Somme ~ Paris ~ Killorglin
Vimy
Sunday morning and our first stop was the second Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge.
This was the scene of a successful attack by the Canadians in the spring of 1917, and serves as a memorial to the 60,000 Canadians killed in WW1.
It is one of the most impressive memorials in the Somme
As with the Newfoundland memorial, the Vimy site was established by the Canadians a short time after the war concluded, and as a result it contains large fields of original trenches that seem incongruous for what they are, set in the green countryside and forests of the Somme.
Vimy is one of the few sites where you can visit some of the extensive underground tunnels that cover the entire area.
An unusual feature of the Somme is the deep chalk layer just below the surface that is relatively easy to tunnel into. Both the allies and the Germans tunnelled extensively with the goal of “undermining” the other side to set explosives.
The walls look a lot like rock, but even a fingernail scratches them fairly easily.
We imagined the tunnels full of soldiers waiting hours for the order to storm out into no man’s land near the enemy trenches.
As in Lochnagar, the allies tunnelled under the German stronghold and set explosives before the start of the battle, with 100 year-old trenches to show for it.
The combination of tunnelling for explosives and surprise exits all around no man’s land proved decisive in the battle.
Out of the tunnels, we visited the trenches with Charles in his usual role as questioner in chief
About 10 minutes up the road from the visitor centre is the memorial itself. An impressive marble monument that stretches towards the sky and which was carved in situ. Like the British memorial, it has a commanding view from the ridge and can be seen from miles around.
A beautifully quiet and peaceful memorial which stands out for its simplicity.
Arras
Stopped for lunch in Arras, an ancient medieval town about 11km from Vimy. Not as easy as you might think on a Sunday!
Much needed break for the kids after a busy schedule the past couple of days.
Thank goodness for the restorative power of chocolate mousse!
Even in medieval times the town had an extensive series of tunnels underneath it. During the war the allies made us of this, expanding on the existing tunnels to build a network of links for when enemy lines encroached. This proved decisive doing the ensuing Battle of Arras.
The people who did this work were none other than the New Zealand Tunnelling Company, and there is now a site in the middle of town where you can visit the quarry and tunnels
Kids delighted to imagine themselves miners tunnelling underground…
Paris routine
Back to Paris and into a more normal routine!
Niamh signed us up as members of the Louvre, and has been making periodic visits.
This week we went to a less visited section showing drawings and etchings done in the 1600s for the king by Israel Sylvester. Extraordinary detail and skill!
Then a bit of obligatory sculpture on the way out – the Winged Victory of Samothrace, dating from 300BC and discovered in 1863 in the Aegean Sea.
Speaking of sculpture, Simon continuing to make steady progress, now adding plaster to finally make the rock cliffs a little more realistic.
Next stop: adding people…
Wednesday lunch has also become something of a tradition at Framboise, a galette and crepe restaurant near our place.
A sure hit with the kids every time.
And sometimes it’s just fun to dance around the house and soak up the applause…
Quartier Latin tour
Courtesy of the parents’ association at Charles’ school, we have two tours set up this week. This first was of the Quartier Latin.
Unfortunately reminiscent of our Venice tour in terms of the weather! Cold and rainy, but we were up for it!
Started near St Michel and wound our way through narrow streets with a knowledgeable guide telling us the history of the area.
Stopped in the little park opposite Notre Dame to admire one of the oldest churches in Paris: Saint-Julian-Le-Pauvre. In front of it is the oldest tree in Paris, a robinia that is believed to be over 400 years old.
We stopped to admire the Salvador Dali sundial, gargoyles over an old convent and remnants of the original city wall…
These days more likely the scene of summer picnics, kids practicing bike tricks or people (mostly men) playing boules. Mostly deserted on this cold and rainy Tuesday!
Nina! (and Geraldine and Noel…)
The big excitement of the week was the arrival of relatives from Ireland. Noel, Geraldine and Nina had come to Paris for a visit, and were staying until after Easter (though we ourselves were off to Killorglin for the Easter long weekend).
Very excited children – most notably Aisling, itching to see a female cousin.
We made our way over early to the other apartment where Nina & crew were going to be staying, travelling by bus instead of metro to enjoy views of Paris street life
Since we were early, we stopped in at the nearby Madeleine church, a magnificent colonnaded structure that occupies a commanding position looking down to the Place de la Concorde.
It had an extraordinary number of false starts down the ages, with multiple designs being conceived and started, including one to commemorate Napoleon’s victories, before he suffered defeat before it could be finished.
