Part III: Lille & Flanders

We left Bruges on Easter Monday for Lille, France. Almost everything was closed that day, but luckily this wonderful creperie was open. And no, we probably didn't need wine with lunch, but it seems like such a shame to have a meal without wine when you're in France.

English is spoken a lot less here than it is in Holland, as my mom discovered. When she ordered a decaffeinated tea, she received a café au lait. A very good café au lait.


Ross already mentioned we went to Vimy Ridge to see the Memorial, but here are a few more shots:


Almost 12,000 names are carved into the monument, and these are the names of the Canadian soldiers in France with no known grave.


We were fortunate enough to get a guided tour through the tunnels constructed by the soldiers in 1916/17. It truly was a moving experience.


The memorial is also worth seeing at night, when it is dramatically lit. All around it was an incredible day.


The next day we drove to Ypres, Belgium, a city flattened by four years of battle from 1914-1918. The city was completely restored to it's medieval architecture after the war, and it is impossible to believe the entire city is less than one hundred years old.


It was in this part of Belgium (Flanders) that John McCrae wrote In Flanders' Fields, and there are endless amounts of cemeteries and monuments commemorating those who died in battle. We visited a few cemeteries including Tyne-Cot, the largest of all the Commonwealth cemeteries. At Tyne Cot, 12,000 graves stand, enclosed by a wall bearing 35,000 names of Commonwealth soldiers with no known graves. This was about one-third of the cemetary:




We also visited the Brooding Soldier monument at Passendale, dedicated to the 2000 Canadians who lost their lives in the first gas attacks.

Most of the battlefields have returned to farmland, but for areas that have remained untouched, the scarred terrain still tells stories exploded grenades and brutal trench warfare.

Lest we forget.

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.

Anything to do around here?

For the third and final weekend of visiting with Ross' family, we met up in Paris to celebrate Brian's birthday. I can't believe we've been to Paris twice in the past three months. Who do we think we are? The Rockefellers?

The hotel we stayed in was located at the Arc de Triomphe. This proved to be very convenient for us. Friday, our first night in the city, we went to the top as the sun was setting.



This is what the chaos of the traffic circle around it looks like from the top.


Saturday we overheard the end of a ceremony where they were raising a gigantic flag in the center. The delicate flag moving in the midst of this fortress was a very powerful sight.


Sunday morning, Ross' mom heard a marching band outside. Sure enough, a service for Armistice Day was starting to take place at the Arc, with the Champs-Élysées as the procession route. We hurried down and took our place on the street. The security was extremely high; there were police everywhere. In order to stand along the street, you had to be scanned with a metal detector. At the top of the Arc you could seen guards standing in twos watching all below. There were screens all along the Champs-Élysées showing first the procession, and then later the President Sarkozy's speech and the service, so everyone could have a view of what was happening.

Obviously everything was in French, but it was still meaningful to listen to, as we all know the themes of November 11th. If anything, it allowed us to interpret it however we chose.

After the service, Sarkozy walked around and shook hands with people in the crowd. As he was doing this, film footage from France's archives of WW1 was shown, while a boy's choir sang in the background. It was beautiful.

After Sarkozy was finished, he was hurried into his car which we had plain sight of. I knew this was my one chance to get a photo of him, so I stood on my tiptoes and raised my camera high above my head and snapped this impressive work of photographic genius:


I can assure you, at least one of those legs belongs to him.

Following the motorcade was the procession back. In the background you can see the screen we watched the service on.







It truly was an amazing sight.

This morning, our train left for The Hague at 7am, meaning it was a very early start for us. The only benefit of being on the metro at the crack of dawn is that you actually get a seat.


We have had so much fun these last few weekends jaunting off to meet up with Ross' parents, but unfortunately it can't last forever. As Ross' dad so eloquently stated, "We are not the Rockefellers. . . We are the Milnes."

Next weekend we'll just be in The Hague, but we're looking forward to that, too.

A whole bunch o' stuff.

As Grace already mentioned, we made our way to Lille and Brussels over the weekend and arrived back in the Hague today.

During the trip I was reminded of something that keeps happening every once in a while. Occasionally, Grace and I find ourselves interacting with someone who is either serving us, waiting in line with us, or else just happens to notice the Canadian flag on our backpacks. Regardless of how the conversation begins the first question (statement?) we are typically asked upon finding out we are Canadian is: "ahh, so you speak French?"

Of course, we respond by saying something like "no, we're from the other side of the country". In order to clarify further we usually have to state how big the country is and that the distance between where we live and the French speaking side of the country would be like flying from The Netherlands to the middle of Russia.

What's more, there seems to be an identifying component to this as the people we have been interacting with tend to understand Canada as like the United States, only French speaking.

