I received a message from Saint Christopher today...

I received a message from Saint Christopher today...... GO HOME!

“I believe that today was payback

for all the good fortune we've had during this trip”

Doug Luxton

Oct 23 2011

We set off for Caen early this morning to drop off the rental car. Everything went pretty well.

I pulled off at a gas station to fill it up only to find that it was a totally automated station... no attendant and it didn't like my credit card. So we ventured further down the road until I found a station with a real live person at the cash and filled up the car. Great mileage by the way. It was a diesel and we went from Calais to Ypres Belgium then down through Vimy to Courseulles Sur Mer on half a tank of gas!

Anyway, i digress. We arrived at the Avis drop off location across the street from the train station, but the miniscule lot was jammed with cars overflowing onto a dedicated bus route. I managed to get most of the car off the road and proceeded to the Avis storefront.

No... Marty didn't park this.. .I did.

Now I knew that they were closed today, but I was assured that there was a drop box for the keys. Well, surprise, surprise.... no drop off box, no mail slot, no little note in the window telling you where to leave the keys.... nothing at all! We asked the people in the establishments around the rental agency if they knew where to leave the keys. One gentleman finally told us to leave them at the ticket wicket in the train station across the street.

We headed off to the ticket wicket, keys in hand, where we met up with Janet who was taking the crew to Paris for a shopping spree, and were relieved to see that the attendant was in fact scheduled to be working only to find that he/she must have had other priorities because no one showed up for the entire time we were there!

We finally flagged down a conductor-esque looking young lady who was very helpful, and directed us down into the bowels of the train station where a gentleman confirmed that 'this happens all the time' and relieved us of the keys.

With our troubles behind us, we boarded the train and headed for Paris!

Everything went well until we reached a remote station about 1/4 of the way along. '

The train stopped and the conductor informed us that there had been an accident on the tracks and that the train would be delayed indefinitely.... indefinitely.... Indefinitely..... INIDEFINITELY!!!!

Luckily they gave us a free lunch box to tide us over.

Free Lunch = Happy Travellers

Personally, I like the nuts.... on my left.

After a two and a half hour layover on a trip that should only take 2 hours, we were back on our way to resume the remaining three quarters of the trip.

Anyway. We were hoping to tour the Louvre with Janet, Kathleen, Cathy and Isabella, but with the late hour and the museum closing in a couple hours, we parted ways and headed for our hotel at Charles de Gaulle airport.

On the positive side, I suppose this gives us an excuse to return to Paris some day.

We have now had a good look around the airport... the hotel is great.... and we're ready to hop aboard our flight tomorrow for Canada!

If all goes well, we should be raking leaves by 4:00 pm!

Not Your Ordinary Day at the Beach

Damn time zone made me sleep in again today!

This was our day to actually tour the beaches of Normandy.

We started out this morning at Juno Beach Centre. On the way over, I

noticed the tide was out.

Now I understand the expression  'high and dry'!

High and Dry at low tide

Juno Beach Centre

Reunited at Juno Beach Centre

We viewed a short movie at the beginning of the museum portion of the tour. The room gave the impression of being inside one of the landing craft as you viewed the 360 degree video of the landing and some of the details leading up to it.

After the video, the doors opened into the museum. There were many, many very interesting exhibits in the museum. In fact we had to leave the museum for the tour of the beach, and return to the museum later.

We started out by looking at some of the obstacles placed on the beach used to impede the allied advance.  These tetrahedrons were strategically placed to be underwater at high tide to cripple incoming ships, and to impede tank advances at low tide.

Obstacles

Kathleen did a great job guiding us around the grounds. One of the most interesting exhibits was a German bunker. The walls of the bunker were made of reinforced 6 foot concrete walls. When in operation, the bunker had a periscope coming out of the top. The detail and features that went into the design of the bunker was very impressive.

Bunker as viewed from the beach

Marty inside the bunker checking for dust

We saw pictures of the bunker dating back to the 1940's. At the time the bunker was in use, it was right next to the water at high tide. Over the years, the wind has created sand dunes between the water and the bunker, and the weight of the concrete has caused it to sink into the sand.

Outside of the bunker is a large display with a poem written on it. The poem was actually a secret message. The french resistance knew where the D-Day events would happen, but they did not know when they would happen. The arrangement was, when this poem was read on a BBC broadcast, it was a signal for the french resistance to start destroying key infrastructure such as rail lines, phone lines bridges etc. in preparation for the assault. Kathleen said that to this day, the poem is like a national anthem to the french.

