Monday the 28th we went to the openluchtmuseum (open air museum) in Arnhem (about an hour drive south). This time I brought the camera, but forgot the battery in the charger back at the house. I think the wet soggy countryside is affecting my memory!

At the open air musuem they have a large collection of farms, homes, businesses, windmills, ... from all across the country. Over the years they have bought many buildings, dis-assembled them, and then re-assembled them on their site. It is very well laid out with many of the staff dressed in period costumes, cooking over a fire and or doing whatever, and prepared to talk to you about the building and the time period. It was fascinting to see a couple of hundred year old home with the living quarters for the people and animals in the same building, and the small sleeeping bunks that ring the cooking area. No chimney for the fire either in order to smoke and keep dry the meat and food hanging in the rafters. We saw how they would grind oil seeds in a horse powered mill, climbed high into a windmill, and Nancy was taken back to when whe was a little girl when she saw the snybona (sp?) machine, similar to the one that her family used to prepare beans for canning.

One of the highlights was seeing the home that Johan had owned and renovated. After Johan sold the home, the next home owner sold it to the museum as it was going to be demolished in order to make way for a new high speed rail line.

It was quite rainy today but thankfully we came prepared with our umbrellas. When the rain cleared, we made a coffee and bakery visit and the boys had fun riding the hand powered carts and the penny farthing bicycles. When we tired of walking we enjoyed our trips on the early 1900 electric streetcars and even splurged on a dress up photograh of us in 1910 period European clothing.

We had meant to see other sights in the area today but didn’t finish in the museum until late afternoon so we had dinner in Arnhem and then took the slow road home through the countryside back to Zwolle.

Tuesday the 29th we were back to in the Arnhem area (specifically Grosebeek) to visit the Canadian War Graveyard and the Nationaal Bevrijdingsmuseum (National Liberation Museum) Given the significance of the liberation to Nancy's family, it was very important to both of us to spend some time here.

It rained, nay it poured, for a good portion of the trip. Particularly near Arhem it was a severe storm with lightning, heavy rain, and even some hail on the grass at the graveyard. I was sure hoping it would slacken off or we would be a very unpleasant visit to the graveyard. And it did, there was light rain for the first bit than the sun came out and we put away the umbrellas.


There are over 2300 Canadians laid to rest in the cemetary. Many of them were airmen from the RCAF. Other soldiers we noted were killed on the same days in February and March and were from the same unit, obviously involved in very serious engagments. We spent quite a bit of time wandering and reflecting among the rows reading their names, unit, date of death and any inscriptions on their tombstone from the family. Many tombstones had personal memorials from family left on on the ground in front of the stone, or in one case, even affixed to the stone.



I found these 3 markers to be quite unique. They were grouped tightly together unlike any others, they were all airmen and all died on June 17, 1944. My suspicion is that they were all killed together in the same aircraft.

A short distance away is the National Liberation Museum that we went to next. It's an older musuem, and a tad cheesy, but it does a fair job of walking you through the rise of Nazism in Germany, the invasion of Holland and the subsequent impact on the country, Operation Market Garden (anyone ever see "A Bridge Too Far"), the eventual liberation and the rebuilding of the country. While we were outside the rain thundered down, but as we emerged, the rain tapered off and again we were treated to that elusive NL sunshine.

Groesbeek is only a few km's from the German border, the boys wanted to see Germany, and we wanted to tick it off our list and make it 5 European countries that we visited on our vacation. I think we were only in the country for 15 minutes. Long enough to take a picture of a unique building and some photos at the border.

Jonas wanted a picture with one foot in each country

After supper it was too nice an evening to not go for a bike ride. Nancy made an valiant effort to get wheel borne, but after landing in two different neighbours hedges we decided that I would double her on the back of mine. We had a great time.

Dewey and Dina left Saturday the 26th. After seeing them off in the van, which they were going to return to Schipol, we went to the Saturday market in Zwolle. It's a bustling affair and we walked up and down the stalls enjoying the smells and sights. The boys bought some souvenirs and I bought a toothbush and toothpaste to replace the one that is apparently still in France. We also sampled a plate of fried fish bits that seemed to be quite popular with the locals. When in Holland...

