Some familiar faces.

Last week, Grace's parents made the long trek to visit us in the Netherlands. It's normally a long flight, though the extent of their travels redefines what it means to have a long and exhausting day of travel. As they live in Fruitvale, BC, they had to drive 3 hours to Kelowna, fly to Vancouver, wait for their flight, and then fly the 10 hours to Amsterdam. All-in-all, the whole thing probably took about 16 hours by the time we reached the hotel in Amsterdam.

For the last week and a half we toured them through Amsterdam, the Hague, Delft, and then took the train down to Brugge, Belgium and Lille, France, where we spent the last few days. Grace and I had never been to Brugge, though we were determined to get there before we head back to Canada. If European cities could receive awards it would get the prize for most picturesque city in Northern Europe.

Here's the family in Brugge:


And here's some proof of how lovely Brugge is:


After a few days in Brugge, we took the train to Lille, France which was to act as our home base for two days of road trips to some historic World War I sites in France and Belgium. This provided the opportunity to cross yet another 'to-do-before-we-go' off our list.

For all Canadian readers, you should recognize this monument:


In case you don't recognize it, the incredibly large monument featured in the photo is the Vimy war memorial, located just outside Vimy, France, commemorating all those who fought and died in the battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 and the rest of World War I. For a country that is not known for monuments of any sort – let alone monuments of this scale – this is truly special. In fact, it is so massive, and so well thought out, that I am confident in saying it stands among the great monuments erected by Louis 14th and Napolean.

It was a real priveledge to be there so close to the anniversary of the battle on April 9, 1917, as the recent snow-fall and general environment around the site were likely as close as we could get to understanding the atmosphere leading up to the battle. The precise time we were there (mid afternoon) combined with the time of year meant that the sun was in the perfect position to shine through the monuments two towers, creating a spotlight on the center-piece of Canada mourning her lost:


I am certain this is no coincidence. Rather, this is design at its best and most essential. The architect, Walter Seymour Allward, knew where the sun would be late afternoon during the weeks around April 9th and built the monument accordingly. Moreover, beyond being immense for immense sake, the size and position of the towers play a role in establishing the effect shown above, and this would have all been taken into account when designing the monument.

Here's some more photos of the site, including one showing some of the remaining trenches around the area:



The next day, I took the train back to the Hague while Grace and her parents carried on to the second site on their trip, the memorials at Ypres, Belgium – the heart of the Flanders region. Today, they took the train to London where their trip will conclude. That means Grace will be back on Sunday, and you can expect a further update (and more photos) upon her return.

Oh, and in case you didn't get the hint: if you ever find yourself in the area around Vimy, don't hesitate; go.