Tag Archives: France
Walking Along Juno Beach
With the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings tomorrow, we continue our reflections with a post from 2014. It’s peaceful on Juno Beach on a sunny July afternoon. A few tourists, a few locals getting some sun; if I had been thinking I would have taken off my shoes and socks and dipped my toes […]
Facing The Storm
I just realized that the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Normandy landings is this week. I found visiting the landing sites, which I did in 2014, to be an incredibly moving experience. It was on that trip that I decided to share my thoughts regularly in this space. For the next couple of days, […]
Kaysersberg Castle – II
To followup on yesterday’s post, a series of pictures taken of the ruins of this 13th century castle in Alsace.
Kaysersberg Castle – I
I suppose you could look up how many castles there are in Europe. My guess is several thousand, with most of those in ruins, good only as tourist attractions. What is it that draws us to castles? Or is it just me? I grew up on the legends of King Arthur, the courage of the […]
Fighting For Colmar – III
One aspect of the military cemetery in the hills above Colmar and Sigolsheim that I hadn’t considered before was just who fought in the Second World War battles to liberate France. I guess that is a bit of Canadian blindness on my part. Canadian war cemeteries, or at least the ones I have visited, have […]
Another Anniversary
Every so often my wife and I walk over the hills to the Black Forest town of Staufen. There’s a cafe there she likes, and the five kilometre walk is a healthy one. Whenever we walk down the main street I see signs commemorating the date Allied forces bombed Staufen during World War II and […]
Fighting For Colmar – II
The national cemetery in the hills above Sigolsheim, France, contains the remains of several thousand soldiers who died in the Battle of Colmar which ended on February 9, 1945. The tombstones are a sobering sight. I have been to Canadian war memorials in Belgium and France, so standing on this hill is not the first […]
Fighting For Colmar – I
Ever hear of the Battle of Colmar? Neither had I, and when I was younger I used to read a lot of Second World War histories. One of the great things about not having an agenda when you travel is that you are open to unexpected discoveries. You don’t have to get back on the […]
No Nukes
Life gets busy. I’m sure you understand that. Some days I am not quite sure which end is up. Which can be problematic if you need to walk anywhere. My life is at times filled with notes and ideas for this space that get filed away and not acted upon, for whatever reason. I’m […]
Terror Too Close To Home
When they are far away, they are just news items we may or may not pay attention to. It is different when they happen in your neighbourhood. Throughout the day Wednesday, people in Canada were forwarding me news stories about the terror attack at the Christmas market in Strasbourg, France. It is only an hour’s […]
random thoughts from lorne 
Recent Comments