A Little bit of History-Versailles- Giverny and Normandy

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before but I love everything related to history- becoming a history major in Uni and then eventually a History Teacher (before I became a guidance counsellor I taught History, amoung other things, for many years). In particular I love Canadian, and European history- pretty much all eras. After reading so much about it, I have always wanted to go to Versailles, I went to book the tickets and wouldn't you know it! Closed on Mondays-the only day we had to go. We decided to drive by anyway,and as it turns out you can still walk the gardens, such a shame I could not get in to see the palace, it looked magnificent.

A side view of Versailles one of the many gardens

We left Versailles and headed to Giverny, a village the region of Normandy about 1/2 hour outside Paris. This is where Monet lived and worked from 1883 until his death in 1926 (his tomb is located in the village). Monet's  home and gardens, (where he painted the famous water lily series), are now part of the Claude Monet museum, where you can visit and explore. It is the  prettiest little village and of course visiting Monets' gardens was incredible

You may recall me mentioning a group we met in Thailand back in February. They were from France and all retired history teachers. We ended up chatting to them all day and eventually sharing emails. After hearing about our plans to journey to Northern France, the lovely Beatrice invited us to her home in Normandy, to the small town of Eu. 

Beatrice's gorgeous home, that she invited us to

Eu is the prettiest little town with a bona fide castle (Queen Victoria would often visit) old cathedral and is the home to a Canadian historical figure Jean de Brebuf (he was a Jesuit missionary who left France to work with the first Nations in Canada).

Chateaux D'Eu (William the conqueror was married in the chapel her in 1050)

Chapel of the Jesuits

We had no idea what to expect, (and not wanting to out stay our welcome). Our hosts went above and beyond and we ended up staying for 4 days! We reunited with Annie and her husband Guy and met a new family, who had a daughter Pauline (Livy may do an exchange with her in the next couple of years). We spent the next few days touring around the lovely little villages all around Northern Normandy, being shown the best of French hospitality, (I honestly put on 5 lbs...omg the cheese!). Visiting Ault (this is where the cliffs begin) and the picturesque villiage-Plage du Bois de Cise, and my favourite Mers-Les- Bains

Ault

This beautiful seaside town Mers-Les- Bains was spared from the bombs- the neighbouring town got pummeled

Mers de Bains

overlooking Plage du Boise de Cise

The next morning we started our WW2  pilgrimage, unfortunately we did not go to the D -Day beaches (Juno is the beach the Canadians conquered) it was just to far south to make the drive, but we were able to visit so many historical sites, including Dieppe the Canadian Memorial and a Canadian cemetery. What a very powerful, humbling and emotional day, 

Puys Beach- One of the beaches from operation Jubilee , just east of Dieppe- so many young men died here...what a sad shame...

On a plaque

the beach was just littered with soldiers that day

So very sad walking around where so many died

Seeing the cliffs in person you can see why the Canadians never stood a chance

We left Puys beach and headed to the Canadian Cemetary- stopping at a view of the beautiful town of Dieppe

Dieppe

The Dieppe Canadian war Cemetary has 1000 canadian soldiers who were killed during operation Jubilee. France has given the land to Canada, officially we were standing on Canadian soil.

Better then any classroom....the girls asked so many questions...

reading the tombstones, most of the men were 18 and 19

The Museum in Dieppe, very small but so great

the cathedral in Dieppe

We could not have had a better time with our new friends in Normandy. We all loved it so much (Liv has declared it her favourite place and wants to move here when she is older, I think it helps that she speaks French). We left early so we could see Vimy Ridge on our way to Beligium.
I did not know much about Vimy Ridge, however they have an amazing new Visitor Education Centre next to the memorial. Well worth the stop,  very kid friendly, we all learned to much.Once again, very emotional and so sad

this was another cemetery from WW1- it was unbelievable to see how many crosses there were

The visitor centre at Vimy Ridge

The trenches have been restored and you can walk through the original paths

France gave this land to Canada as a thank you and in memory of the fallen soldiers, so once again we were technically on Canadian soil

The memorial in the distance

Vimy Ridge Memorial- so impressive up close

We left Northern France with our hearts (and stomachs) full. I think we were all moved in our own ways (even Anneka through her young eyes understood the significance), with the help of our hosts, Normandy was one of the most special times for me on this journey. Every Canadian should make the trip to Northern France and experience this part of our history. 

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