Conclusion - Why France Will Always Be Better Than America

Hello all, as a special supplement to my travel blog, I'd like to offer a few reasons why I believe every American must go to Paris at least once - if for no other reason than to see what they are missing. Americans, don't believe the rhetoric and the propaganda. CNN and often your own government has lied to you - you are not better than the France. In fact, you don't even come close:

1. I know you don't want to hear this, but first of all, if weren't for France sending thousands of troops to America to support General Washington during your American Revolution, you would still be paying taxes to London. You would have lost - period.
   
2. They have the best food in the world, bar none. Don't even bother America, you don't come close. (P.S. French fries and French toast don't count as French food)
   
3. The people of France drink more wine, eat more fatty foods and smoke more than the average American. In fact, the verified oldest woman who ever lived, Jeanne Calment, lived to be 122 years - in France. She smoked until she was 117, ate a kilogram of chocolate a week and and wine every day, and saw the Eiffel Tower being built. And darn it, her fellow Frenchmen also live to be 79.6 years on average. It's 77.5 years in the US. What would you do with an extra 2.1 years on your life?
4. Why? Because they have universal health care for everyone (PS - so does Canada). No insurance costs, etc. They even have 24-hour doctors, in a service called SOS Medicin, that will come to your house day or night for a house call - for free. They offer preventative medicine and doctors actually get bonuses if their patients on average become less sick and need the system less.
5. They have childcare that costs as little as $1 a day, but which employs some of the mostly highly trained childcare professionals in Europe.
6. You get a paid day if you move from one home to another. It's a national law.
   
7. If you worked there, you'd get 5 weeks vacation, and a 35 hour maximum work week. That's also a national law. On the year you get married, you get an extra 7 days for your honeymoon - paid.
8. When you have a new child in France, the government will send a specialist to your house to teach you to houseproof your home and be a better parent (how to change diapers, how to get them to sleep, etc.) - for free. They will even come in and do your laundry for you, and even cook for your family up to 2 days a week.
   
9. If you happen to live there, you get a college education - for free.
10. Oh and by the way, contrary to what you probably think when you read this, they aren't taxed to death there. For income between 24,872 - 66,679.30 euros (about $42,000-90,000), it's 30% taxation.
    
11. And the biggest myth of all about the French, that the American media has created for us - France is not some useless, sniveling wimp of a country with a weak military. Like America, if they need to defend themselves, they have nuclear missiles - hundreds of them. France is also a voting member of the UN Security Council, so your say in the world is no greater or lesser than theirs. The French military is not weak. They have 259,050 current troops, 410,000 reserve troops and 100,000 paramilitary troops. That's 760,000 soldiers total. America has 3.2 million troops of various kinds - not quite 5 times as much, but your country's population is 6 times bigger. Who's better protected?
    
12. The United States is drowning in crime. France has 17 murders for every 1 million people last year. The United States has 42 for every one million - that's over 2.5 times as many. France has 56,000 prisoners out of 65 million citizens - 0.08%. The US has 330 million citizens - and over 1 million of them are in custody - that's 0.3% (or about 4 times as many per capita).
    

There's only one reason your government and media wants you to hate the French - because they are afraid you might like their way of doing things, and want real change. Go to France, see how they live, and then decide if you still have the greatest standard of living in the world. Guess what - I can give you a hint and save the airfare - you don't.

Why am I writing this? Because for 40 years I was brainwashed by the American media into believing, just like most Americans, that the French were dirty, ignorant, snobbish and wimps in the world. Having been to France now, and having travelled to 41 states and nearly every major American city, I'm now convinced Americans don't have a clue what they're talking about, on virtually any subject.

Now my fellow Canadians, a final thought. You also should visit France as well, but for only one important reason:

1. To have a good time, eat some good frood and see something new and different.
   

We don't have anything to prove. We know there's no place like home and of course we're better - we just don't go around bragging about it.

Day 10 - Goodbye to Paris

 

For the events of Sunday, September 6, 2009

7:00 AM – Woke to TV alarm and opened my blackout curtains to see the beautiful city of Paris for the last time, as the sun rose on a clear sky. Going to be nice here today – too bad I’m leaving in a way, but looking forward to getting home.

7:35 AM – went for last buffet breakfast, then up to my room to finish packing. They have the exact same items in the exact same places every day on the buffet, but it was always enough choices to make it a bit different every day.
I grabbed some of the fruit from the fruit basket I found in my hotel room last night - a thank you from the hotel. Some of it I left behind, but took a peach, some grapes, an

apple and the smallest banana I've ever seen in my life (picture right, click for larger).

8:31 AM – Just checked out quickly – and was happy to see that the Air France bus to Charles De Gaulle (CDG) airport hadn’t left yet – leaves on the ½ hour and hour from Concorde. Baggage handler said I’m going to be first stop, at Terminal 2A for international flights. Concorde is the last pick-up before the airport.