Back at home, the boys and I tried our hand at fishing in the canal behind the home. We had lots of bites, but they were small and hard to hook, so we turned to feeding our bread to a gaggle of swans that were cruising by.

Had a quiet evening at home watching a video (in English with Dutch subtitles).

Sunday the 27th. Today we had arranged to have our friends, Menno and Corinne from Amsterdam, join us for supper. Menno is Nancy's second cousin (their grandmothers were sisters). When Nancy and I were briefly in Holland on our way to Africa back in 1994, Menno and Corinne were our tour guides and dinner hosts. We really enjoyed our visit with them and were looking forward to seeing them again, after more than 12 years later, and meeting their children, Pepjin and Malou, who have been born since.

Menno and Corinne were coming over around 3 PM, so in the morning we headed down to Appeldoorn (about 1/2 hour south) to visit Apenhuel, a monkey/primate zoo that had been recommended to us. Apenhuel is unique in that, in parts, it is a free range park, where they allow the human and primate species to interact in the same space. We were able to watch little capuchin monkeys scamper across the path in front of us or forage for food among the leaves, lemurs in the trees overhead, or just be feet away from Japanese macaus as they groomed each other.

The highlight was to explore a large treehouse structure where the capuchins were scampering all over. We came to a place where several of them were being frisky, Nancy crouched down, and within seconds she had 2 or 3 on her looking in her hair or pockets and another 2 or 3 fighting under her. The boys crouched down too, and soon had several climbing all over them looking for edible tidbits in their hair as well.

It's all fun and games though until a child screams. Apparently the little guys were hurting Gideon and he started hollering as if they were reaching down his throat and yanking out his spleen. We had to shoo them away after that but it was magical while it lasted.

It was not the best executed outing though. We took too much comfort in the semi-clear skies and so weren't prepared when the heavens opened up; us with no umbrellas and me with no jacket. This was our first introducution to a very wet Holland and what has been the wettest August on record since they started keeping records back in 1856. Setting a 150 year weather record is noteworthy, but not when you are there on vacation! As well, I also forgot the camera and so was not able to get some photos of Nancy and the boys interacting with the capuchins on the treehouse. Bad daddy.

We had a nice visit and meal with Menno and Corinne and family. It was a plelasant evening in between rain showers so we went for a walk through the fields and along the Ijssel River ( a branch of the Rhine). Again our kids spoke no Dutch, and their's no English, but they still managed to enjoy each other's company and have fun.

Gideon, Jonas and Malou

A typical European barge. Note the owner/family's car perched above the stern.

Malou with one of the boys' caps. She looks innocent enough, but I think that she's teasing one of them!

Hi folks

Now that I have a reliable computer I've gone back and put some more photos on the more recent posts. Feel free to go back and have a look.

Now where was I...Oh yes, Aug 25.

Leaving our farm B&B at Lille we headed to Vimy Ridge. For you non-history buffs let me set the stage for you...

The battle for Vimy Ridge was fought in April, 1917, on the Easter week-end. It has been said that, at Vimy, Canada became a nation.

Vimy Ridge is a very prominent ridge and was strategic real estate in 1917. In fact, one German is quoted as saying that whoever controls Vimy, wins the war. Prior to 1917, both the British and the French had tried unsucessfully to wrestle Vimy from the Germans without success. When the Canadians offered to have a go at it, the Allies figured that it could do no harm. In preparing for the battle the Canadians employed a number of techniques that were groundbreaking at the time. In fact, they are management and organizational development tools to this day: cross training and leadership at every level. The Canadians ensured two things: that evey soldier knew what everyone else's job was so he could step into his comrade's shoes if necessary, and, that every soldier was shown the map and battle plans and knew what the overall and unit objectives were. This was unheard of in a previous top-down military culture.

