Teachers are still smiling!

Parents!

Trip is going great so far and we, the teachers, are still smiling!

The kids love hearing the comments you are leaving.

We are all learning a lot about food, culture and history!

Today was Canada day here, everything we saw was WW1 and involved Canadian troops! At lunch we had some French steak hashe and the teachers decided we miss a lot about home but we miss Alberta beef the most!

Keep checking the blog & thanks for your support! You've got great kids!

The teachers




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Lauren's quote of the day

"What we saw today (Vimy Ridge & Beaumont Hamel) makes me proud to be a Canadian."


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Dan's quote of the day

"If Nutella was a religion, I would worship it. In fact, I might even become ordained priest of it." after eating a delicious European breakfast that included cold meat, multiple types of bread an cheese and, of course, nutella


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Beaumont Hamel - Virginia's Update

The official title of today's tour was - Canada Day! The first stop was Beaumont Hamel, one of the first battles of the Somme. In today's setting the birds were singing, there was calm and a feeling of life in the air, trees stood tall and were decked in green and a bright sunny day. Back to 1916, 3 out of the 4 things were not there, there were no bird brave enough to fly over the battle field unless they were carrier pigeons. The air was full of bullets from machine guns, mortar shells from artillery guns and dirt and shrapnel, the only tree standing was the danger tree, the tree that stood between the 2 trenches and miraculously stood against bombs and gun fire. Those soldiers who made it there knew they were going to die due to its position between two machine gun ranges. The brave Newfoundlanders who were sent to the front line at Beaumont Hamel by the British army because of mixed messages, they thought they would find glory honor and earn money to help their families at home. Unfortunately, the Germans had already fortified their positions with the use of natural formations.after 30 minutes the group of 1000 soldiers was reduced to just 100. After this defeat, the Newfoundland regiment rose and were successful in other battles, eventually earning the title of 'royal' from the British army. In November 1916 the 51st regiment of the Scottish army took the German line on Beaumont Hamel. Virginia








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Theipval Memorial - Brock's Entry

Theipval is a big monument that towers over all of its surrounding area. Names were written in alphabetical order on the sand stone slabs. The early afternoon sun shined brightly on us shedding an inviting light on the monument bringing out the monuments true size and glory. The smooth breezy combined with an Ernest desire to find my ancestry drew me in and captured my attention. Before setting us loose, we assemble before the monument to take a picture in order to capture this moment. Everyone was excited to find their family names on the walls. I was fortunate to find my Mom's maiden name on the wall, in fact, I found 3 Newtons. I was ecstatic to find my mothers side but I want able to find my fathers name. That particularly bothered me. I searched in vain through the registry books. Another feeling I discovered there was a solemn somberness. In the countless people, names, all had sacrificed do much for my freedom; the soldier fought for their homes and for peace. May I never forget. Brock













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Going the extra 3000 miles

Alison's father joined us at Beaumont Hamel! It was a touching site and a touching reunion.










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The largest potato in France - Sam Adam's quote of the day

We had an amazing dinner last evening, it was the largest potato you have ever seen, the name of the potato is 'the melody'. Sam Adams said, 'I fought a good fight but lost in the twelfth round... That potato knocked me out.'










The remarkable feat of finishing the whole meal went to one student only.... The amazing Joe Wright, "this amazing vessel was defeated by the one and only, me."




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