July 21 - Reims, the Champagne Capital of France

Reims, pronounced Rance (Rhymes with France) is the location of all the big names in Champagne.
Mumms, Veuve Clicquot, Tatinger etc etc.

The Cathedral at Reims is where 24 French kings have been crowned.

Right down the street from our hotel we discovered Eisenhower`s WWII headquarters where the armistice that ended WWII in Europe was signed.

 The Romans were everywhere, including Reims - they left the Porte de Mars behind.

This big, round door is the entrace to one of the Champagne houses.

 Hotel De Ville

 The building and plaque that commemorates Jeanne D Arc getting Charles VII crowned (in Reims)

 They have some small cars here (this one is a Renault Twizy) .. and it is a two seater!

 The house of Mumm.

 Some of the soldiers lined up.

 Hey.. Nice Rack!

 Bouzy ... I love boozy.

 The various bottle sizes available.  The one in the middle is a Magnum.

 a few of the 25 Million bottles on hand in the Mumm cellars...which stretch 25 km

 during the tasting we tried this one - good.

 and this one - better - vintage, 1999

 cute little trams in Reims.

July 20 - WWI sites - Beaumont-Hamel

Beaumont-Hamel is the site of the Newfoundland Memorial.  Newfoundland, not being part of Canada until 1949, has their own memorial site.  The trenches, much like at Vimy have been kept so that visitors can go in them, and appreciate what a blind activity trench warfare must have been.

 In Flanders Fields...

 looking back along one of the communications trenches to the Caribou monument.  The Caribou is the the emblem of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

 The Danger Tree - a single tree from a group that somehow was standing during the attack on July 1, 1916 (now a replica).  The tree located in no-mans land was used as a land mark and gathering point.

 Stay on the path please...

 The group of trees in the distance are growing in the Hawthorne Crater, a result of the detonation of about 40,000lbs of explosives under a German stronghold on Hawthorn ridge. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8YfJmwY5Uo)

 Some of the staff of the Government of Canada - our official groundskeepers.

 Shooting from the trenches

July 19 - WWI sites Vimy

Today we visit the WWI sites on the north side of Arras.  Our main destination is the Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge.  On the way to Vimy ridge we stop at the John McCrae dressing station.

 Tomb of the unknown soldier.

 In Flanders fields the poppies blow...

 The bunker used as a field hospital by John McCrae

The Menin gate in Ypres.  Every night at 8pm the last post is played here by volunteer buglers.  They are approaching night 30,000 

 The Vimy ridge memorial as seen from a distance ...we are approaching from the east, territory that was held by the Germans, we are facing the front of the memorial.

 WOW

"Mother Canada" symbol of a new Nation, mourning her dead.

 The grounds around the Vimy memorial have been preserved in their pock-marked and trench-ridden state.  It really makes an impression when you see the multitude of crater marks from artillery.

 some of the trenches have been reconstructed - using concrete stand-ins for sand bags.  While the trench is different in the use of concrete the trench contours are original.

 We were in time to tour the tunnels which are 8m underground and connect to various trenches.
This is a room where runners and/or officers might sleep - the room has 2 beds and a table, but the guide explained that in reality the room would sleep 8-10

 After Vimy we drove to the French memorial and cemetery.

There are 120,000 men buried here.

 And further down the road, a British cemetery.