Paris. Nothing too new about that, right? I've been here for 2 months now and life has settled into a fairly normal routine. I just thought I would share a couple notes about Paris, now that we're in November.
Below you can see a picture of the boulangerie that is close to our residence. I love it. The baguettes are wonderful. The mini quiches are delicious. And whoever invented the "viennoise" was a genius; it's basically a mixed breed, as in, put a baguette and a croissant together and you get a viennoise. This means that it has the best of both parts: it is denser like a baguette and therefore more filling than a croissant, but it has the taste and the partial melt-in-your-mouth texture of a croissant. Marvelous. If you'd like to see what they look like, just google each name, pick the "images" option, and you can see what I get to enjoy. If you're jealous, I suggest just hopping on a plane and visiting, because then you don't have to be jealous anymore, and I get to see you!
November 11, 2010. Remembrance Day. I was able to be in Ypres (Ieper for those of you who speak Dutch of Flemish) and "attend" the ceremony there. Erica and I watched the ceremony on a very large screen a little ways down the road from where it was actually happening. We were not early enough to the city to get a spot at the actual Menin Gate, but we saw everything anyway. It closely resembled the Canadian ceremonies, except that there was no reading of "In Flanders Fields." The Last Post was played by 4 men together. The Last Post has been played at the Menin Gate every night since it was constructed excluding the years of the 2nd World War. I don't remember the exact number, but this Remembrance Day we listened to it being played for something like the 2,889th time. If you'd like to know more about the Menin Gate ceremonies, you can check it out at:
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/events/menin-g
The day was horrible; it was very cold, very windy and very rainy. After the crowds dispersed we saw umbrella skeletons in garbage cans everywhere, and we wondered why people had tried to use them on such a windy day. The pictures that you can see below are all a little bit foggy and that is because my camera was in a ziplock bag for the majority of the day in a successful attempt to keep it dry. The weather of the day, especially during the ceremony and while we ate, nice and dry in a warm restaurant, made me think of what the soldiers had to live through some 90+ years ago. On days like this one, it would have been absolutely horrible. It wasn't fun to just tour around a city, much less fight a war. The battles fought at Ypres didn't end up with very good results, either.
The wreath placed by the Canadian Ambassador amongst
all the other wreathes. It's hard to read the "Canada" part,
but it's the one right in the middle, just above the orange flowers.
The Menin Gate, as seen as you walk toward it from the city centre. All the walls inside are engraved with names of soldiers of the British Commonwealth who died fighting during the 1st World War. The inscription at the top of the gate just underneath the lion reads: "To the armies of the British Empire who stood here from 1914 to 1918 and to those of their dead who have no known grave."
The Menin Gate from the other side of the river
(possibly the Ieperlee River, but I'm not sure).
We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast that night. It was in Vlamertinge, approximately a 10 minute bus ride out of the city. It was my first experience with a B&B and I enjoyed it. We had a nice evening with the couple who run the place and enjoyed a true English breakfast in the morning (the couple running it is British).
From there we headed to Brussels. It was still raining and windy while we were there, so it wasn't quite as much fun as it could have been. I don't really have pictures of Brussels; we spent most of our day in the Art and History Museum of Brussels because it was dry and warm and interesting. We returned to Paris on Saturday night.
Belgium has three official languages: French, Dutch and German. In Ieper the language we heard most was Dutch or German. I'm not good at distinguishing the two of them. Brussels is much more of a French-speaking city, although signs are all posted in at least two of the languages. It was interesting to hear a language other than those that I normally hear at the school, which are English, French and one or more of the Asian languages (I don't know the differences between those, either).
And from now until December, so for approximately the next 29 days, my life will be school and whatever else I do to keep myself busy while I'm here. Then in 29 days, Christmas vacation starts! I am working on plans to go to Holland and spend time with family there. I haven't met most of the family members there, but I will! I'm excited for being in the "Homeland." Not really "home" for me, but it will be cool to see where my family comes from.
And that's that. No more news from here for now. I hope you are all having a good November!
Blessings,
~Lynette
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