We were soon cruising along the empty freeway on this Sunday morning, seatbelts fastened (wish they had those in Canada). Feeling a bit of a cold coming on – hope I can fight it at home before work Tuesday. Don’t want a repeat of being sick after Sydney.

8:36 AM – We just drove through the tunnel where Princess Diana’s car crashed and was killed, along with Dodi Al-Fayed, the son of the Harrod's Department Store owner in London. The tour guide had told us about it last night on the way into the city.

I also just realized we are on the Peripherique – the crazy busy freeway (during the week anyway) – and this isn’t where the first cabbie took me. Fair warning – do NOT hail a cab in Paris for any reason, or to go anywhere. They are crooks and will rip you off, drive around in circles or take the long way where you want to go, smoke while they drive, be rude and don’t take credit cards. Take the RER train to/from airport (for 13€ one way I think) or better yet, stay at a hotel on the Air France bus route (it’s 15€ one way).

8:56 AM – we're here at Terminal 2A already!

8:59 AM – would have walked forever around outside. There are no automatic doors here – you have to push a button to get doors to open. Kinda dumb when you have your hands full of suitcase handles.

9:06 AM – It took 10 minutes to walk 1 block through the terminal. The exit at International arrivals was so full that people trying to go to and from check-in on the Air Canada side couldn’t walk through. Luckily I got a luggage cart earlier to push through – dragging luggage through that would have been impossible. I just started pushing people out of the way after awhile - I lose patience fast with ignorant people.

Arrived at check-in area #5 for Air Canada and saw that there was a big line for it, but a special line-up for Toronto flight 881 and Montreal flight 885 was set up. At first I thought it was silly to state that – wouldn’t all French flights arrive at one or the other city? It dawned on me at the time that maybe it was just good customer service to have the flight numbers. But that still wouldn’t explain where else Air Canada would be flying from Paris?

A customer service guy on happy pills (he was chuckling with everyone but I don’t think anyone really knew why) asked for my passport and boarding pass. He saw Montreal and put a red dot sticker on top right corner of the outside. The lady at the ticket corner lady later said the color was irrelevant - it just meant that I had been pre-screened (i.e. was in the right line for those special jumbo jet flights to Canada).

9:21 AM – Security line was incredibly huge again. More obnoxious staff, but happy to be free of them at last, so didn’t care too much – at least I had the satisfaction of knowing I wasn’t being singled out for bad treatment.

I had my camera out before we even got close to security, and the only guy checking passports took time to get out of his booth and tell me to put it away – it wasn’t even remotely connected to him or pointing in his direction. Odder still was the fact the camera was already back in my back before he demanded it – and he held up the whole line to do so. Yet another poor loser on a power trip - this city seems to be full of them - with yet another suit that didn’t fit. It's a bit ironic that airport staff to seem to know where to find a measuring tape in the international city of fashion?

9:29 AM – Pierre the Grouch (I don’t know his name, but that’s what we’ll call him) grabbed my passport, didn’t even look it except to find a blank page, and stamped it. Why on earth jam, or even create, a whole stupid line just for that? I appreciated being able to collect a second passport stamp though.

Security scan was much more thorough here than everywhere else. I didn’t get any special treatment because I didn’t beep, but if you do they even roll your shirt sleeves and pant legs up and down, and pat your stomach. They also scan everyone’s boarding passes to (I assume) ensure it’s authentic or or you're going through on the right day, etc. – in other words, that you have a valid reason to be here. Maybe connected with the gates too so they know you have checked in and are on the way to them, in case you are running late. I don’t have to board until 10:50, so no rush at all.

9:41 AM – only in Paris airport could you find a Hugo Boss and Hermes store!

9:44 AM – I walked to the end of the terminal and still didn’t get to A51. You had to walk up stairs, past a little cafeteria, and then back down some stairs to get to the terminal area for gates 47-51. What's that all about?

10:13 AM – yet another airport without free Internet. They have Free Wifi, but that’s pretty useless if the only thing you can connect to is the airport website. Canadians complain about how slow the internet speed in Canada is, and I just don’t get it – mine at home is about 3 times faster for downloading than the fastest I ever had in France. We’re lucky, believe me.

10:30 AM – Bought a drink, gum, and a few souvenirs at the airport Relay newsstand, and they asked for my boarding pass, scanned it into their computer, and it instantly took a percentage off which would represent tax (because they build taxes into all prices). Very cool. They then wrap it and seal it until you get on the plane.

This seating area is pathetically small – big enough for about 50 people, and this is a 767 back to Montreal. Who planned that?

10:34 AM – they just made a pre-boarding announcement for AC887 to Montreal – so I see now why our big flight had a special check-in – it’s a much smaller plane that also goes to Montreal. The two Montreal flights are stupidly boarding at the same time at gates side-by-side, if you can imagine – that should bring some people on the wrong line-ups for sure.
Looked out the window, and saw that my plane was ready to go (see picture left, click for larger) - I wish (haha). Saw lots of airlines here I've never heard of before.

