Voyage
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Christmas in Paris: City of Light – Part 1
Paris is known as the ‘City of Light’ due, originally, to its leading role during the Age of Enlightenment. More recently it claimed this name by becoming one of the first European cities to adopt gas lighting. And each year at Christmastime it reclaims it yet again when its streets glow with yuletide splendour. I was fortunate to spend Christmas there recently and stayed in a lovely little apartment just off the wonderful market street of Rue Cler in the 7th arrondissement – borough.The days are short in Paris during this festive season. Here, the city is wrapped in a blanket of darkness by 4:30 in the afternoon. So it…
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Vimy Remembered
November is upon us now. The days grow shorter and the skies grey. It is a time to remember. In Canada, we commemorate the many who fought and sacrificed their lives for the wonderful freedoms that we enjoy today on November 11th, Remembrance Day. And Vimy Ridge has come to symbolize this nation’s remembrance. I feel blessed to have had the good fortune to visit this site of such great courage and sacrifice. Located about 100 kilometres inland from the Normandy coast in northern France, Vimy Ridge, is the site of what is considered one of Canada’s greatest victories during World War I. In just four days, beginning on Easter Monday,…
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Market Day in Bruges – Grote Markt
I had only a few hours left in the gorgeous, medieval, Belgian city of Bruges before I departed for Brussels, my final destination of this European adventure. The previous couple of days had been spent getting re-acquainted with this charming city and exploring the surrounding countryside. I had first visited Bruges over 20 years earlier, in part to take a lace-making course at the Kantcentrum – Lace Centre. This time during my wanderings, I had made mental notes of several shops that I wanted to visit before leaving. There were three in particular that I had in mind and all were located in the vicinity of the Grote Markt –…
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Sisters of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a New York icon known around the world. She stands as a shining beacon on Liberty Island, offering the hope of sanctuary to the tired, poor ‘huddled masses’. For decades, she was the first concrete sight of the American dream for millions of immigrants entering the United States. In fact, her real name is ‘La Liberté éclairant le monde’ – ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’. Liberty in Paris But did you know that she has a European sister? It’s true! She can be found in the middle of the Seine in the heart of Paris. While the original statue was a gift from France to the…
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The Triumphant Arc de Triomphe
At the top of the Avenue des Champs Élysées stands the majestic Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, Napoleon’s grand monument to his many military victories. It is a mesmerizing sight, one that I have difficulty taking my eyes off when I am nearby. Fortunately, on one of my recent visits to Paris, I had the opportunity to admire it often as my rental apartment was just a few hundred metres from it. And while I had admired it from a distance before, this time I took a much closer look. As a novice looking at the Arc from street level, one might wonder how that is possible to get up…