As well they employed a number of unique military tactics, the most amazing of which were the extensive tunnels that they dug to hide and protect troop movements. The tunnels were so long that they were referred to as subways and we had a chance to tour one of these known as the Durange Subway.

(Many years I read Pierre Burton's "Vimy Ridge" which I would highly recommend it if the subject is of further interest)

Like Beaumont Hamel, Vimy has an excellent interpretive centre staffed by Canadian students. Our tour guide of the subway/tunnel system was Jon from New Brunswick and he delivered an informative and provocative commentary. Apart from some roof shoring done in the 1920's, the tunnels are as they were 90 years ago with the same chalk walls. It was a fascinating glimpse into the past.

We also walked around the surface through the trenches of both sides and marvelled at the mine and shell craters everywhere that make it look like the surface of the moon. Despite the enormous disturbances to the ground by the shelling, there remains untold numbers of unexploded shells beneath the surface. Frost and tree roots can heave these to the surface; to this day the danger is so great that vast areas of the site are roped off and sheep, not lawn mowers, cut the grass.

(An interesting side note to this is that, during the Battle of the Somme, we were told that the shells had an 80% dud rate, and that they were American shells. Apparently the Americans took advantage of selling their arms to both sides of the conflict. Some things never change....)

Sadly the impressive Vimy Memorial is being renovated and was under cover at the time of our visit. The memorial is about 80 years old and, over the years, acid rain has not been kind to the structure. What little glimpses we saw, and pictures we've seen, hint at a very grand monument.
They are renovating it for the 90th anniversary next year, sure to draw thousands back to the site.

Just one corner of the Vimy memorial that is visible

Leaving Vimy in mid afternoon we dove home to Zwolle. The trip was uneventful except for a nasty traffic back up in Antwerp. (Belgium). We later learned it was due to some flooding from some heavy rain the day before. It was interesting to pass through the old border between Belgium and France that existed prior to the EU. The old border buildings are still standing, except, rather than stop, you just pass between them and keep on going.

Jonas' photo of us passing into Belgium from France

We put approx 3200 km's on the van and it treated us well. The passengers were patient with the driver's many faux pas and missed gears and the boys were constantly debating over who was going to be co-pilot next (sitting between me and whoever was in the front navigating)

Scott's impressions of France:
*the toll roads were annoyiong but loved the 130 km/hr speed limit
*wherever you looked there was a centuries old church spire reaching for the heavens. A vivid reminder of the country's spiritual history
*fell in love with Normandy, the stone homes and walled farms, the well kept homes with the colourful flowers, the hedgerows, the breakfasts
*The bread, the cheese, the wine! Every small town has a boulangerie (bakery), or two or three. We lost count of how many French we saw walking down the street with a loaf under their arm or several in a basket. We also lost count of how many loaves we ate ourselves.
*the narrow country roads running off in every direction on the compass with not a grid pattern in sight. The many small towns along each road consisting of a cluster of homes and invariably a church...and a boulangerie!
*still trying to understand the French's infatuation with dogs or the public "drop" toilets
*the tragic and frequent reminders of war and death. The many WWII memorials scattered through out Normandy and the large memorials and many graveyards in the north in the Somme region. The country has had a bloody history. We are so blessed in Canada.

Until next time....

Hi everyone

Just got back into Surrey within the past hour. The Bus family doesn't leave our home until tomorrow so we're bunking at my folks place tonight. Right now it's about 6 AM Holland time. The boys and I didn't sleep a wink on the plane so we're all a little groggy and heading off to bed real soon.

I've got about a week of blogging to catch up on which I will do over the next couple of days. The blog is our own journal of the trip as well as a way of comunicating and sharing pictures with those of you that don't live locally...so it will be completed.

Feel free to keep checking back. Hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy telling you about it.

S.

We started driving back to Holland on August 24. The plan was make about half of the trip, visit some WWI sites in Northern France, stay at a B&B in the very north of France, and continue home to Holland on the 25th.