The girls at the check-in counter were extremely well-dressed with nice scarves . I think I’ve seen that before, but can’t remember where. Once checked through, I walked to the plane, and they stopped me halfway down the hall yet again to check my boarding pass yet again – that’s 5 times it’s been checked and twice scanned, yet customs only stamps it without looking at your passport. Yah, that makes sense.
10:52 AM – I had to go down some stairs and onto the runway again - to another bus! I see the problem now – the terminal had a big section ripped right out (picture right, click for larger)– crumbled concrete in piles everywhere. That must be at the place I had to go up and then down again, and why there was limited seating right now.

The bus soon was full and took off, getting part way to the plane and had to stop – a little Toyota Yaris with a security guy in it was blocking our drive down the marked lane to our plane. Even airports here have to wait for planes to go by, so must be controlled from the tower somehow as well!
Finally arrived at the plane (picture left, click for larger), and the people at the plane told the driver he couldn’t park there. Everyone on the bus laughed as he was forced to turn around and park by the nose of the plane instead of by the plane steps up to the door – is this his first day or something? Kinda funny.
Got on the plane – same type exactly as the one we previously flew here on, and I checked and all equipment is working. Sitting next to a big guy with tattoos who shoved an impossibly big suitcase under his seat front and then had his leg in my area. Ugh - it's going to be a loooooooooooong day.
11:44 AM (all times now will be Vancouver) - arrived in Montreal and had to clear security twice (once through customs, and then again to get on the other flight) which seemed stupid to me. It was the same flipping plane! The plane is leaving 15 minutes late due to someone on a wheelchair being late coming. While they did video safety demonstration just now all the screens shut off and haven't come back 5 minutes later. Oh well, I have lots of TV on my iPhone to watch. Fortunately it started up again soon after.

4:23 PM - flight was forgettable, but weirdo I shared the seat area with for 12 hours won't be forgotten for awhile. So nasty - he must have had at least a dozen scars across his left arm all the way up, clearly self-inflicted. I was so sick of snorting and horking and nodding his head to his iPod all the time - did he just crawl out if a cave? And the bald French guy in front of me that had his seat back so far almost all the way here he was on my lap - ugh. Every time I'd bend over to get something from my bag, he'd turn around and looking at me like I was invading HIS domain. Idiot.
4:39 PM - final descent into Vancouver, and I'm glad. We were told of thunderstorms in Vancouver when we were in Montreal but didn't impact flight other than some turbulence.

4:46 PM - touchdown - and it's raining. No place like home.
5:19 PM - Got a bit worried, over 1/2 hour and still my bags didn't show, though about 60 other people in same boat. What's the hold-up - half an hour? Can't remember it ever taking that long before - not a thing has come down in over 10 minutes.

5:32 PM - Finally bags arrived and I was in a cab before I knew it. It's only sprinkling outside now, and nice to be home. As I left they announced a 2nd plane from Paris/Montreal had a bag stuck in the system and would take awhile to get it free - so glad I'm out if there!
6:00 PM - Finally home, and I'll sign off on my my adventures now. Thanks for following along in my blog. Until my next trip, so long!

Day 9c – Landing on the Beaches of Normandy

For the events of Saturday, September 5, 2009

1:00 PM - As we departed the Caen Memorial, our tour guide told us the museum is made out of the local stones of Normandy, and built on top of an old Nazi bunker! The Germans actually flooded all the roads we are driving on today just before D-Day, to try to slow any potential successful Allies landing, which obviously didn't work.

American Sector (Omaha Beach)

1:04 PM - We are now on a 45-minute drive to the Coast. As we moved along, I noticed that the houses were all out of a movie set - everything is primarily the same as it was before or during the D-Day landing. I liked this particular house, because it had all the historic charm of the French coast, seen for hundreds of years - but with a satellite dish stuck right in front (see picture left, click for larger). Also went by a church that had served the community for centuries (see picture right, click for larger). Apologies for the blurry pictures at times - I was taking them out of a bus window travelling at a good clip down the little roads.

Our first stop on this historic trip for me is the American Sector codenamed Omaha Sector - it's not actually known only as Omaha Beach as many know it today, because some parts of it don't have beaches at all. So far this has been a very high-end trip - the guide talks a lot (15-20 min) of background which is good. She kept saying we'd be a bit rushed in places this AM but I didn't feel that way. Really impressed so far.

If it weren't for the heroic efforts of the tens of thousands that died on D-Day, the beaches of Normandy would not have been cleared for more than 2.5 million other Allied soldiers that flooded France by the end of September, halting the German invasion and slowly liberating country after country from the Nazi death grip.

