Traditionally, Day 3 of a golf tourney is called "Moving Day", the #TOSHWorldtour is also going to use this as our "Moving Day"....however as these kids have found out, everyday is moving day on the #TOSHWorldTour!!! If you have been following twitter you will see that the #TOSHWorldtour is trending!!! Well not really, I don't say anything that is really trendy, but it has been nice to hear from Matt Rainie at Island Morning as well as Isaac Stewart(@PEIhistoryguy) on Twitter who the kids had met at our movie night!!!
The sleep last night was well overdue for everyone. The kids awoke to an awesome buffet breakfast, the best which we have ever had on tour, and happy kids will be happy sightseers(we hope...haha). We are off to the downtown core of Paris to meet with Thierry, who David Harrod says is one of the best guides in the business!!! Can't wait to see Paris from the seat of a bus myself...that was a lot walking yesterday!!
David was exactly correct, Thierry was the best Parisian guide we have ever had by far. He gave us plenty of history of the city and and even the history of the middle finger, I'll get back to that one!!
This essentially has everything that the kids have looked at over the past few days, they should be able to give you a virtual tour just like this one!!!
Now back to the middle finger story!! Thierry gave us plenty of little anecdotes about things like where shaking hands originated from, where a "toast" came from(not toast but a toast!)....If anyone of you have the answers to those questions please respond in the comment section and I will tell you whether you are correct or not. During the 100 years war between England and France, the strength of the French army was led by their archers. These French archers had larger bows and it was the middle finger that was the strongest finger to pull the bow back to the desired tension, so the English(the resourceful lot that they were according to David Harrod) decided that they would cut it off when they captured a French fighter. In retaliation for that, Thierry said that they French (as demonstrative as they are!!) soldiers would give the English the finger
in order to show them that they were still able to fight! So after 5 trips to Paris I finally know how that tradition began!!!
The kids also saw where the majority of the beheadings during the French Revolution took place and also why it took place. If you have ever seen Les Miserables you will have a pretty good indication of what happened during that time. In essence, the revolution was the people of France standing up against the inequalities of their lives. A small number of rich nobles had everything and the majority of France was dirt poor with people dying everywhere from starvation and disease, and basically the masses rose up and took over. How did they make their point, they began to execute the rich, by hanging was was most common, in the public square roughly near the bottom of the famed Champs D'elysees, the problem was that this method took to long and they had a lot of people to kill. So the revolutionaries turned to a doctor by the name of Dr. Guillotin and asked him to figure out a way to speed things up and more humane because it was difficult to watch them squirm about before dying(Thierry's words not mine) After a bit, he came up with the severed neck theory of the guillotine. More mess I guess, but much quicker and more humane(again not my words, but history can be brutal at times as we all know!)
After bidding adieu to Thierry we were a metro stop back to the hotel to pick up our bus that we will keep for the next few days and head north to Thelus. Always my favorite part of the trip. The weather has warmed up and there seems to be no rain in sight, although it's still overcast, and we are soon off on about a two hour drive to the Vimy Region and our own little slice of heaven called Thelus Cemetery.
On the way up north, David gave the kids a brief overview of what took place to get the ball rolling for two world conflicts that would dominate the early part of the 20th century. The fact that we are stopping in the very region that is often attributed to Canada's birth of a nation should give these kids an even bigger sense of pride in where they are from. Actually, I have an even better story to tell once we arrived at the hotel, but first onto Thelus.
I often find that after 4 trips to this cemetery, I can sense when I get close. It has become such an important part of who I am and more importantly why we do these pilgrimages at Three Oaks, that I get quite emotional even thinking about this area. This place is along the main road coming into the area where Vimy is and thousands of Canadians would pass by here every year and never even know it existed. Thus what we do is of extreme importance to remember these brave souls located in Thelus.
Charles John Clue was
born at Shepherd’s Bush in September 12 ,1885, the second of six children of
Henry and Emma Jane Clue. He was educated at a school in Hammersmith,
England he emigrated to Canada in early 1910 where he found employment as a
butcher. Enlisting in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force at
Saskatoon in March 1916, he arrived in France as a newly promoted Acting
Corporal in January 1917 and was posted to the 21st Battalion, Canadian
Infantry.