Our B&B, pictured below, in St. Pience was about as French as you can get. When Nancy looked out the window in the morning, a man was walking up the lane carrying a basket laden with loaves of french bread, and, when we walked into the dining room, we were greeted by softly playing French music. Ahhh, viva la France!

Before setting out on our trip north we stocked up on fruit, bread, brie and ham which made for a delicious lunch at a pullout.

Our first stop of day was to be at Beaumont Hamel, a site that I didn't know about until I read an article in the Vancouver Sun this past July 1st (Canada Day) about the Newfoundland Regiment and the great number of casualties that they suffered on the first day of the Battle of Somme on July 1, 1916. For a great number of reason, the Regiment suffered 85% casualties (dead or wounded) in the first 15-20 minutes.

The loss was so great that for the past 90 years, July 1st has been a day of mourning for the province of Newfoundland.And due to this fact, in the second WW, any soldier from Nfld regiment was not given frontline duties. Both Dad and I were intrigued and wanted to visit the site.

As we made our way there we noticed a large memorial on a hill, the Thiepval Memorial. I had read about it, and didn't think we had time, but as it was on the road to Beaumont Hamel, we decided to stop in. The Memorial is to all the missing British soldiers of WWW1, numbering more 72,000. The size of the memorial, the impact of the loss, and the 72,000 names inscribed on it's supports is staggering. It was cold windy and rain and we needed to hurry to Beamont Hamel before it closed, so we didn't stay long but there was an excellent multi media interpretive centre just below it.

The massive memorial at Thiepval with the names of the 72,000 missing inscribed on its legs.


At Beaumont Hamel we had a tour (just the 6 of us) from Matthew from New Brunswick. Canada has an excellent student program, where for a 4 months, Canadian students staff these sites.

I won't go into all the details of the Beaumont Hamel story and the Battle of the Somme but it was humbling to see the old British/Newfoundland trench lines, look across no man's land to where the German trench system was, and to stand beside the Danger Tree that so many Newfoundlanders lost their lives at. The Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont Hamel. The woodland cariboo is native to Newfoundland and has its head, mouth open with the anguished cry for the dead, facing toward the enemy lines. The cariboo was chosen because it travels in packs and never leaves behind one of its own.

You can see how overcast it was that day. Matthew said that it was a perfect day to visit the Somme as in 1916 it was very wet and the battlefields were a sea of mud. 90 years later we had niced paved trails to walk on.

We may have stayed longer but it was still cold wet and windy and we needed to make tracks to our B&B at Lille.

Before doing so we stopped in at the Longueval Carter. You may know that during the trench warfare of WWI, each side would dig tunnels under the enemy's trenches and explode a massive amount of explosives. The Longueval Mine, if memory serves, was about 20-25 tons of explosives and obliterated 9 German dugouts. The crater left behind is unimaginably huge, perhaps 60 feet deep and hundreds of feet across. How many men lost their lives in an instant is incomprehensible. A footpath snakes down the side of the crater and at ground zero at the very bottom is a memorial of many little poppies.The immense mine crater at Longueval

As we contined north along the road, past so many memorials and graveyards to the British, French, Australians, South African, Welsh .... the list goes on and on...as did the graveyards. The Battle of the Somme was a meatgrinder and the number of graveyards and memorials is a testimony to the human cost. In my mind I called this stretch of road north of Albert, "The Highway of Tears". It seemed your were hardly ever out of sight of the cost of war.

(I'm running our of time tonight, but do ask me about the angel that came out of her home to rescue us while we were hopelessly lost!)

Our B&B that night in Lille was an exceptional treat. We elected to spent our last evening in France having a homecooked French meal. The B&B is an 18th century farm and we had dinner with the proprieters, Dominique and Nelli, a couple from Tolouse France and the 6 of us. It was a very completely enjoyable 2 hour meal. Maincourse was chicken, potatoes amnd carrots from their farm, followed by a sampling of 4 kinds of cheese (I wrote down the names but can't find it right now). Not brie or camembert, oh no! These are cheeses that for the most part you will never see outside northern France has they are made only on one farm and are only sold at the farm or local market. We were taught to eat from mild to strongest. Lastly was dessert and beauiful, rich, dark coffee. The wine was delicious as well and all the time we had a lovely conversation, in English and our pigdin French, with our tablemates. A very pleasant way to end our time in France.