D-Day was without a doubt the greatest military invasion in human history, and the largest amphibious landing of troops of all time. Operation Overlord (as the invasion was codenamed) began just midnight on June 6, 1944 first with an aerial assault of tens of thousands of American, British and Canadian troops behind the enemy lines. What followed at 6 AM was later described by the Germans as a total horizon of ships - more than 5,000 in fact, carrying over 175,000 soldiers to 50 miles of beaches. Operation Overlord continued until the advance to the outskirts of Paris on August 19, and the Battle of Paris began.

The German defenses used an interlocking firing style, so they could protect areas that were receiving heavy fire. They had large bunkers, sometimes intricate concrete ones containing machine guns and high caliber weapons. Their defense also integrated the cliffs and hills overlooking the beautiful view. The defenses were all built and honed over a four year period, and were extremely complex. It was a like a city made out of concrete, and included guns so huge they ran on rail cars. Those who landed on those beaches faced what was later described as the greatest concentration of firepower in world history.

My Uncle Clayton was one of those young boys that jumped off a boat and faced that horror on Juno Beach. Having seen how open some of these beaches were to enemy fire, I'm actually amazed anyone survived. The Allies were to bomb the smithereens out of the German guns before the landed, but in some cases the bombs never hit a single target, especially at Juno Beach, and it caused an unknowing Allied landing party to come under tremendous attack.

1:41 PM - Our first stop of the tour, situated between Utah Beach to the west and Omaha Beach to the east was a little jutted-out place called Pointe Du Hoc (see map right, click for larger - the tip of which is the Pointe), where many American soldiers first landed. This is an original map from the invasion, and the Americans erroneously called it Point du Hoe on this map until later corrected.

Pointe Du Hoc is not a beach, but sheer cliffs rising from the water, making it very difficult to storm (see picture left, click for larger). The German guns, housed in 6 concrete bunkers, some with living quarters built into them, were able to reach as far as Utah Beach to the left (west) and Omaha Beach to the right (east), so it was imperative that the Americans successfully neutralize this area.

Though they literally bombed the heck out of the area first, they realized that they would still need to land troops there to ensure all guns were neutralized, and the 2nd Ranger Battalion was ordered to take the Pointe. However, before they could get there, the Germans, alerted by the continuous bombings, moved all the big guns (see picture right, click for larger) about 1 mile away for safety. Before the Rangers attacked, their leadership knew the guns were moved, but the soldiers didn't.

Regardless of the big guns being gone, the concrete fortifications were intact, and would still present a major threat to the landings if they were occupied by artillery forward observers. On these cliffs, 75 American troops were shot trying to climb the 100-foot cliffs with ropes, ladders and grapples, and the troops had no ammunition reinforced to them for two full days after finally taking the Pointe - an eternity when you are being shot at constantly. Because of the price America paid to take this Pointe and ensure the success of D-Day itself, and the future liberation of France, the French gave this particular piece of land to America, and it is now permanent American soil.

1:55 PM - The first thing I noticed when I got to the Pointe, beyond the German bunkers, was how many bomb craters there were (see picture right, click for larger) - it was like looking being on the surface of the moon. The second thing you notice is that literally nothing had been touched since the landing - except for the guns, etc. removed. The broken concrete of the bombed-out German bunkers (see picture left, click for larger) was left completely untouched.

The bunkers themselves were amazing (for the German view, see picture right, click for larger), and completely available for you to crawl and wander through, which in hindsight seemed so crazy from a liability perspective, but then, who would you sue? They had open-ended concrete tunnels to connect them, and were extremely dangerous to crawl through in places, with concrete half-bombed out and left dangling, etc., crawlspaces made half as big because they had collapsed, etc. (see picture below right, click for larger)

It was neat to see the track where the huge battery gun had been placed, and ordered removed by General Rommel before the Americans attacked. It was huge - looked like it could turn 360 degrees on something like a gear set, and about 40-50 feet across, with about 6 stairs leading down on 4 sides.

I guess it was felt that the horror of war should not be put behind glass or barricades, but touched and felt. The blood of German and American soldiers had soaked the concrete in places, and it was left as it had been shed. It was both fantastic to see and horrifying to be near at the same time.

2:27 PM - Had to run to catch the bus back and did exactly on time - I was the last one. Oops! Felt rushed there but I understand there's lots to see! I literally could have spent hours walking through those bunkers. It was beyond amazing. Definitely would like to come back and wander around more someday.

At this point, the roads are only one lane and very windy - they haven't been changed since they were first constructed for humans and horses, with big trees on both sides - as it was in 1944. Beautiful old stone houses. And I just saw... a furry pig!

2:45 PM - We stopped for a 5 minute look at Omaha Beach itself, which wasn't much to see - just a huge flat beach that seemed to go for miles (see picture right, click for larger), and some hills overlooking it that now had houses built up. Would be amazing real estate now and a very popular beach in summer time, but horrific on that June day. (see picture left, click for larger). In that picture, there's a little memorial at the bottom right hand corner. That is the marker of the first American cemetery in France, right on the beach - a mass grave where they just had to dump bodies for days to get them out of the way. They were later moved to the American Cemetery at Omaha Sector, our next stop.

