May 4th

Written at 12:00 pm wednesday night

On the fourth of may we went to Groesbeek in Holland. It was a very nice town despite the three teenagers speeding back and fourth down the streets on a mo-ped. The bus ride there wasn't to bad, it was cool because we had crossed the border and the funny thing was that there wasn't any stops or secruity, just passed the imaginary line into the Netherlands.

First off we went to the museum in Groesbeek which was directed towards the airborne unit that had dropped into Groesbeek and battled against the Germans. Outside there were vehicles from the war as well as a tank. The museum was very cool, we learned a lot about that particular battle in Groesbeek.





After the museum we went to have lunch, with a lot of other groups. We were all put into this big building with different gymnasiums and food courts where we had Hollon style mac and cheese. It was a lot different but i loved it! We then went on looking around Groesbeek and then we ended up getting ready for the celebration in Groesbeek for the 65th anniversary. All the schools were lined up with their flags that each school had made and once we were all ready we walked.





As you can see there was a lot of people.

We got to the cemetery where over 2000 graves lie. Again for everyone overwhelming emotions were felt as speeches were given both in dutch and english. The people from the Netherlands are extremely thankful and grateful for everything and they will never forget. They showed great compassion and care towards Canada.





After speeches, singing anthems and a two minute of silence, we all lit the candles that were laid infront of the grave we had been standing before . All Canadian students with EF each had their own grave that they stood at for the ceremony. It was really a moving time.

That pretty much summarizes our day don't want to drag or anything aha
anyway its twelve fourty at night and were getting up at around six fourty-five to drive to Amsterdam, very excited!..... Can't wait to write about todays events. It was truly amazing, once in a lifetime experience, never have I or my fellow peers felt that way before. Just Amazing.

Till tomorrow!

May 3rd

May 5th 8:35 AM

MAY 3RD EVENTS

Today we are starting with a visit to the memorial for the battle of the Somme. Just like Juno beach, it was a pretty strong time. The land was has been untouched since the war and therefore all the trenches and holes from artillery are still present.



Around eight hundred soldiers from Newfoundland had a task to do, it was to get to the front lines of the Somme and keep up the attack against the Germans. Almost all the soldiers didn’t make it out alive. There was only one tree that was left on the battlefield after that, it was the furthest that the Newfoundlanders. Standing on the field I could imagine it all happening right in front of me.

We were off to the Vimy Ridge memorial site now, we got to walk through the restored trenches as well as go through one of tunnel systems that the Canadians had used to get from one place to another safely, we were walking in there foot steps.




Vimy is a very important site for Canadians, it was the first time that all four Canadian divisions had come together for one battle. Everyone else had tried to take Vimy because it was the highest point in the area making it easier to know what your opponent was up to. Everyone who tried to take it, had failed until the Canadians came along and took that hill but with severe casualties.

We headed up the road to see the monument, it was amazing, words cannot express!






We then went to the Flanders Field museum which was very cool. There was so much information and all different kinds of things on display. It took awhile to get through that but after we had gone off to get some chocolate from one of the three candy shops in the square. We then attended the Menin Gates post-ceremony, overall I think we all had a good day

May 2nd

8:15 AM May 3rd

SUNDAYS MAY 2nd JOURNAL

Normandy- Juno beach highlights

It was time to leave the breath taking city of Paris and head off to Normandy. The bus ride was about three and a half hours, which wasn’t so bad because we got to watch Saving Private Ryan. We headed for Juno beach where the Canadians landed on D-Day. We first saw the museum, this is how it came to be, sometime around the 1980’s two veterans had come back to juno beach to see the area and noticed there was no memorial sites and so they made the Juno Beach Center.





To the beach we went, it was a very strong part in our day, for me anyway. We were standing where thousands of Canadians had jumped off the boats and charged their enemies. We standing on sand and rock that had once been covered with blood and the gore of war. We gathered around in a semicircle and had our wreath in front of us. We talked about different things on the war had a couple readings and a two minute of silence. It was very powerful. I grabbed a rock that I plan on keeping for a long long time.







The next thing was also to be very powerful, we were going to see one of the Canadian cemeteries for fallen soldiers. I walked up and down reading the names and the age of each soldier. I don’t know how to describe how I felt, it was something I had not felt before. Thinking about all the soldiers and the huge sacrifice, thinking what was running through their heads on their last days alive was something really powerful.




We gathered at the center of the cemetery and recited Flanders Field then we had five minutes before going back onto the bus. I went off to put my poppy cross on a grave.
We drove to dinner and then drove back to our hotels. A good day indeed

8:25 AM MAY 2st Saturday

MAY 1ST EVENTS

The day started with a wake up call around seven followed by showers and breakfast. I shaved and ended up cutting myself right under my nostril, it bled for a long time and had to keep a piece of tissue on it for awhile...Breakfast was eggs, sausage, coffee and some other small things, it was pretty good. We were all very tired, but VERY excited to start our day in Paris.




Our first thing on the to do list was to take a city tour of Paris, we had done a little bit of this yesterday but the other school we are paired with wasn’t with us till last night, so we went with them. We saw a lot of things including the Arch of Triumph.