All for now, S.

Back to Aug 22 and dinner with Jonhan and Anna Mieke. Johan is Dad's cousin (their mother's were sisters) and over the years they have stayed in touch. Johan now lives in Normandy on a hobby farm with his partner Anna Mieke in a renovated 150 year old home. Our B&B at Le Luot is not to far from their farm and so they drove there to meet us and to escort us back to their home for dinner. We had a very pleasant evening with them. The boys fed the chickens and rabbits with Anna Mieke and Johan introduced us to a French apertif and his favourite French wine. Ask Jonas about "chop chop, cous cous""

Wednesday August 23 was our day for Mont St. Michel. As we were eating breakfast, in walks Anna Mieke! She joined us for coffee and said that they really enjoyed dinner with us last night and would we come back tonight was well! Of course, we accepted.

On the way there Johan and Anna Mieke encouraged us to stop at another German cemetary at Mount-de-Huisnes which they both said was very beautiful. There are just under 12,000 solider buried at this memorial which is very unique in that it is a two tiered circle. There are 180 remains in each crypt and there are 36 crypts on each level in 360 degrees. Very unique design. What we noticed were that many of the soliders were older (one was 57). During the latter part of the war Germany Perhaps many of these men were those Many died after the war ended in 1944. We presume that they died of their wounds and chose to be buried with their mates.

A particular memorial really caught my heart. It is one of the homemade crosses and poppies that the British bring over with them. One the poppy it is handwritten "In memory of German sons, from English parents". There is no bitterness here, only sorrow that spans international boundaries.

The history of Mont St Michel dates back to the 6 and 7th centuries. Mont St Michel sits on a rocky island about a kilometre off the coast surrounded by tidal flats. In 8th century a church/abbey was built atop the island. It became a monastary and place of pilgrimage during the Reformation, but during the French Revolution its influenced waned and it became a prison for political prisoners. The outer walls of the island form a defence that succesful repelled the English during their year long seige in 1423-24 during the 100 year war.

The boys with a 15th century English cannon that was abandoned after the seige during the 100 year war.

Nancy enjoying her french bread and camembert lunch on the ramparts.

Mom and Dad went their own way, so the four of us roamed the battlements imagining we were surround by the English fleet and then toured the ancient abbey and monastery. Spectacular. Walking where men walked and worshipped over a thousand years. You could almost see them in their hooded robes circling the cloister deep in prayer, or eating at the rough tables while the scriptures were read from the pulpit. The abbey is an amazing piece architecture that I could go on and on about. Imagine, all from stone and all before cranes and AutoCAD.

Gideon needs to hold the crypt up!

Oh yes, the crowds. This is the most visitted site in France with over 1 million visitors per year (and it seemed like they were all there the same day we were!) We counted 50 tour buses and in the narrow streets it was quite crushing.

As we made the long walk back to our car, Gideon really wanted to walked on the beach so he and Nancy took off their shoes and walked barefoot through the tidal mud.

Walking in the footsteps of pilgrims through the centuries

Our ice cream stop after a lot of walking at the Mont.

The view of the Mont from our ice cream pitstop

We stopped for ice cream on the way home. There was a bouncy castle for the kids to use and at first Jonas and Gideon bounced but then Jonas decided to step it up a notch and do some front flips. All went well until he did a face plant and got a bloody nose!

At our B&B at St. Pience, dropped off our bags and then joined Johan and Anna Mieke for some more feeding of the rabbits and chickens and another lovely evening. While I did some blogging, the rest of the fam introduced Johan and Anna Mieke to the joys of Skip Bo and even left Anna Mieke the set of cards so that she could play with her own grandkids on her upcoming visit to St. Martin in the Dutch Antilles.