3,700 Americans and 1,200 Germans died at Omaha Beach from 6:30 AM to noon. That's 1 soldier every 4 seconds - and it went on for 5.5 hours.

3:00 PM - After a short drive we arrived at the American Cemetery at Omaha Sector, officially named the Colleville/Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer Cemetery. The cemetery was inaugurated in 1956 after four years work, overlooking the beaches of Omaha. Emotion overwhelms the visitor facing the large central viewpoint, the Memorial (see picture left, click for larger) decorated with a huge Battle map, the Garden of the missing, where are carved the names of 1 557 missing soldiers. At the entrance to the Cemetery, a capsule is dedicated to General Eisenhower which contains his hand-written report of the D-Day fighting, sealed there on June 6, 1969 (the 25th anniversary of the landing).

But it's the number of crosses that cover over 10 acres of land (and official American territory) that literally brings tears to your eyes and a lump to your throat. 9,386 American men (and 4 women) are laid to rest (see picture right, click for larger) in this unbelievably beautiful and peaceful place.

I have seem video of this cemetery before (it was shown at the beginning and end of Saving Private Ryan), and thought I was prepared. Had a picture in my mind of my visit to Arlington National Cemetery as well but so wrong. This was like nothing I've ever seen in my life.

There are 50 people time staff that do nothing but cut the grass here. Of course they use electric equipment for the most part, but around each grave, the grass is always trimmed by nothing but hand clippers only. The graves are located at random, but are in sections of the alphabet from A-Z, and numbered rows in each section. There are four big sections in four quadrants, which have a central Chapel in the middle of them (see picture left, click for larger). While the majority of the Cemetery is filled with crosses, there are 300 Stars of David for Jewish soldiers as well (see picture right, click for larger)

As much as this was a nice place, we spent far too much time here. Why we had to be so rushed at the Beach and then spend an hour almost here is beyond me - I thought it was pretty stupid. I strongly recommend not doing a tour of the Normandy region in a bus - take a car from Paris and go on your own.

4:00 PM - We departed from the Cemetery and made our way out of the American Sector to the neighboring British Sector. Here, the roads so narrow and houses right up to road, so it was difficult to take many pictures from the bus (see picture left, click for larger). At some points, you literally could have reached out the window from your seat and touched the walls of the buildings - a large charter bus such as ours could only go at a crawl, and no other vehicles could be coming from the other direction. In a few places some of the buildings were a bit farther off the road, allowing for a good shot, like this beautiful historic church (see picture right, click for larger).

The tour guide told us that the best dairy products in France, including Colbert and Camembert cheeses, come from here. There are also a lot of farms here with sheep and cows on them.

British Sector (Gold Beach)

4:15 PM - stopped at the British sector (Gold Beach) at Arromanches-les-Bains (or Arromanches as it's known mostly), at low tide. I fell in love with this adorable little town at first sight - it reminds me of the Rock of Gibraltar on south tip of Spain, where I spent my 16th birthday in 1983. I just told myself I'll be back here for summer vacation someday. I imagine it would be insanely busy- would like to rent a house or apartment and stay in the area for a week or two. Cute as a postcard with little souvenir shops, restaurants and B&Bs (see picture left, click for larger)

The town lies along the stretch of coastline designated as Gold Beach during the D-Day landings, one of the beaches used by British troops in the Allied invasion. Arromanches was selected as one of the sites for two Mulberry Harbours built on the Normandy coast, the other one built further West at Omaha Beach. Sections of the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches still remain today with huge concrete blocks sitting on the sand, and more can be seen further out at sea (see picture right, click for larger).

At a meeting following the disastrous Dieppe Raid, Winston Churchill told his generals he remembered that in World War I, they had sunk old ships for a bridgehead for an invasion in the Danish Islands during World War I. The concept of Mulberry Harbours began to take shape quickly, to build an artificial harbour at Arromanches to make it easier to ship supplies in, etc without rough seas at the landing spots.

By June 9, just 3 days after D-Day, two harbours codenamed Mulberry "A" and "B" were constructed at Omaha Beach and Arromanches, respectively. However, a large storm destroyed the American harbour just 10 days later, leaving "Port Winston" at Arromanches with heavy duty for 8 months— despite being designed to last only 3 months. It was used to land over 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tonnes of supplies providing much needed reinforcements in France.

Today Arromanches is mainly a tourist town (see picture right, click for larger). Situated in a good location for visiting all of the battle sites and War Cemeteries, there is also a museum at Arromanches with information about Operation Overlord and in particular, the Mulberry harbours.

My second biggest regret on this tour was how much time we wasted at the Cemetery, and how little we spent here. I could spend a week here, however, so another trip is a must!

Got a great coffee-flavored Italian gelato for about 1€ from a street vendor across from the bus (see picture left, click for larger).