On 9 April 1917,
Charles John Clue went missing in action as was later reported killed in
action on the first day of the battle of Vimy Ridge. It was noted in the
research that Clue had earned $33.10 in April 1917 and on 30 April 1917 his
total earnings of $98.89 was paid to his mother, then of Shepherds Bush Road,
London, England. Later on his mother was alos presented with the British
War and Victory Medals (204407 Cpl., 21-Can. Inf.) and related Memorial
Plaque (Charles John Clue) and Canadian Memorial Cross, G.V.R., officially
inscribed, ‘204407 Cpl. C. J. Clue’, good very fine and better.
Clue was interred in a communal grave in Thelus Military Cemetery, which stands on Vimy Ridge.
Thank you for your ultimate sacrifice......
This gentleman
had no business going to the war at his age..he should have been starting and
caring for a wife and family, instead he was giving up these things that we so
often take for granted in our own lives. The kids are finally seeing the
impact of these ultimate sacrifices and the ages of these young people on the
headstones before them have started to affect them deeply, and we haven’t even
reached the pinnacle of our trip yet.
And now for the last little story of the night. As we arrived at the hotel in Lille, I was covered in graphite chalk so had to make a pit stop to get cleaned up before supper. Anyways to make a long story short, I couldn't get the water to work, and two boys about Max's age, were in their washing their hands as well. I asked one how he got the water on and he stared at me like I had two heads. The other one spoke English and showed me...it was motion sensored by mine was broken. By his accent I could tell he was Dutch, so I told him that I was Canadian. His eyes lit up, just then Riley Forbes came into the washroom and told the kids that he was Canadian as well and why we were here in France and that we would be going onto the Netherlands. I asked him if he knew about Canada and he said "You saved our country!!!" Now Riley's eyes lit up!! The impact of what our veterans is not even forgotten on the young of the Netherlands, just like I have always told our kids. This is going to be a great experience!! Good night and off to the memorial tomorrow with a jam packed day of touring this region!!! Good night and don't forget to answer the questions from the Paris city tour.
The sleep last night was well overdue for everyone. The kids awoke to an awesome buffet breakfast, the best which we have ever had on tour, and happy kids will be happy sightseers(we hope...haha). We are off to the downtown core of Paris to meet with Thierry, who David Harrod says is one of the best guides in the business!!! Can't wait to see Paris from the seat of a bus myself...that was a lot walking yesterday!!
David was exactly correct, Thierry was the best Parisian guide we have ever had by far. He gave us plenty of history of the city and and even the history of the middle finger, I'll get back to that one!!
 |
| L'Arc de Triomphe |
 |
| From end of the Champs D'Elysees..the last leg of the Tour de France |
 |
| Notre Dame |
 |
| One of many stained glass windows inside Notre Dame |
Now back to the middle finger story!! Thierry gave us plenty of little anecdotes about things like where shaking hands originated from, where a "toast" came from(not toast but a toast!)....If anyone of you have the answers to those questions please respond in the comment section and I will tell you whether you are correct or not. During the 100 years war between England and France, the strength of the French army was led by their archers. These French archers had larger bows and it was the middle finger that was the strongest finger to pull the bow back to the desired tension, so the English(the resourceful lot that they were according to David Harrod) decided that they would cut it off when they captured a French fighter. In retaliation for that, Thierry said that they French (as demonstrative as they are!!) soldiers would give the English the finger
The kids also saw where the majority of the beheadings during the French Revolution took place and also why it took place. If you have ever seen Les Miserables you will have a pretty good indication of what happened during that time. In essence, the revolution was the people of France standing up against the inequalities of their lives. A small number of rich nobles had everything and the majority of France was dirt poor with people dying everywhere from starvation and disease, and basically the masses rose up and took over. How did they make their point, they began to execute the rich, by hanging was was most common, in the public square roughly near the bottom of the famed Champs D'elysees, the problem was that this method took to long and they had a lot of people to kill. So the revolutionaries turned to a doctor by the name of Dr. Guillotin and asked him to figure out a way to speed things up and more humane because it was difficult to watch them squirm about before dying(Thierry's words not mine) After a bit, he came up with the severed neck theory of the guillotine. More mess I guess, but much quicker and more humane(again not my words, but history can be brutal at times as we all know!)
