Verdun, France.

Since today is Veteran's Day, I figured I would write about my time in Verdun, France.  Verdun is a small town in France, really not strategically important by any means, but in World War I, the Germans considered this an important target because it had never been overtaken.

I remember driving in the minivan, listening to the tape my uncle had us listen to about Verdun's history.  I was trying so hard to stay awake and I was mad at myself because I had forgotten my sunglasses.  After 90 minutes of driving, we had arrived and I quickly forgot about my sunglasses.  (Partly because it was cloudy and cold, but still.)

I am so grateful that I had the chance to go to this battleground that was fought over for almost a year and where over 700,000 soldiers died.

In America, history is so young, we almost compulsively save it.  Something slightly important happened here?  Or something might have happened?  Memorial.

However, in France, it is completely different.  To preserve everything would require preserving the whole country.  The wars fought there were extremely close to home and personal.  When you look at the country surrounding this little village, you know there wasn't a piece of land untouched.

We walked around abandoned villages and forts that were slowly turning into caves.  We walked in a World War I trench that was slowly being filled by Nature.  Everywhere you looked were massive trees, brushes, and dips and dells.  We soon realized that those trees, or any tree, didn't exist during the war.  Vegetation was demolished during the war.  The innocent dells were not natural, but instead remnants of craters.  I have never been anywhere quite like the Verdun battle fields.  I doubt I ever will.

And we visited the Ossuary, the equivalent of our Arlington.  We walked into the cream building and saw a chapel filled with candles and statues.  However, it was the hallways that got to me.  We weren't allowed to take pictures, out of respect, but these pictures are impossible to forget.  They were massive, blown up pictures of the veterans.  The soldiers held pictures of themselves in uniform, from the war, and mimicked the pose.  A modern day veteran holding a picture of their past life.  In stark black and white.  In some, wives and children were visible.  Others had them holding their favorite toy.  Some soldiers had bright eyes and wide smiles.  Some had a look of despair and sadness.  They thing that touched my heart was the obvious way life had treated them.  You could see how their life had gotten better and you could plainly see the loss etched in their faces.

Today is Veteran's Day.  I won't pretend I know what it's like to go to war, or to sacrifice everything for my country, I've never been asked to.  I won't act like this is something people know how to sympathize with.  I won't pretend like this task to defend freedom was easy.

But, I hope, that throughout the course of my life, that I will be able to face a picture of a past me and see how good life was to me. I hope that I will be able to take the lesson these brave soldiers taught me.  That life is a beautiful, precious thing.  That life should be held in reverence and I should have respect those that have faced the possibility of losing that gift.

Paris holds the Key.

Oh Paris.  I fell head over heels in love with Paris...of course, after I came to terms that we weren't going to be mugged while wondering around with our suitcases lost for about an hour.  Other than that.  True love.

Honestly, Paris is such an experience.  Everything is just..different.  A little better.  A little more amplified.  A little brighter.  People are more classy.  The language is more gentle.  The food is not as sweet.  The culture is enveloping.  I sincerely loved every minute of Paris (except for the above-mentioned lost part.)

We rode the Metro everywhere, and it was so hilarious seeing all of the Metro stops and their names.  It would go something like this:

"Ok, so we need to go to the Eiffel Tower.  We need to get off at E-coli Military (or Ecole Militaire for those of you that speak French)."

And then the little Metro voice announcing the stops would say:

"Eco Milay"

That is not an exaggeration.  You would tilt your head, look at the map, and hurry off hoping that you were getting off at the right stop.  Half of the word would just be dropped, I guess that's how they pronounce things?  Don't look at me, I can barely speak ten words of Spanish.

This is my reaction when I first saw the Eiffel Tower:

I could not stop smiling.  It was amazing. One of those surreal moments.

I feel like the pictures say it all...

Surreal is how I would explain my time there.  And a little magical.  It's a completely bizarre to be there and see all of these sites that you never actually thought you would and go see, and then all of a sudden you're there.  With all of the other tourists, classy French people, and the little kids on their third grade field trip (most of whom were better dressed then I was).   

Paris was my fave.

xo. Elise

A thing with wings.

I had always heard about the long flight to Europe...I mean, traveling across an ocean isn't exactly easy, but I always thought it would be a tad longer.  The actually leg across the ocean (to Dublin, Ireland) was only 6 and half hours.  That's manageable, right? But factor in my one-hour flight to Phoenix, 3 hour flight to Chicago, 6.5 to Dublin, 1 to London, and finally 1.5 to Strasbourg, France, it was a long 36 hours.  You also lose time flying to Europe.  We left on the morning of the 17th and landed in France the afternoon of the 18th.  Not going to lie, I started panicking when I thought of the day lost somewhere crossing the ocean.  It meant one day less in Europe.

On the two short flights we flew the airline Ryanair.  This was one of the most painful experiences I've ever had while traveling.  First off, I was mad about having to check my bag because it didn't fit in their strict regulations.  Second, the inside of their planes were a bright, pukey (yes, that is with a 'y') looking neon yellow.  I wish I was coherent enough to snap a picture...but you know.  The seats didn't move back and there were no tray tables.  I was so exhausted I feel asleep in the frigid ice block of the plane.  However, I was cheerfully awakened by the landing announcement.

(Insert the most annoying, loud, obnoxious trumpet noise you can conjure up).  Welcome to (insert whatever airport/city you just landed in)!  This is yet another on-time flight by Ryanair.  Last year 90% of our flights were on time, the best record for any airline.

Obviously they take their statistics seriously.

But the discomfort was all forgotten when we landed in France.  My cousin kept exclaiming, this is Europe air!  These are Europe water splotches!  This is a Europe road!  It's mind-blowing how much France actually looks like the animated set of Beauty and the Beast.  Seriously, take a second to picture how you think France would look like.....boom.  That is exactly what it does look like.

In Strasbourg there is a gorgeous cathedral.  You walk past a building and babam!  There it is.

This cathedral was my cousin's favorite...my favorite one was in Metz, France, but really, how can you choose?

xo. Elise