Canadian Sector (Juno Beach)

5:05 PM - We got back on the bus and again, after only a few minutes were at what I waited for all day - a moment (it seemed, almost literally a moment only) at Juno Beach, where my Uncle Clayton landed and lost so many friends. Canada had the second largest losses at Normandy behind the US - and we were such a little country then. I think that's when the whole world sat up and took notice of us - and watched as we liberated country after country. People celebrating by the thousands in the streets and throwing flowers on Canadian tanks in Holland, Belgium, and France.

The biggest regret on this tour was that we were only to spend 15 minutes there. Screw that, I thought - there are 8 Canadians out of 23 on this bus, and we'll hold it up as long as we want. The Americans got hours, we'll get a few more minutes - and I talked to the other Canadians and we agreed to just drag it out a few minutes longer. The Americans understood later and didn't complain at all. They all agreed the Museum there is the nicest of them all today.

Juno at the town of Courseulles-sur-Mer was the second most heavily defended (the British Gold beach was the least defended) of the five landing sites chosen. The Germans had 11 heavy batteries of 155 mm guns and 9 medium batteries of 75 mm guns at their disposal, plus pillboxes and other fortifications (see picture left, click for larger) were present all along the beach, most heavily concentrated in the Courseulles-sur-Mer region. The seawall was twice the height of Omaha Beach's, and the sea was heavily mined. German troop strength numbered under 8,000 soldiers and was one of the weakest divisions in Normandy. Thankfully, or the Canadian casualties, the second worst of the D-Day invasion, would have been much larger.

In the first day of the invasion alone, Canadian casualties numbered nearly 1,000 killed and wounded, but it was such an unbelievably chaotic day that no accurate record is possible to indicate how many were killed on the beach and how many became casualties inland. Once the Canadians cleared the seawall (about an hour after leaving the transports) they were able to advance towards their objectives farther inland.

Having seen how completely open this beach was, I've never been so proud of my country in my life. There were several completely intact bunkers at this beach, that had full living quarters built into them underground. Quite amazing. I didn't get pictures, but have a bit of video and will show upon request.

The Centre Juno Beach, paid for with individual Canadian donations, was beautiful (see picture left, click for larger). Sorry folks, it was so dismal outside, and I had so little time, that I didn't get great frontal shots of the building. It was a very impressive looking centre, designed to look from the air like a stylized maple-leaf, made with polished copper to shine in the sun. And it had these little posts that had little nameplates of donors from coast-to-coast in Canada, who had given more than $6 million total. Only Canadians would rally together for something like that. I encourage everyone to visit http://www.junobeach.org to learn more about the Centre, and the price Canada paid to free Europe.

5:30 PM - could have spent much more time here, but maybe this would be a great second trip. Beautiful place (see picture right, click for larger). But finally we had to get ready to leave. As we left the region, I saw that Juno is right by a pretty little harbor that looked a bit like False Creek. Would be a great place to live, so close to the ocean. They also had an oyster farm there, which was interesting.

7:00 PM - we stopped at a truck stop on the way called Total. It was the most unique thing I've seen all day, as it seemed to look best on a Canadian freeway - really different than anywhere else I've been to in France. They had a bank of coffee machines against one wall (see picture left, click for larger) that made expressos, chocolate cappucinos, anything you wanted practically. Really neat. Got a ham and Emmental cheese (which I've never had before in my life) sandwich, a Lion chocolate bar (which was really amazing - had Rice Krispies, caramel and covered with chocolate), and a Fanta Tropical juice for the road back (see picture left, click for larger). But was so tired I fell asleep right away and didn't eat any of it!

8:00 PM - Woke up in time to see a high-speed "bullet" train that takes you from Paris to Normandy. I swear it was the fastest thing I've ever seen with my own eyes run on land. Amazing - must have been going a few hundred kms/hour.

9:00 PM - we made great timing back, and were back around 9:00 (supposed to be 9:30) back at the station. Before I hopped on the train, however, I ran over to the Louvre (just a block away from the Cityrama office0 to get a great night shot (see picture left, click for larger). It's so beautiful at night, and it was a great night in Paris, so I couldn't resist. A bit creepy at night there, mind you.

9:45 PM - I quickly took the train back, and got back to the hotel. Found a really nice fruit basket (see picture right, click for larger) at the hotel that they had left as a thank you gift - nice touch. Going to head to bed around 9:45 PM so I can get up and pack and finish some of my blog in the morning. Good night - loooooooong day, but really amazing.

Was exhausted so ate the supper I bought at the truck stop, some of the fruit, and went to sleep.

Day 9b - The Caen Memorial

For the events of Saturday, September 5, 2009

9:53 AM - We just arrived in the historic city of Caen (see picture left, click for larger), which has a population of around 220,000 people. Most of this city that we saw from the road looked very Americanized and modern - unlike what I'd witnessed in Paris for a week.