Kathleen telling us the story of the poem

From Juno beach we drove to the site of the British landing at Gold Beach. At this point, the British created artificial piers to dock ships and unload their cargo of vehicles and supplies. Looking out into the channel, you can still see the remains of many of the pier components sitting like monoliths in the water.

One of many piers as it was on D-Day

Pier anchor section on the beach at low tide

Bridge Section used to  span the pier anchors

Pier anchor and some very small people

A picture from inside the gaping hole in the pier anchor

Further down the beach was the sight of the American landing at Omaha Beach.

Omaha Beach

At this point, we were pretty much running out of steam and headed back to Courseulles for a nice dinner at a local restaurant and a final visit with Janet and Don.

Tomorrow we will drop off the car at Caen and take the train back to Paris in preparation for our flight home on Monday. But before we throw in the towel, we plan to tour the Louvre Museum tomorrow afternoon.

I'll let you know how that turns out tomorrow.

Something's Fishy in Courseulles Sur Mer!

We woke up fairly late today. Courseulles Sur Mer is at the western end of a time zone, so the sun comes up later than we're use to. At least that was the excuse we used for sleeping in and we're sticking to it!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but we have a very nice view of the marina, the English Channel and the Center at Juno Beach from our window.

We started the day with a stroll down to the Cafe Central for a breakfast of cafe au lait and croissants. I'm really getting to like the coffee here.

The streets were very busy considering the early hour. Vendors were setting up their tables along the roadway for the weekly outdoor market.

Courseulles Sur Mer is a fishing town so there is no shortage of fresh fish, shrimp, oysters etc. for sale.

After browsing the market, we met up with Don, Janet, Cathy and Isabella to make the three kilometer walk along the sea shore to the next town, Burnieres Sur Mer, where the Canadian troops first landed.

One of the places we wanted to see in Burnieres was Canada House. This is one of the first places liberated by Canadian troops. I have included pictures of the house when the troops first landed, and as it looks today.

D Day

Today

Plaque

We toured the town for a while. In some ways it is a living museum with plaques along the streets detailing key facts about the city and the efforts to liberate it., but I think everyone must have been at the fisherman's market, because the town was deserted.

After making the trek back to Courseulles, we took time to freshen up, and met for an excellent supper at one of the many local seafood restaurants. The restaurants buy their fish directly from the fishing boats in the harbour. You just can't get seafood fresher than this.

The catch goes from here......

Directly to here!!

Tomorrow Kathleen will be giving us an official tour from the Juno Beach Centre, then we will travel further afield to Omaha Beach.

See you tomorrow!

The Scenic Route to Courseulles Sur Mer

Well, we're on the final leg of our adventure. Today we left our hotel in Belgium, took another short walk through the town, then headed for the battle ground at Hill 60 Ypres. This is one of the battles my Grandfather fought during the war. He told us that the Germans had control of the top of the hill and that it was impossible to take because they could fire down at any troops trying to advance on them.

The allied solution to this problem was to tunnel into the side of the hill, pack the tunnels with explosives and blow the hill up! By all accounts, the explosion was heard as far away as London England.

The site itself was very understated. The first thing I noticed was the irregularity in the landscape created by explosives in the battle. I must admit, I felt quite an eerie chill walking through the battle ground.

Hill 60

Hills and Craters

From Hill 60 we left Belgium and headed south into France. Our destination was Vimy Ridge, another of my Grandfathers stomping grounds, and the Canadian Monument erected in the honor of Canadian Soldiers.

It was an hour and a half drive from Ypres. We drove through narrow winding streets for most of the trip. The houses and buildings were  full of character which has been the case throughout our trip.

As we approached the town of Vimy, the Canadian Monument loomed large over the town and could be seen towering over the town for miles. 

Vimy Memorial from a distance

We followed the narrow road to the monument. We were very fortunate to have it to ourselves for about 15 minutes between bus tours. It is huge! The grounds and monument itself were expansive, and the sheep seemed to enjoy the attention form passing tourist.

The Memorial

Dedication

All to ourselves

After leaving the monument, we traveled a little further through the park to the Vimy Welcome Centre where we met a lovely New Brunswick lass who directed us to the trenches and tunnels preserved from the war.

