Riots and Trenches
March and April saw our first two guests in Europe! It was a huge bonus to be able to hang out with people from home, and both Michael, whom we met in Paris, and Rosy, who came to Switzerland, brought us some goodies we can't buy here to boot!
In March our good pal Michael Wong had to be in Paris for a scientific conference (yeah, he's a big deal), so we worked up a plan to meet up with him! It was too bad his wife Tiffany and their little one (both of them are also a big deal) couldn't also come, but as the saying goes, one Wong is better than none Wong. We took the speed train to Paris, where we stayed with Michael (he graciously offered us the second bed in his room) one night, and then rented a car and headed to the French city of Reims.
The 3 day rendezvous started off with a bang when we got caught up in some major rioting in the Paris streets. The Yellow Vest Movement, a reaction to high taxes, fuel prices and other complex issues, had died down in the weeks leading up, but was particularly violent when we were there.
Before that, I should mention that Jenny and I had the opportunity to tour around the Bois de Boulogne, one of the largest parks in Paris. At the south end of this park is the grounds for the famous tennis tournament, Roland-Garros (where the great champion Rafael Nadal is the King of Clay). Aspects of the park were really neat - this park is much larger than even Central Park in New York, and the ponds and forests were quite nice. Yet there was one very sad and common sight. Throughout the more secluded paths in the park, scantily clad women come at any hour of the day with their chairs, and sit and wait for business. In addition, on one edge of the park Jenny and I observed a series of vans, which are used for prostitution. The openness of these activities in the middle of the afternoon was a little shocking, all the more so due to where we had come from that morning - Switzerland - where this kind of activity would be unthinkable.
Ok - back to the riots! These riots turned out to be so extensive that our car rental agency closed down for the day. This was highly inconvenient! We went from being amused, to quite annoyed, upon realizing our bad fortune. As a result, we were delayed in getting out of Paris and onto the road.
We settled on visiting a reconstructed trench system about an hour away by car. For me (Matt), this was the highlight of all the things we saw together. Here are a few pics along with descriptions:
On the way to the trenches we passed several WW1 cemeteries, a sobering reminder of all those that lost their life for the freedom we have today.
In March our good pal Michael Wong had to be in Paris for a scientific conference (yeah, he's a big deal), so we worked up a plan to meet up with him! It was too bad his wife Tiffany and their little one (both of them are also a big deal) couldn't also come, but as the saying goes, one Wong is better than none Wong. We took the speed train to Paris, where we stayed with Michael (he graciously offered us the second bed in his room) one night, and then rented a car and headed to the French city of Reims.
Meeting our good friend Michael in Paris!
The 3 day rendezvous started off with a bang when we got caught up in some major rioting in the Paris streets. The Yellow Vest Movement, a reaction to high taxes, fuel prices and other complex issues, had died down in the weeks leading up, but was particularly violent when we were there.
Before that, I should mention that Jenny and I had the opportunity to tour around the Bois de Boulogne, one of the largest parks in Paris. At the south end of this park is the grounds for the famous tennis tournament, Roland-Garros (where the great champion Rafael Nadal is the King of Clay). Aspects of the park were really neat - this park is much larger than even Central Park in New York, and the ponds and forests were quite nice. Yet there was one very sad and common sight. Throughout the more secluded paths in the park, scantily clad women come at any hour of the day with their chairs, and sit and wait for business. In addition, on one edge of the park Jenny and I observed a series of vans, which are used for prostitution. The openness of these activities in the middle of the afternoon was a little shocking, all the more so due to where we had come from that morning - Switzerland - where this kind of activity would be unthinkable.
Ok - back to the riots! These riots turned out to be so extensive that our car rental agency closed down for the day. This was highly inconvenient! We went from being amused, to quite annoyed, upon realizing our bad fortune. As a result, we were delayed in getting out of Paris and onto the road.
A yellow vest protester admires his handiwork.
Chatting with the French National Gendarmie (po-po).
After finally getting on the road, we made a stop at a new cathedral and grabbed a baguette (as you do in France) in a random town before arriving in Reims, doing some grocery shopping, and staying in that night to plan the next day.
Don't ask us the name of this cathedral!
These WW1 trenches were rebuilt, or rather "uncovered" by locals, with a high degree of accuracy. They used photos, research, and personal accounts to reconstruct things. There were many lines of trenches, and communication trenches connecting those, and it took some time to walk through them all. Fittingly, it had rained and the bottom of the trenches were full of mud. I was a little nervous one of us would get trench foot, but it turns out you need to spend more than a couple hours in the trench for that to happen!
On the day we were there, they were actually shooting a movie, so we had the experience of seeing the trenches full of their original inhabitants! In the background of the above photo, no man's land is visible, and beyond that the location of the former German line.
The photo above is of a crater. After the trench stalemate was obvious, both sides tried to break the deadlock through extreme tactics. One such tactic was to tunnel towards, and in many cases underneath, the opposition's trench system. Explosives would then be detonated remotely, destroying that part of the trenchline, followed by the attack above ground to take the enemy trench. Standing in front of the crater above was eye-opening. To displace this much dirt, which is quite heavy, required an immense amount of explosive power, and would have killed many people (and made many others deaf).
Following this sub-trip, we went back to Reims and checked out the city itself. Probably the most notable feature of the city is its cathedral, pictured below.
The cathedral in Reims, the Notre-Dame de Reims was built between 1211 and 1345.
We did do some other things on the trip, but you can probably tell that my main passion was the trenches! So it is a little tough to write about other aspects after covering that. Overall, the tip was a great time to hang out with Michael (thanks so much for the visit!), and see some things North of Paris.
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