The kids both lit candles as is their new habit.
At last the wait was over and kids delighted to see their cousin, aunt and uncle.
A great welcome lunch and lots of planning of adventures to be had.
Musée d’Orsay & Cousins Lunch
This week was a double-header for parents’ association events, with a guided tour of the musée d’Orsay on Thursday that we were very excited for.
Beautiful sunny day as we walked over, using our usual preferred mode of transportation in Paris.
Our guide was very knowledgable and focused on bringing to life the society in which the impressionist painters emerged, and the relationships between them, which made for fascinating listening.
We stopped to discuss many iconic pieces, as well as some less studied ones. There were scandalous pieces shining a light into the way gentlemen of society behaved, and interesting technical pieces, such as the one on the right below by Monet.
At the time he painted it he and his wife were living on a boat on the Seine with very little money. At the advice of one of his friends they went down the river out of Paris and pulled in at the shore of one of the beautiful villas in the outskirts of Paris and simply asked the owner whether he could paint at the end of the garden.
Having no money to pay sitters, the people frolicking in the picture are all in fact his wife :-). In real life it is an enormous canvas. In order to paint it he dug a deep trench in the garden and sank the canvas into it, slowly raising it as he painted it from the top down.
While most of the painters in the group were men, there were a handful of women, such as Berthe Morisot shown here, whom Manet had a fascination for and who ended up marrying his brother.
We also learned little tidbits such as how the technique of painting a person from different directions simultaneously using a mirror in the composition (by Degas here) served as inspiration for Picasso.
After the visit we had time to enjoy the sun over Paris, looking down over the houseboats on the Seine. One of our French friends moved with his wife into a houseboat right after having had twins, which sounded like a very brave choice to us, through they insist it was wonderful!
Then it was off to lunch with Nina and Geraldine (Noel had work in Paris that day).
We ate in a little bistro out the back the Assemblée Nationale, where most of the patrons seemed to be politicians.
Much as they tried to listen in to our conversation for any guidance on navigating the social reforms that have recently been introduced by the Macron government, we mostly kept our own counsel.
Killorglin Easter
Easter is a short holiday in France, with just Easter Monday a school holiday. Nevertheless we took the opportunity for a quick trip to Ireland to see family.
Charles’ school is very strict on attendance, so our request for getting away an hour or two early for a flight fell on deaf ears unfortunately. As a result, Niamh and Aisling went ahead as an advance guard on Friday morning while Charles and Simon made a mad dash to CDG airport the moment he was out of the school gate.
Their version of the amazing race was a foot dash, a metro ride, a dash to the RER, RER ride, another dash to CDG airport terminal train, short trip on that, then a dash to the gate.
All of this had them huffing and puffing, but others seemed much more relaxed.
Very relaxed in fact.
So relaxed, that they saw what for both of them was a first: a man asleep standing up. This is not easy to do, but he had pulled it off. With the help of a handy wedge into a handrail, he was snoring loudly as the train rattled its way along!
Hopefully he was intending to go to the end of the line, since that’s where he was clearly headed…
Made it to our plane in the end, flew from Paris to Dublin, then short flight from Dublin to Kerry International! Arrived at sunset, reward for all our dashing earlier in the day:
Short ride from the airport to Killorglin and the usual warm welcome.
Full moon rising above the outline of the new house next door to Irene’s. Promise of more Killorglin adventures tomorrow…
Big sleep all around, then breakfast with our cousins … no wait a minute, those are just puppets. Aisling having fun & games with her auntie Irene as always. There’s never a dull moment in Dunmaniheen, the kids always delighted to spend time with their cousins any time of year.
And remember those Killorglin vistas? Here is Saturday morning out the back lawn. Snow still on the peaks.
New house ever so slowly coming together.
Race is on to have it ready to live in come the summer.
And the summer is coming quickly!
Saturday outing was to the newly renovated and reopened Killarney House with its beautiful grounds. Lovely day for exploring.
Back to Killorglin, Charles exploring his latest hobby of mineralogy with a bit of help from Irene, digging into a “rock” with a small diamond enclosed within, if you don’t mind.
Much searching until a successful find resulted!
And then to round out the week, a couple of happy snaps from Saturday afternoon. Why? First, because we can’t help it. Second, because we just believe it’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
We just point the iPhone and shoot. We didn’t wait for weeks for the perfect shot. This is just how it looks on a Saturday afternoon…
Sayonara Week 15!