After bidding adieu to Thierry we were a metro stop back to the hotel to pick up our bus that we will keep for the next few days and head north to Thelus. Always my favorite part of the trip. The weather has warmed up and there seems to be no rain in sight, although it's still overcast, and we are soon off on about a two hour drive to the Vimy Region and our own little slice of heaven called Thelus Cemetery.
On the way up north, David gave the kids a brief overview of what took place to get the ball rolling for two world conflicts that would dominate the early part of the 20th century. The fact that we are stopping in the very region that is often attributed to Canada's birth of a nation should give these kids an even bigger sense of pride in where they are from. Actually, I have an even better story to tell once we arrived at the hotel, but first onto Thelus.
I often find that after 4 trips to this cemetery, I can sense when I get close. It has become such an important part of who I am and more importantly why we do these pilgrimages at Three Oaks, that I get quite emotional even thinking about this area. This place is along the main road coming into the area where Vimy is and thousands of Canadians would pass by here every year and never even know it existed. Thus what we do is of extreme importance to remember these brave souls located in Thelus.
It is a very peaceful walk down to the cemetery and the kids are ready to leave their letters and pay homage. David actually got a number of the students to read or talk about their veterans on the bus on the ride up here, so they are prepared for this part of the tour. David and I work well together as he knows how much this means to us and has actually started taking other tours into this cemetery after finding out about its significance, which I am very excited to hear. It's a great day to also do grave rubbings and most of the kids are able to get theirs done...it seems to be getting harder and harder each year because of weathering, although some of the headstones have actually been replaced. Cameron's soldier actually has a brand new headstone and the difference is amazing. After allowing the kids to wander around the cemetery, we gather around the grave of my friend CJ Clue and I start to tell my story of how we all got here...not sure if I'll be "dry" by the end of it, especially after reading my letter, but here goes nothing! You'd actually think after doing this 4-5 times it would get easier to tell his story, but it never does. So please allow me the honour of introducing you all to Corporal Charles John Clue....
On 9 April 1917,
Charles John Clue went missing in action as was later reported killed in
action on the first day of the battle of Vimy Ridge. It was noted in the
research that Clue had earned $33.10 in April 1917 and on 30 April 1917 his
total earnings of $98.89 was paid to his mother, then of Shepherds Bush Road,
London, England. Later on his mother was alos presented with the British
War and Victory Medals (204407 Cpl., 21-Can. Inf.) and related Memorial
Plaque (Charles John Clue) and Canadian Memorial Cross, G.V.R., officially
inscribed, ‘204407 Cpl. C. J. Clue’, good very fine and better.Clue was interred in a communal grave in Thelus Military Cemetery, which stands on Vimy Ridge.
Thank you for your ultimate sacrifice......
And now for the last little story of the night. As we arrived at the hotel in Lille, I was covered in graphite chalk so had to make a pit stop to get cleaned up before supper. Anyways to make a long story short, I couldn't get the water to work, and two boys about Max's age, were in their washing their hands as well. I asked one how he got the water on and he stared at me like I had two heads. The other one spoke English and showed me...it was motion sensored by mine was broken. By his accent I could tell he was Dutch, so I told him that I was Canadian. His eyes lit up, just then Riley Forbes came into the washroom and told the kids that he was Canadian as well and why we were here in France and that we would be going onto the Netherlands. I asked him if he knew about Canada and he said "You saved our country!!!" Now Riley's eyes lit up!! The impact of what our veterans is not even forgotten on the young of the Netherlands, just like I have always told our kids. This is going to be a great experience!! Good night and off to the memorial tomorrow with a jam packed day of touring this region!!! Good night and don't forget to answer the questions from the Paris city tour.
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