This is something that has interested both Grace and I since arriving here in mid-August as it's completely counter to the "Canada" we had expected people to know: Toronto. Even Vancouver is at times a foggy name in many peoples minds.

Another thing I feel the need to mention (though already posted by Grace) is this:


If there is one thing that is certain about Belgium, it is their love for beer. I could be wrong, but I think they have more micro breweries per sq. km than any other country in the world. These were two Belgian beers of the 2004 available at a bar in Brussels. Yes, that is right. There is a bar in Brussels with 2004 beers on the menu. Most of them are Belgian, though I think it is safe to say that they cover every worthwhile brewery across the globe. Keep in mind that most Belgian beers are around 8 - 11% alcohol content. That's pretty impressive if you ask me.

Speaking of Belgium, while we have only been to Brussels, I can already tell that there is something very unique about this small country. I have the feeling that Belgians understand how much of a treasure their country is, but have no desire to boast on the world-stage. In addition to this, the pace is notably more relaxed (even for such a big city as Brussels) and they have a cultural identity – including an incredible culinary history – that could rival that of France's. Combine this with the fact that Brussels is the home-base of the EU and the seat of NATO and you have an apparent influx of new ideas and international perspectives sitting peaceful along-side century old traditions.

And what about Lille you ask? Well, it is safe to say that France is where my heart is and I intend to visit it as much as I possibly can.

All that said, here's a few more photos that should add to what Grace has already provided:


(Victor Hugo called Grand Place in Brussels the "most beautiful square in the world")



Oh, and another thing: We've now been here for two full months. Hooray!

The Theme is Zebra

With three travel days left on our Railpass, Ross & I decided to make the most of the weekend and jaunt off to France and Belgium. We definitely wanted to go to France, but didn't want to spend too much time traveling, so on the recommendation of three different French people, we decided to venture to Lille, the capital of Northern France.

We couldn't find much information about it, and weren't really sure what to expect, but once we arrived we realised it was exactly what we were looking for. It is, after all, France.

There were plenty of cafés, boulangeries, and delicious wine aplenty. C'est magnifique!


Here's an action shot of Ross distributing a delicious house red.


There was also art. Unfortunatly one of the drawbacks of traveling to a city where tourism isn't one of it's major industries (especially out of season) is that a lot of things weren't available. Many galleries seemed to have incredible shows opening in the coming weeks, and were currently closed. We went to the Palais du Beaux-Arts which had many of it's biggest works on loan or being restored. Regardless, the building was incredible, and we had the place to ourselves.


Lille is known for having one of the best nightlifes in Northern France, and it was obvious that the city came to life at night. In lieu of street lamps, all the building had dramatic lighting that was frequently changing colour and intensity. It was so beautiful that we took a million photos.




We found the stereotype that the French are rude to tourists to be completely incorrect in Lille. In fact, we received the warmest reception to date. So many people were curious about us and where we came from and why we came to the city. It was obvious that Lille does not see an abundance of North American tourists. The petit Français I can parle was warmly and patiently received, and people spoke very slowly to us with a smile of their face.

Although there wasn't a lot of "touristy" things to do and see in Lille, there was lots of the lifestyle we adore. That lifestyle includes:

baguettes!

coffee! (Alongé s.v.p.)


and public markets, and zebras! Yes, zebras. We crossed a pedestrian bridge over a river and saw five or six zebras on the other side. We didn't know Lille had a zoo, so it was kind of a surprise.

From Lille we went to the much larger and much more tourist capital of the EU, Brussels. The weather while we were here was like summer.


The official languages of Brussels are both French and Flemish. Flemish is the same language as Dutch (or a close relative of), spoken in Belgium. Everything was printed in French and Flemish, and sometimes with English and German. Ross always forgot this and referred to places on the map in both their French and Flemish names, such as "Parc Park" and "Bourse Beurs". ie: "Let's take the Metro to Bourse Beurs and walk to Parc Park."

Aside from chocolate and mussels, Brussels (and the rest of Belggium) is known for these things:

Waffles! (These ones were sold out of a Westfalia)


Comic strip art!


Fries!


Beer!


Art Nouveau! We went on a walking tour of many Victor Horta houses. It was a really long tour, which we were thankful for after indulging in many of Belgium's other treats.


We saw this little fella. There was a huge crowd around him, and everyone was laughing. Afterwards we went to a pub that was decorated with costumes for him, all with a perfectly placed hole.


Brussels is thought to be one of Europe's food capitals. Instead of indulging in one of Belgium's specialties, Ross & I opted for Pho, our favourite Vietnamese dish that we haven't seen since we left Vancouver. It was so comforting!


Other highlights include Magritte and Ensor paintings, and sitting on a patio at a place that despite being named Zebra, featured furniture every colour of the rainbow.

Great weekend.