. This is an absolutely massive monument. It was built from stone quarried in present-day Croatia, which had been a place where the Romans had found the stones for their own temples. The architect wanted some kind of stone that he knew would stand the test of time.
Oh, and as a side note: this massive monument is surrounded by beautiful green scenery, but you must walk only on the clearly-marked paths. Why? Take a look at this photo:
The landscape is still scarred today from the fierce battles that took place there almost a century ago. There may still be unexploded munitions beneath the grass.
These woods are kind of eerie, too, and not only if you just take a moment to think about what lies beneath their roots. Each tree, I believe, was planted after the war and represents a soldier that was killed. The forest is maintained, and there is no undergrowth. So you have this not-quite-natural forest in a strange landscape right out of a 19th century German woodcut about gnomes and fairy people.
There are also tens of thousands of soldiers buried within twenty kilometers or so of the monument, some in anonymous graves. Some are known only by what uniform they were wearing. Those graves are marked "Known Unto God".
They also have some trenches preserved in concrete in their original configurations. There's an underground section that's better preserved, but it was closed for the two or three weeks around Christmas, so I'm going to have to come back later to see it.
All in all, Vimy Ridge is an amazing historical site to visit. I would highly recommend anybody who is visiting even Paris to take a day trip out to Arras and Vimy. It was spectacular and moving. I can't put my feelings into words. Visit it. You must.
So far, my Christmas vacation has been going rather well! I started the holidays off with a trip to Caen with John the Irishman, and despite the fact that he missed the train he intended on taking from Caen to Rouen to meet me and so arrived in Caen like two hours after I did, we still had great fun! We visited, for instance, the graves of William the Conqueror and his wife (and equally awesome member of the aristocracy) Queen Matilda. Fun fact: apparently, during the French Revolution, William the Conqueror's tomb was raided and desecrated, and all it contains today is his left femur. Still! William the Conqueror's left femur is under that stone, guys! How cool is that?
The grave of Guillelmus Conquestor, Normanniae Dux et Angliae Rex.
We also visited the Second World War Memorial Museum, which, while it had an expensive entry fee (with the student discount it was 12 euro each), was amazing. The displays were interesting and moving, as were the films that were scattered around.
I also went to Lille to visit a Canadian friend who is only studying there until the autumn. We had moules frites (steamed mussels and French fries) one final time, then, the next day, took the train to Arras and then a taxi to Vimy Ridge. This is the site of one of the most important battles (to Canadians) in the First World War. The battle is said to have defined us as a separate country from Britain. It's also the sight of an absolutely spectacular monument built in the 1920s and 1930s.
(One of the requirements of visiting Vimy Ridge is to look as epic as possible in all photographs.)
Detail of the towers - one represents France, the other, Canada, and our two countries war dead.
This is what it looks like from a distance. The bottom platform is inscribed with the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who died during the Great War but whose bodies (at that point) hadn't yet been found.
The statue representing Canada looks out over the battlefield and mourns the dead of the Great War.
For perspective for those who haven't been to this place in person: she's about twice as tall as I am. This is an absolutely massive monument. It was built from stone quarried in present-day Croatia, which had been a place where the Romans had found the stones for their own temples. The architect wanted some kind of stone that he knew would stand the test of time.
Oh, and as a side note: this massive monument is surrounded by beautiful green scenery, but you must walk only on the clearly-marked paths. Why? Take a look at this photo:
The landscape is still scarred today from the fierce battles that took place there almost a century ago. There may still be unexploded munitions beneath the grass.
These woods are kind of eerie, too, and not only if you just take a moment to think about what lies beneath their roots. Each tree, I believe, was planted after the war and represents a soldier that was killed. The forest is maintained, and there is no undergrowth. So you have this not-quite-natural forest in a strange landscape right out of a 19th century German woodcut about gnomes and fairy people.
There are also tens of thousands of soldiers buried within twenty kilometers or so of the monument, some in anonymous graves. Some are known only by what uniform they were wearing. Those graves are marked "Known Unto God".
They also have some trenches preserved in concrete in their original configurations. There's an underground section that's better preserved, but it was closed for the two or three weeks around Christmas, so I'm going to have to come back later to see it.
All in all, Vimy Ridge is an amazing historical site to visit. I would highly recommend anybody who is visiting even Paris to take a day trip out to Arras and Vimy. It was spectacular and moving. I can't put my feelings into words. Visit it. You must.