Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Alright...so I've been doing a little bit of thinking since my last post (just a little bit, you know, keeps the brain from getting rusty), and I think I should append a couple of thoughts to my little rant from a few days ago. Not that I don't still find Mr. F____still annoying and creepy ('cause I do, especially now that I've been subjected to him a second time), but I do need to say something in general the general defence of the French, especially around here.

It's frustrating because of all the visitors, the French seem to show the least interest and respect: there's the joggers who get changed in the parking lot, the hunters who jump the fences and leave shotgun shells behind, the couples who meet just by the woods and scatter porno everywhere, to name the worst offenders. And I'm all, "How can they do that here, at a memorial site?" But really - all of France, and especially this part where the Western Front ran, is like one giant memorial.

Going to work, we pass up to a dozen military cemetaries in a 20-minute drive. In addition to these, there are dozens of monuments representing almost every allied country. And then, there are further reminders throughout the year, as "souvenirs" of the war surface in the surrounding fields - some dangerous, like unexploded artillery shells, others horrifying, like human bones.

Anyway - I guess reading my 31-section binder of WW1 facts has just gone to my head, but it makes me a lot more sympathetic to conduct of the French in regards to the site. Also, these are by far the minority - really, it's kind of amazing the sort of regard that many (especially the older generations) have for the Canadians who left their homeland to defend France.

Mr. F_____ however, seems to have the highest guard for the young women who leave their country to interpret these sites for visitors.

Anyway, I should probably get back to work. I'm actually at Beaumont-Hamel right now. We've had a grand total of (drumroll please!): zero visitors. I actually fell asleep at the desk while reading about the advance of the 88th brigade of the 29th division as part of the battle of the Somme, which Haig agreed to since Joffre was being bled dry by the Germans at Verdun and whozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

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