The fields around the trenches are roped off from the public. Even today, these fields are covered in mounds and craters from the battles and are protected from the wandering public by electric fences in an effort to preserve the landscape. Some of the craters around the trenches must have been 25 to 30 feet deep.

Bomb Craters

Trenches

Pill Box Entrance

Pill Box view from the inside

Pill Box view from the outside

After leaving Vimy,we made our way to Courseulles Sur Mer, the home of the Juno Beach Centre where we met up with Janet, Don and Kathleen. 

We will be staying here for a few days before returning to Paris for our flight back to Canada.

But thats a few days off.
Tonight we will get a good nights sleep and begin our tour of Courseulles Sur Mer and Juno Beach tomorrow.

 

We've really enjoyed our Scenic Route to Courseulles Sur Mer, but reaching your destination does not necessarily mean your journey is over.

On our way to chocolates and waffles

We left London this morning for a train ride to Calais to pick up a rental car.

Calais is a very small station and we were pretty much the only people there. We picked up the car at the train station and headed off to Ypres Belgium.

O

We arrived around 3:30 our time, and Marty fell in love with the town.

Our Hotel

Typical Buildings in the Town

We took a walk downtown to one of the many the chocolate factories to pick up some supplies. She also dragged me past a store selling waffles. I think I'll be back there in the morning for breakfast.

We will be leaving tomorrow morning so we headed directly to the Flanders Fields Museum. The place is huge. I thought it was a cathedral when I first saw it.

In Flanders Fields

Flanders Fields Museum - the building on the left

There is a large archway leading into Ypres. Every evening at 8:00 pm they have a 'last post' ceremony to commemorate those who fought to liberate Belgium. They do this every day all year long. We walked into town from our hotel to watch. I was surprised at the number of people who showed up! The place was packed! I had to lift Marty on onto a ledge to see what was going on.

Last Post at Menin Gate

On our way back, we stopped at the Poppy Pizza and Steak Tavern. The pizza was delicious! One of the best I've ever had, and compared to the prices in London and Paris, it was a real bargain.

Tomorrow we are going to see where the battle of Hill 60 took place. It is one of the battles I remember my Grandfather telling me about. After that, we will be driving down to Vimy seeing he had his hand in that battle too.  Then it's down to Courseulles Sur Mer to meet up with Kathleen and her family.

See you by the sea side!

Rare Celestial Event hits London!

We had an early start today and headed down to the pub for a full English breakfast. These people eat more at breakfast than I eat all day!

Big Ben

Parlliament

On our scouting missIon yesterday we saw that the cHanging of the guards at Buckingham Palace was scheduled for 11:30 todAy, so after stopping at some tourist shops, we arrived at Buckingham Palace in plenty of time.

We lined up along the roadside to see the parade to the Palace. We had a great view of the Parade leading up to the changing of the guards, buT the place was packed!

From the Palace, we took a long walk through the city, Trafalgar Square, back to Westminster, the Parliament buildings on the Thames River etc. The greatEst disappointment for me was walking past 10 Downing Street, the home of the Prime Minster, to see if locked behind huge gates and guarded by military with assault rifles. A sign of the times I gueSs.

The Royal Park

No idea, but it's big!

All this time, and after stopping at a few tourist shops, I was becoming aware of a strange celestial event occurring over the city wHich none of the locals could explain. 

Astronomical Anomily

We immediately hopped on the underground (subway) and headed for Greenwich to the Royal Observatory to see what was gOing on. We discussed the strange anomaly with the astronomers at the observatory and they confirmed that the sky was, in fact, clear of clouds and that the sun was shining brightly over London! 

ApParently this only happens once every Treacle Treat Tuesday which is as rare as a vicky-verky!

While at the observatory, we visited the Prime Meridian to see 00 degrees, 00 mInutes 00 sec longitude.

East meets West

Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory

Looks Cool

They had some very iNteresting exhibits in the observatory. It always amazes me to see how many great discoveries and achievements were made with very rudimentary equipment.  But by my calculations, they may need to move the Prime Meridian 5 seconds to the west..... just a sugGestion!!!

Royal Observatory vs Nokia E5 Cell Phone

Anyway, after stopping at some more tourist shops, it was another nice supper down in the Pub. The place was full of businessmen gathered around the bar discussing the days event.

Tomorrow we're back to France to pick up a car in Calais. We will spend tomorrow in Ypres Belgium to take a tour of Hill 60.