After our tour we went on to the Notre Dame cathedral, we had free time to get lunch and to go inside the cathedral if we pleased. We went inside and it was very nice, just amazing architecture. We got out just in time to meet up with our group again where we hit the metro.







I imagined the subways were going to be extremely hectic and busy but since it was a big holiday there it wasn’t as busy as normal, so Sigi says. Getting on off the subways was always really fun because it was like a game, had to get on and off before that buzzer went and the door closed!

The girls went into the Perfume Museum and the guys went out to a little tavern for a snack. Afterwards waiting outside for the girls a couple of of guys came up to us tried to sell us all these little key chains and things, huge rip off. These people were everywhere! Trying to scam you into buying things and they would not give up. I found out how to get rid of them first, “Hey those guys over there look like they need key chains” or “That group was eyen up your key chains go make a sale!”. I found that worked a couple times, if not then when they ask for eight euro say “no one euro final offer” then they leave or they will drop the price to five or three euro. They are persistent little guys.




Before we went to go get some dinner we went to see one of the domes and the shops around the area. At this market there were all different types of people walking around with artists boards, my friend told me they do your portrait, so she got hers done and a couple of us watched. Then we went up to one of the high levels near the dome overlooking Paris, there was a man doing a bunch of crazy tricks on the stone railing with a soccer ball.









We then went on to get dinner which was quite nice, Quiche, scalped potatoes, pork and for desert chocolate éclairs. It was delightful. To the canal we went for a boat tour which was pretty nice, got some great photos. Then to the Eiffel Tower where went to the very top! It was an amazing view I just couldn’t believe it. When we came back down the lights on the tower were on and it couldn’t have looked any better.







Back to our hotels to hit the hay. Normandy in the morning!

Versailles and after

9:10 AM Friday 30th

Versailles was such a sight. I wish that we could have stayed longer but it worked out because my camera was about to die! When we first got there we got split into two groups, the first went into the palace and the second went for lunch. I was in awe when we saw the first parts of the palace, then when we walked out to the gardens it was overwhelming. The gardens were absolutely beautiful. Filled with statues and freshly trimmed trees, and different kinds of greenery.


Walking over to the main part of the garden we saw the back of the palace and the enormous garden. There was big ponds and big statues. The only thing that would have been nice would for there to be have no other people there; that I would pay a lot of money for.






After taking a tour of the gardens we went into the palace with our guide, Pierre. He was a very informative and friendly Frenchmen. He knew everything there was to know about the palace and the history of it. There was a story to every piece of marble, and there was a lot of marble. After seeing room after room, and hearing about all the kings mistresses and the multiple bed rooms that he had, we all got back together and took off back to the main part of Paris where he had about an hour and a half free time then dinner at Flem's. The food was interesting, many kids didn’t like it so they went to look for something else. What we had was a flat bread with melted cheese, ham, onions and we put salad on it aswell.

After getting crapes and meeting back at our spot we heading for the bus back to the hotel. By this time I was extremely tired and feeling like I could sleep for a whole day. We got our rooms and up we went, then hung around for a bit and to bed we went! It was a nice day 

Downtown

We got to go for a short tour of the downtown-ish area of paris. I was simply amazed. I have seen pictures but to actually be here is something else. I love the old buildings and the architecture and all the crazy winding streets. The mixture of modern and old design is just beautiful.

We saw the statue of Winston Churchill as well which I thought was pretty cool! There was a whole bunch of different things we got to see, and tomorrow we are going on our actual city tour so I will get photos then... but we are currently navigating through the tight streets of Paris and on our way to Versailles as I mentioned earlier.. until later!
11:39 AM Thursday 29th

Flight To Paris + such

Written FRIDAY MORNING

The flight to Paris was very long and and very stiff. It was a good six and a half hours long and we were delayed about an hour. After eating dinner and candies I attempted to fall asleep, but that was not a success. I didn’t have a window seat, or near a window seat so I couldn’t get those sunrise shots, but maybe on the way back. The first thing I saw on the land was farming fields, it was different then our farming fields, it seemed more natural. Touching down we went into the terminal, I saw some of the usual police officers, then I saw a woman in uniform carrying a FAMAS-12 assault rifle that was chained to her jacket. Then we met our tour director, Sigi, she is from Germany and is a very nice lady.

We had a choice of chicken and pasta for our meal on the plane. I chose pasta, which was actually cheese cannelloni, it was rather good. There was a selection of movies that we were able to watch on the small tv screens on the back of each seat but I thought i’d be able to sleep so didn’t bother with them, I would regret it later. Falling asleep was very hard, the chairs were comfortable but I’ve never found it easy to fall asleep in a chair, especially with all the excitement running through me. I ended up falling asleep for an hour and then after another hour we landed.

Getting off the plane we entered an extremely hot and musty terminal, but thankfully we weren’t in there for to long. We met our tour director and got our baggage, then onto the bus we went. Driving mainly on the highways we saw large amounts of graffiti on the walls and bridges, I can tell already graffiti is a huge part of there culture, but that is obvious since graffiti is an art form, its everywhere here. That leads to now, we are driving to Versailles. I am really, really excited.









MORE TO COME, INTERNET ACCESS LIMITED AND PRICEY