Blessings and love, Scott

Now on to Tuesday, August 22.

After another scrumptious French breakfast we packed up from the B&B and headed to the nearby town of St. Mere Eglise, which, if you are a student of D Day history, will know that this town was the centre of the American airborne paratrooper operations in the early morning hours of D Day. The goals was to protect the landing at nearby Utah Beach as well as to secure important bridges in order to facilitate the breakout from the beachhead.

This is the town that has an effigy of John Steele hanging from their church steeple where his parachute got hung up. Their is a wonderful museum in the town with all sorts of photographs, films, equipment, a Waco glider and a C-47, rifles, machien guns, bazookas. All sorts of great stuff for kids (and some adults too!) We wanted to find a museum that the boys would enjoy... and they did.

Next we headed to the massive American cemetary at Omaha Beach (remember "Saving Private Ryan?"), which both Dad and I agreed that a visit to Normandy would not be complete without a visit to. Over 9000 Americans killed from all over France are interned here. It is stunning and sobering. The cemetary is immaculate and as you walk through it, songs of patriotism and mourning, chimed by bell, are piped out of the large white memorial structure at the head of the cemetary. While it seems to be a tad over the top, it is nonetheless very moving.

Mom's legs couldn't handle the walk down the steps to the beach so she headed back to the van, Nanc and the boys went down to the beach to play, and Dad and I just walked through the headstones soaking it all in. Dad and I then headed down to the beach as well where it was a beautiful day. Jonas joined us for a walk down the shore and up a bluff to a bunker complex that is remnant of the Atlantic Wall that the German's built in the early 1940's to repel any Allied invasion. The building of the Atlantic Wall employed 2 million workers and was reported to be the largest construction project of the 20th century. As we stood on the bunkers looking down on the beach, it is easy to see why it weas called "Bloody Omaha". Just above the bunker is a memorial to the 1st Infantry Division that landed here (Big Red One to you history buffs).

Leaving Omaha we had a pleasant lunch at a cafe with most of us having omlettes and then stopped in at a farm to sample the local Calvados. Calvados is a apple cider hooch that this area is famous for. In fact, this area of Normandy is called Calvados. The Allied troops were quite willing to 'liberate' the local bottles of Calvados. Mom stopped sampling after the first 40% alcohol sample, but Nancy and I soldiered on and left with a few bottles for posterity.

As we left the area to head down to our B&B about an hour south we stopped in at the German cemetary at La Cambe where over 21,000 German soldiers are buried. Although I had wanted to, Dad was not too keen initially, it was Gideon who wanted to and we made the visit at his request. Admittedly I had mixed feelings about it but when you realize that these men (and even boys) did not always choose the cause or the fight, and were sons, husbands and fathers as well, it becomes very significant. With it's dark grave markers set into the grass, it is quite a contrast to the nearby American cemetary.

Our B&B for the night was in Le Luot in the south of Normandy. Not my best pick of B&B's, and more of a rooming house, but still comfortable. We had dinner with Johan and Anna Mieke, but more on that later...


John Steele's effigy where he landed on the church on D Day


Gideon on the trampoline at our B&B at Le Luot



Omaha Beach cemetary

Jonas'photograph of Mom and Nanc and a half track at the museum at St Mere Eglise

Greetings all

Have had some late nights and computers weren't always accessible so I've got some catching up to do...

Back to last Monday...after the visit to the battery we continued along the coastal road through those marvellous old villages to Juno Beach, whcih as you may know was the one of 5 landing beaches on DDay and the one that the Canadians were responsible for. Back in 2003 the Juno Beach Centre was opened. Rather than being a museum of artifacts, it is multi-media centre that tells about Canada, its history and geography (remember that most of its visitors are French and British) and it's entire involvment in World War II, not just the invasion.

After the visit to the centre we walked along the beach. 60 years later it hardly seems real that this beach had seen such a fierce battle. While I spent time with the boys, Nancy wandered the beach deep in thought and remebreance, and chose some racks and shells to bring home for our bathroom.

