Day Two: A Trip to Remember - Already!

Day Two: A trip to remember ... already!!

Saturday is drawing to a close. The sun has set over the ridge at Vimy and our weary travellers have revelled in their first wine, beer, cheese, meat and bread supper in the utterly charming village of Thelus.
It has been a 24 hours to remember - so pleased that this, our third adventure as a traveling troupe , is already proving to be a resounding success.

Our flights across multiple bodies of water - the Gulf of St Lawrence, the Atlantic, and the English Channel- went off without a hitch. We survived the time zone shifting in fine style, some with more sleep than others .. meaning Wes slept from runway to runway.

 

Europe welcomed us with sunny skies in London. I had the privilege of seeing Wimbledon out my plane left side window while Pam and Dave enjoyed panoramic views of every God damn memorable sight in London out the right.
Paris, slightly more reserved in her welcome, showered us in a fine mist of rain and chilly
temperatures ... and the wrong rental car! OK, I am over it. The wine has worked its magic and I no longer want to hurl expletives at the Enterprise clerk.

We enjoyed the ride north to Vimy country, only occasionally interrupted by a little voice from the trunk - just Pam, coming up for random breaths of air from under the pile of suitcases.

No Marylene to greet us on Rue de Sept, but her lovely sister Christina welcomed us, or as we now call her, Nancy's new BFF en Francais. We are more than happy to have Nancy's skills at hand, and have decided to tip her generously each day to keep her focused on her translation tasks.




We

headed out to buy a few staples at the store in Vimy and came home with a magnificent night to remember. Sandy suggested we take a quick peek at the Vimy Memorial, since we were so close and he suspected it was lit up at night. We climbed a winding, lit roadway through lines of oak trees, and suddenly, the monument appeared, rising like a vision through the trees at the crest of the ridge. To say it was breathtaking would be a failure to do it justice. We parked and walked through the black night to the spotlit monument, awed by the privilege of being there with the ghosts and sadness of such a tragic history, and immensely moved by the majesty of this memorial. I hope you enjoy all the
shared photos.

And now, it is off to bed we go. In the morning there is coffee to be drunk, cemeteries to explore, a Vimy to see in day's light, and perhaps a town of Arras in which to wander.
Sleep tight all.
Love from the French Foreign Seniors!
xo