So 3 Canucks and a German...go figure...set out on the adventure to visit the one and only Vimy Ridge.
Side note: no one has actually heard of Vimy Ridge in France. Honestly. The French don't know, their parents don't know (yes I asked), and even the Germans don't know. Seriously...pretty shocking, and sort of embarassing I suppose. But ridiculous none the less.
Right. Rant over; back to the story.
Turns out it is disgustingly cheap to travel in Europe; especially to Arras. With my handy dandy 12-25 card (discount for students between the ages of 12-25, go figure) it would be 9.50 EUR. Ha. What a joke. Pretty sure that has never and will never happen in Canada. BUT - it gets better - so there is this special ticket on sale for 7 EUR that discounts a group rate. Like, big time discount. We get to the counter and she is trying to sell us this card for 7 euros, when all of a sudden Manu (from Quebec) already has the card! Brilliant! We each travelled for 5 euros...return trip. Waaaadddddupppppp.
It's a gorgeous Saturday and obviously I am dressed up in my Canada Olympic sweater(I had to wear something Canadian), and we are ready to go. The ride there was super quick, only 30 mins or so and then we caught a taxi to Vimy itself. We couldn't wait.
We could see the Vimy monument in the distance and we were that much closer to crossing another thing off our list.
Turns out its more fantastic than any postcard you have ever seen. We were there at about 11:30 and the next tour started at 1pm. A group of 42 were supposed to arrive and we were gonna tag along. Kinda cool: all the people who worked there are Canadian! Yay! So nice to talk to a fellow Canuck, slash being able to understand was a bonus too.
We took it on ourself to tour the room of facts and then head to the monument. Gorgeous. Just simply stunning. I was in awe to see the 11,298 names hand engraved of all the people who were in the battle. There were wreaths left from loved ones visiting and the weather was just right. Sunny, filled with tons of clouds, but we could see a storm coming our way. Luckily - it never hit us, but the pictures were breathtaking.
We headed back to the visitors centre for 1pm to join our tour. Turns out they were late, but we chatted with the girls working there until they were ready. We took a tour through the tunnels and trenches. I have to say it was really eerie. Knowing what had happened in those tunnels you just couldn't swallow. We were told stories of how you couldnt even speak in tunnels because the Germans were scoping you out, listening to see where in the tunnels you were situated. We were able to see where the messengers slept. The photo I took had 2 beds, but the tour guide said there was anywhere from 4-5 bunk beds in there at one time. Fact: the average life span of a messenger was 5-7 days and they actually VOLUNTEERED for the position. It was prestigious because you were around those in charge.
The trenches were equally as interesting and to see how close they really were to the german trenches was terrifying. You could really put yourself in their shoes for a moment, and I really could only handle a moment anyways, but it was surreal.
The train ride back was even shorter it seemed, as we recapped everything about that day. We looked over our pictures, and not gonna lie, Paddy and I laughed our heads off at some. Before you judge, I was not laughing at Vimy Ridge but the pictures that Paddy and I had taken of the two of us. Honestly; they are engagement pictures. My arms around Paddy standing behind her, Laura has one of Paddy and I on the hill arms around each other beaming. "Save the date" quickly became the new phrase. They are hilarious, and surreal really; but damn good pictures.
It was such a unique experience to be there. I will never forget it. And I have never felt more proud to be Canadian.
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