It was a windy day and people were flying kites and windsurfing. I read where one woman had written that she was offended that all these people were treating the beach so lightly and not recognizing the significance of it, until it dawned on her that their pleasure and freedom to do this very thing is why the invasion had to occur. Her comments rang in my head all day.

We next headed a bit more down the coast, still along Juno Beach, to the next town called Berniers Sur Mer where one of the houses that is very visible in photographs of that sector of Juno Beach ón D Day is still standing. They say it was the first house liberated in France and, in fact, it is now called The Queens Own Rifles House, and has a Canadian flag flying. Dad called this the most memorable part of the day, even the trip.

It was getting late in day, even later after we got way lost, but we managed to find the Bretteville Sur Laize Canadian War Cemetary where over 2700 Canadian soldiers are buried. Most of these soldiers were not killed on D Day. The cemetary is about 60 km's from the coast and so those soldiers/airmen placed here are those who where killed along the Canadian lines of advance. Although I had wanted to visit a Canadian cemetary in Normandy, my other purpose was to find the grave of an uncle of a colleague. O. Thomas Arbo is the uncle of my colleague Wanda, and I understand from here that he was killed on Juno Beach but several days after Day. Prior to leaving Canada I googled his name and was lead the Veteran Affairs Canada website where I learned the cemetary and his grace reference.

It was raining when we got to the cemetary later in the day and his grave was not where the reference. I was extremely disappointed. We double check our reference with a book onsite but still couldn't find it. At this point we spread out and starting searching the rows around it where I finally found it, not where VAC said it was.

After getting some photos of the headstone Nancy and I wandered up and down the rows reading their names, unit, age, date killed and any special inscriptions. Many of these inscriptions were personal in nature and obviously from wives and family. (Interesting that the Canadian cemetary headstones has these inscriptions. The massive American cemetary at Omaha Beach does not). Nancy found the grave of a young man from a BC unit and placed a Canadian pin, that she had on the lapel of her coat, on the earth in front of his headstone. A very tounching and personal moment.

We had more than an hour's drive back to our B&Bs, so after a meal in Caen we were quite late getting back to Pont L-Abbee.

Click on the photos for a larger view


O. Thomas Arbo's (Wanda's uncle) grave at Brettville Sur Laize.


Nancy and the boys on one of the bunkers at Longues Battery (note our Canada caps)

Greetings family and friends!

We've had some very late nights and and so sleeping has been high on the list of priorities. Tonight I am typing on a French keyboard which is different than a English (or Dutch) keyboard so it is taking me longer to find the keys; pls pardon any typos.

I've lost all track of time, but on the 21st (was that Monday?) we started our tour of the D Day beaches. For breakfast we had a delicious traditional French breakfast: French bread/baguettes, croissants, jams, and delicious black dark coffee. Leaving the B&B in Pont L'Abbee we decided to leave viq the scenic backgrounds and got a little turned around. Still it was a pleasure to wander the Norman countryside...

Our first stop of the day was to be Juno Beach where the Canadians landed on D Day. We took the slower coastal road which skirts the various beaches through many villages. Again we were entranced by the old stone homes, the walled manor farms, the narrow roads barely wide for two vehicles between the walls, and all the town names ending in "sur mer" (on the sea)

On the way to Juno we stopped along the way at the Longues Battery, a relatively intact battery of German guns that harrassed the shipping on DDay before the British landing at nearby Sword Beach were able to capture it. The boys enjoyed scampering around the guns and concrete battlements. One battlement was partially destroyed and the guns a twisted wreck; I imagine from one of the Allied battleships offshore. I had a brief but informative chat with a British chap whose grandfather was a tank crew member thqt helped cqpture the guns on D Day. Interesting story...

Got to go. Will finish off later...

PS Trent: I am reading your comments. We'll talk later.

PS Wanda: I found your uncle's grave and got some photos. More to follow.