Why We Travel

We spent most of October in Europe driving 160K/uhr in a rented car. We trekked up steep hills to castles, savored fine food, wine and beer, gazed at incredible Alpine vistas and were impressed with the beautiful old world charm of the continent. My husband has eight video tapes and I took 340 digital pictures. These display some of the beauty we saw with our eyes but they do not show the most valuable impressions we captured in our hearts. Meeting people from another culture reveals that and it is the reason we travel. If we travel just for the sights we have not had the full experience.



I am descended from French-Canadians. France has gotten bad press in recent decades and I have believed the media. Travelling in France changed my mind. Don't get caught up in stereotypes. No one was rude to us in France, not even the waiters. Our language skills were limited to Bon Jour and Merci and that did not trigger rejection. We found the people to be warm and helpful. Lord have Merci ! I have been judgemental.

We spent one day touring the area around Verdun. It is the site of WW1 battlesites where Frenchmen fought valiantly defending their homeland from invasion of the Prussian Kaiser. Millions lost their lives holding the line over a year and a 1/2 standoff. Trench warfare, hand to hand combat with bayonets and poison mustard gas took their toll. The area was shelled so heavily with artillery @ a ton / sq.meter that the land is still pock-marked. These memorials to the fallen cover a large region. Towns were wiped out and not rebuilt. The land itself was contaminated from the poison gas. Nothing grew here until the 1960's.

In WW2 the country fell quickly into the hands of the Nazis. The Underground French Resistance also struggled with courage to defeat the enemy. They rescued downed allied pilots and sabotaged the enemy. They did this at risk of their own lives. Some ended up in the camps. Some were killed. Many were brave.

It is not hard to understand why this is a country weary from and wary of war. Many wars were fought on this soil, not just the two world wars. This is the area where Joan of Arc answered her call. Christiains fought religious wars with other Christians. I hope we can understand their reluctance to support our choices and they can remember their heritage to know when to fight and when to wage peace.


linkhttp://sienaitaly.blogspot.com/2006/10/verdun.html