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  #31  
Old 04-23-2019, 05:13 AM
BEL BEL is offline
 
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Yesterday, here in Berlin, we took a hike through a forested area beside a lake /river. In the middle of it is a mountain, as they call it. Some call it “women’s rubble”. After the Second World War women in Berlin carried rubble from bombings to this area and literally created this mountain. The US used it as a spying center on the Russians. I would guess it is a few hundred feet high. BEL
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  #32  
Old 04-23-2019, 05:39 AM
LongsideK LongsideK is offline
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Thanks for the blow by blow.
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  #33  
Old 04-23-2019, 09:24 AM
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This is the reconstituted German observation trench.


Then my wife and I stayed there while my daughter went back to where our boys would be staring them Huns down
One good fly fast distance.



There’s a cool quote on the wall of the museum by the last WW1 vet to visit Vimy from Canada.
He gave us advice...



Wise man I think.


Then we zipped to Arras.... 11th century church there....plus beer and...




Yup.... we’ll never see THAT served inN.America..... it’d Be an e-Coli special!

Very yummy.... with beer.... beer good... mmmmm
I post a beer pic, but it gone now. Heh.
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Last edited by bessiedog; 04-23-2019 at 09:33 AM.
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  #34  
Old 04-23-2019, 04:41 PM
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Are you going to get a chance to go to the nightly Menin Gate ceremony?
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  #35  
Old 04-23-2019, 08:17 PM
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Nope.... I had no idea bout this!

There’s another thing I gotta come back for
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  #36  
Old 04-23-2019, 08:23 PM
RandyBoBandy RandyBoBandy is offline
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Thanks for your on-the-ground reports
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  #37  
Old 04-24-2019, 10:31 AM
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So....Lille... got the tour. Tres cool!

Some thoughts on France, Lille, and the French.

Rent a car and get gel hell out of Paris!! It’s a tourist trap and the rest of France has soooo much to offer in history, culture, beer, food and wine. I spent last night discussing the nuances of French colonial tendencies vs English colonization , food types of North France vs South , and which country has the best Vodka with a guy that owns a vodka tasing cafe. I don’t remember anything past midnight unfortunately... but I did begrudgingly admit that Polish vodka might be better than Ukrainian.... not sure.

If you drive, drive aggressively, with great forward anticipation. Feel the flow of traffic an you’re good. Get used to driving 130+! It’s a blast!
Tell people your Canadian and speak their language as best you can. They will treat you like gold.

Northern France concentrate on beers, cheeses, and sausages..... it’s a speciality here (Flemish country).

The French are at a complete loss if you hold the door for them and let them in before you. They think you are a deranged saint.

If you can speak haulting/shaky French, you can have marvelous conversations with people in the bars and cafes. They don’t mind discussing politics. And they respect your ideology... no matter how rednecked you may be....

Oh... the citadel in Lille isn’t a tourist spot... it’s sctuslly a NATO rapid reaction force launch, training, and coordination center. Thank you cpl Laroux for not arresting my ignorant semi-intoxicated ass.







Found this cool courtyard built in the 1600s. Dedicated to the ‘working progressive class’ such as Pasteur and Pascal.

They had an open market there with antiques and such. Found a mountain of 19th century maps and newspaper for sale... super cheap too.

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  #38  
Old 04-24-2019, 10:47 AM
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Very interesting, thank you so much for sharing your experience and pictures
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  #39  
Old 04-24-2019, 12:53 PM
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Great story man and cool pictures, thank you! Please keep reporting back to us, lol!
PS. Polish vodka is better than Ukrainian but Russian vodka is the best!
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  #40  
Old 04-24-2019, 01:08 PM
JamesB JamesB is offline
 
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I have always enjoyed my visits there, and your posts make me want to head back for another one. Thanks
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  #41  
Old 04-25-2019, 03:17 PM
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.... aaaand last post!

Back in Paris. Gonna fly out tomorrow. I hear Calgary’s gettin snow...
we hit a cool
Old 16th century church dedicated to one of the Patron Saints of Hunting. st.Eusteuce..
He was a Roman general around 110 AD was out hunting and was after a stag when the stag turned around and had a shiny starry light thingy between its antlers. The dude converted to Christianity right then and there.... then emperor Hadrian figured that wasent cool and had him and his family cooked in one of those iron bull thingies...... ow.
This is an actual relic from him and his buddies

And yes Jaegermeister’s deer symbol is for him and the other patron saint of hunting St.Hubertus..... that bling bling stag really gets around I guess.

We hit the catacombs next.... they are huge AND way the heck down there.
Some 6 million sets of bones.... they got all stacked and organized over the years.... super macabre







Finished our souvenir shopping and we’re all set for the 6AM rush to the airport.

You GOT to do the Metro in Paris. It’s super complex and fun to figure out!


Don’t stand near the sketchy dudes and you’ll be fine. They sometimes try to snatch and run... then ya gotta play catch n beat down, which is also lil sketchy.

Hope the weather improves by Saturday... I wanna do some dryfly on the Crow.
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  #42  
Old 04-26-2019, 07:05 AM
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I was really hoping you had at least one pic of a beauty French maiden.....ewwwlala eh


Gotta get back over to Europe and strap a back pack on....this time it will not be with a bunch of smelly army buddies and bad attitude...more like peaceful and do what whenever attitude!

Thx for sharing the trip!
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  #43  
Old 04-26-2019, 09:11 PM
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Heck of a trip, Bessie. Thanks for the pics & write-up!
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  #44  
Old 04-27-2019, 02:40 AM
coreya3212 coreya3212 is offline
 
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Last night for dinner a few of us went to Reims. We are working out in CHampagne country. Anyway we got to see the Notre Dame cathedral there. It is actually quite overwhelming to look at. So impressive that i came to this thread to tell BEssiedog that if he gets the chance to get that way he should but isee he is headed back home. Maybe next trip.
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  #45  
Old 04-27-2019, 07:52 AM
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Home!! Took 23hours of bus,train, 2 jets, drive home.

Exhausted. I miss my daughter already.
So much I missed when I was there..... I’ll be back.

I met a guy fishing the canal system in Lille... we chatted for quite a bit... then the IPhone pics came out.... he liked the mountain stream cutthroat pics.. he had a huge carp pic AND what must have been a 15-20 pound pike pic! Nice eh?

Anyways, jet lag has me up. Grass is green... got puttering to do. Tie up bugs, drive kids places. I missed my dog.



The air smells great. It’s good to be back!
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