Caen is known for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror (who is buried here) and for the Battle for Caen — heavy fighting that took place in and around Caen during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, destroying much of the original town.

9:56 AM - We arrived quickly at the Caen Memorial to the D-Day Battles. It was nice and sunny and warm when we arrived, and nothing but blue sky ahead. This is a relatively simple building from the exterior, flying the flags of all Allied and Axis countries that were involved in D-Day - that includes Germany.

The guide bought our museum tickets for us, and then let us go around on our own through the museum. We have a fairly relaxed schedule here for at least an hour or more to wander around through the museum, get a coffee at the cafeteria if we wish, or shop the gift shop. I hit the museum right away of course.

10:19 AM - the first thing you see, before entering the museum itself, is a full-sized Spitfire (British plane) (see picture left, click for larger) hanging from the ceiling - very cool.

The museum starts on the main floor, and walk down a long circular walkway deeper into the 1930s and Nazism (very symbolic), starting at end of WWI. Many believe that the way World War I ended almost guaranteed the beginning of World War II. Germany was penalized deeply and the country suffered dramatically because of the Great War, and Hitler used that to his advantage to rebuild the military and start all over again - to try to re-conquer what they had failed to do before.

The museum continues with the fall of Paris to the Nazis (see picture right click for larger), and continues through the horrible battles of Stalingrad, where they even had a piece of one of the crumbled buildings of the city on display (see picture left, click for larger), which lasted from August 1982 to February 1943. Hitler's Sixth Army was defeated here by Russian street fighters who refused to quit, even when nearly 2 million Russian citizens died. It marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War, and gave the Allies their first opportunity to plan a second front - which D-Day brought in Western Europe - with a weakened German army.

I think most striking in the exhibits up to D-Day was a German prayer book and rosary beads - something for some reason that I actually never thought would have been used by the enemy in the war (see picture right, click for larger). The displays ended just as the D-Day landings began.

11:20 AM - Then you continue on to a really neat movie theatre with a giant widescreen. A neat idea - the screen was wide enough to be split in 1/2, and they showed parallel movies of what the Germans and Allies were doing before and during D-Day. For example, you'd see British pilots on the left dropping bombs and Germans on the right running for cover. At the start of the movie they showed the Allies relaxing and playing cards, laughing, while the Germans were running around prepping guns, etc. Showed the true moods of both sides. Really great. (see movie below, click play to start - note it's 6 MB so for dial-up you may wish to avoid)

12:00 PM - Right after the movie, we were ushered by our guide to a really great catered lunch, which was all set up for us in a private dining area of the museum. We had turkey with cream sauce, a home-made hash brown and shredded carrot salad. All was laid out for us and waiting when we arrived. I was expecting a brown bag sandwich or something. We had a little glass of local wine as well, and then had salad and dessert buffets (separate). I had some kind of rice pudding and a whole buttload of chocolate. I sat with the Asian family - Mom and three kids from New York City. They were planning a trip soon to Vancouver so had lots of questions, but were really hard to talk to - a bit oo shy.

12:40 PM - I excused myself finally from the table ande went to the gift shop. We were leaving at 1:00 PM and I wanted to make sure I got something. I got a really neat newspaper-sized 65 page book for only about 6€ that had all kinds of photos and stories in English about Caen and D-Day - it was amazing.

1:00 PM - we loaded up the bus right on schedule and began the trip to the great sights of D-Day. Stay tuned!

Day 9a - A Drive Through the French Countryside

For the events of Saturday, September 5, 2009

5:30 AM - Just woke up. Big day ahead, and wanted to get an early start. Too early to get breakfast at the buffet (doesn't open until 6:30) so hopefully I can find something to eat before too long.

6:07 AM - Just heading out the door. I'm taking the Metro to the Cityrama office at 2 rue des Pyramides, a 2 minutes walk off the Tuileires station -which is right at end of Louvre and before the Jardin de Tuileries.

6:18 - when I got to the train station, I had to buy a ticket at a machine, and for some reason they had no English option. Apparently they think anglophones only take the RRT not Metro. I had a big struggle figuring out if I picked the right option, but when the right price came up, I decided to take a chance and bought it.

Lots of very young and very drunk guys on train and around the platform. Isn't it a bit late to still be up and drinking? One was peeing outside in the street when I was coming in the station. His friends must be so proud.

I should gave left earlier and now I'm panicking. I went by the station yesterday on RER but don't see option on the map for RER, which is more of an express train. This train is much slower and stops a lot, so I started to get worried that it may take close to the 21 min the app suggested. If so, I'm going to almost be late, and I won't even know for sure where the office is when I first get there! Thankfully it's not rush hour, train isn't automated and it will only stay at the station long enough for new passengers, so I should be OK.

6:26 AM - Well, there was no reason to worry - I'm at Tuileries station already! I need to be there at 6:45, and apparently it's only a 2 minute walk.

