I knew this trip would be special. I thought that having done the Remembrance Day, WWI sights in Belgium was enough, but I was wrong. During/after a trip like this, you stand taller. You're proud to be Canadian. You appreciate those who have fought and are fighting for our country. You want to do something. Saying that it's a life-changing experience is pretty bold...but perhaps it's the truth.
I've never really known of a place (for me personally) that I felt like I needed to go to in my lifetime. I guess that's not entirely true. At some point, I would like to visit my family and see my heritage. I guess that's the same idea - so many people come to Normandy to see and visit the beaches, cemeteries, museums and memorials. I guess these people are seeing their family and their heritage. So I do understand.
Upon arriving to Caen, we went to visit the
Caen Memorial Museum. This museum was huge, and would require a pretty good chunk of time to go through. It's heavy stuff. There are some excellent films to see and a range of expositions, going through all of history. The history of war. Lots
of different insights and perspectives. Very up-to-date as well. Highlights (it doesn't feel right to call them that) include pieces of the Berlin Wall and Fragments of the Twin Towers. This museum may have been the best one that I've visited. Ever.
They have this one abnormally wide road in Caen. It's perfect for the trams in the city so that there's room for the tracks separate from the car lanes. I could just
feel, the reason this road existed was for the tanks to drive along. And when you see pictures of places you've been, looking exactly the same, yet in black and white, with dirt or stone roads instead of pavement, and with tanks instead of cars. It becomes so real. I'm so lucky to have never seen any of these things in person, so it's hard to imagine it...but just like I've learned from pedagogy classes, when you can put something into context of something that you've experienced it stays with you. You've learned it forever.
The next day, the first stop on our day of _________ (how can one word do justice?) was the Canadian cemetery. You know, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was set up very much like the site in Ypres for World War I.
The
Juno Beach Centre felt like I was home. We'd walked along the beaches to get there, and it's a great time to reflect. And to imagine. No, that's the wrong word - imagine seems too "make believe", visualize might be better. You visualize the landings. You visualize the fear. You visualize the courage. It's right in front of you, the distance that they had to cover before there was any chance that you could catch your breath and not be seen for a moment or two. I felt so exposed.
Looking up at the dunes and at the other locations, it was worse - cliffs. You can't even see what you're up against. If you think about it, if you really think about it, the bloodshed was inevitable. It's the number of hearts against the number of bullets. I can't even...
Oh, for anyone who knows of a university student who might want an amazing experience, the Centre hires students to work there. Our guide was an Ottawa University student who would be studying to get his B.Ed (I/S level, French) the upcoming September. While walking the Centre, I just felt like telling everyone I was Canadian.
When we got to
The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, I knew this was the real deal. Hopefully no reads my writing like I take it all very lightly, it's just sometimes things don't hit you until...something. This was like what you see in all of those American feature films. Crosses. Row upon row. Even in the John McRae poem,
In Flander's Fields. It's something that we're brought up with in Canadian culture. So a certain extent, that's why the cemeteries in Belgium,
while of course the sheer volume had an impact, it just, I don't know. For me, seeing those crosses hit.
We were steps from the beach. "Omaha" by code name. The Americans wanted to bury their soldiers as close to where they fell as possible. Walking through,
getting to know those who fought. There were so many who fell the day they landed. The movie,
Saving Private Ryan was inspired by two soldiers who are buried in this Cemetery. There are two Roosevelts in the cemetery. One is a WWI soldier who was relocated to be closer to his relative. He is the only non WWII soldier buried here. On the way out of the cemetery, we were honoured to see the flags being brought down for the night. Carried away by a veteran. For someone who has a bad memory, I still remember the visit so clearly in my mind. I'm not the most eloquent in the best situations, and trying to put into words an experience like this is proving to be pretty much impossible. Really, words cannot describe an experience like this. I'm glad I can share my pictures.
The final cemetery that was visited was a German cemetery.
It was interesting to see the similarities between the cemeteries from the WWI and from WWII.
The headstones, style, mass grave...again, I don't know why I would expect anything different.
Between visiting different cemeteries, we visited various battle sights. Of course I know that the war happened, and that tanks roamed the land and huge guns littered the area, but when
you see it...when you
really see it there. You can imagine where the boats landed. You see the craters created by the bombs. The remnant guns look like something out of a sci-fi movie or a computer game. Yes, it happened, but you never expect it to look so...horrible.
Oh, I experienced quicksand. It was really interesting. You don't sink too quickly, and just like it's
supposed to, you sink the more you move. It is possible to get yourself out, you just have to do it slowly, deliberately and carefully. On such a serious day, I have to admit, it was kinda fun playing in the stuff and doing wild and zany things while being stuck. And then you realize that
just where you're playing...nothing changes. It's still the Normandy Beaches.
Mont St. Michel has nothing to do with WWI, but visiting it is a magical experience, so it fits right in.
This beautiful cathedral was built after an angel descended multiple times to tell this special guy to build the place.
After having the angel's finger burn a hole through his forehead, he finally built it.
Anyway, the place is crazy cool because of the tides. At low tide, you can walk on the sand right up to the "mountain". A guide is definitely
recommended for this, because quicksand sucks if you don't know where to go. At high tide the one lane highway is pretty much the only way to get to
Mont St. Michel, and you have to get dropped off because the parking lots are underwater. No joke. The tides change pretty quickly however. We arrived at high tide, and just 15 minutes after we arrived you could already make out the painted grid on the parking lot.
The last night in Caen, I walked around town and was amazed by the beautiful buildings and lighting. Europeans do it right. Maybe I'm not close enough to the actionin the T-dot to actually see what's up, but they way they care about how their monuments and buildings look on the old continent. It's great.
On the way back to Neuch, we had a free afternoon in Paris. It was a sunday, so I had to make due with gazing longingly into all my fav stores (
Repetto, anyone?). I did though, use to opportunity to beef up my Amelie obsession.
It's M. Collignon's shop! Wheeeeeeeee!
Another day, another musical! 
Even though it wasn't your typical feel-good musical, I really enjoyed it. It dealt with serious issues, but the musical numbers were fantastic. The cast was incredible. Whoever did the casting did a great job. It was so fun to see the characters really come alive - the musical numbers really helped in that regard. The staging, the lighting, the set - everything was so appropriate to the type of show that it was. You wouldn't think that tube fluorescent lights would be effective, but it really was amazing. I was sitting at the front of the balcony - really really good seats, but due to the intimate nature of the show, I would recommend that you get orchestra seats to this show - unless they're at the very back or something, than maybe balcony would be better. There are also seats onstage as well, which put you right in the middle of the action. Speaking of action (bad segway), if you're uncomfortable with nudity and PDA, then maybe this isn't the best show for you. Again, really serious issues, so don't expect to go home feeling good about life. Maybe you will, because the show was so well done, but it makes you think.