6:39 AM - I found a big gold statue of Joan of Arc (see picture left, click for larger) in a square not far from the station, and saw the Cityrama office, with about 20 people here already. I went outside and took a picture of what I thought was our bus, and driver got out and rudely asked me why I was taking pictures. Duh. I asked if this was not our bus, and he just stormed off! What a jackass. The staff at desk were not friendly either but whatever - not going to let these people get to me today. Just glad this is my last day here.

Bus #3 was ours to Landing Beaches and a relatively friendly French lady took my ticket. This is a really nice luxury coach. I got a seat that had a table in front of it for some reason, behind some stairs that led down to a bathroom.

I wonder if they serve snacks? It must be an hour or two out there and I'm starving - stomach rumbling. Sigh.

6:56 AM - We're leaving in 4 minutes and the bus (see picture right, click for larger) is by no means full - in fact, only 3 couples and 1 Asian family of 4 are on here so far, plus the guide and driver - 12 people on a bus seating 46. This is going to be a good day I think!

7:05 AM - the sun was just coming up when our tour guide, Helene, and the driver got on the bus, started it and we were off. We were told we pick up 13 more people just 2 blocks away, which is a bit weird. Must be a tour group at a hotel or something? Bus thermometer says it's 13C. Bus got a bit noisy as we picked up people so I listened to music.

The guide handed our a nice full color 13-page program on D-Day with their logo on it - nice touch.

We were told we had to make a stop out of town in 45 minutes to change drivers. The tour guide said we are going to Caen first, at around 10:15. It's a long trip out there - 3 hours away. We are visiting a new museum out there and then watching a D-Day movie. Then we have a prepared lunch at noon at the museum. We then go to the Omaha Beach first, then American cemetery (9,300 graves), the British beach at Arromanches where they sunk many ships to build a false harbor, and finally at the end of day we are going to Juno Beach and a Canadian memorial centre after that. We apparently don't go inside, but can get pictures of the beach. We then stop at a gas station at 7 PM to grab sandwiches, and back by about 9:30.

My camera fell on the floor and battery flew down the bus stairs in front of me. Luckily I have extras on my pocket but need it for later. Luckly I spotted it on the floor and grabbed it. Whew. The tour guide said that 80,000 Germans, 50,000 Allies and 40,000 citizens died at Normandy.

Something we never see in North America - lap seatbelts are mandatory on the bus, and we must wear them.

7:25 AM - as we left Paris we drove through a long tunnel the Nazis used to store ammunition. The Allies tried to bomb it - one of few places in the city, but they couldn't destroy it. Paris was one of the only European cities not bombed on either side, so it was virtually untouched. The liberation of Paris happened very quickly - in fact they celebrate August 25 every year as Liberation Day - just 2.5 months after D-Day. That's a lot of territory in only a few weeks - it was a 3 hour drive between D-Day to Paris, with 100,000s (get#) of Germans between. Hitler threw everything remaining in thus battle to avoid losing Western Europe.

The German commander of Paris was ordered by Hitler to destroy the city's monuments after D-Day but he refused. As a result, when war was over, he only served 4 years in prison for saving the city. Many other German generals were executed by the Allies.

The countryside of France was at first dense forest - more than I've seen in many places (see picture left, click for larger) - and then farmland. Still not bright enough outside to get good pictures - all glare from inside the bus.

7:50 AM - We stopped at rest area and changed drivers, who's now with us all day. I was surprised that the freeways look like they do in Canada, with McDonald's along the way, etc. Only the signs are different.

8:01 AM - We just stopped at a toll booth, which looked much like ours in Canada.

8:15 AM - Just discovered we have free Wifi on the bus! I wish I'd brought my laptop now, could have worked on my blog for hours. Oh well, I should sleep too, because I'm so hungry I can't think.

8:26 AM - Just passed a huge digital clock on the freeway overpass - never seen anything like it. What's the point of that?

8:28 AM - We just came up to a second toll booth (see picture right, click for larger)!

9:04 AM - It's starting to rain outside a bit here - much cloudier ahead. Yikes. I'm getting worried - I don't want to be on the beaches with rain.

9:09 AM - Just came up to very heavy rain now. It's only 12C here - glad I brought 2 jackets!

9:13 AM - Thank God the rain ended very quickly, and there's nothing but blue sky ahead. That was a big surprise!

9:16 AM - I can't believe it - a 3rd toll booth

9:18 AM - The guide said we'd be there in 45 min. The tour guide said "Normandy" means 'north man land'. The Vikings used to invade France and ransack it all the time, and the governor of the area decided it was just easier to give them this land than keep losing it in a blood bath anyway - so the people in the area may well be more Norwegian or Danish than French. These people have a long history of capitulating to invaders!

9:37 AM - I can't believe it - a 4th toll booth! I can't even imagine having to drive this all the time. And the tolls were something like 10€ for a car!

We'll be arriving soon in Caen, our first stop at the D-Day beach tour. Stay tuned!