Monthly Archives: April 2017

The challenge of history is to recover the past and introduce it to the present-David Thelen

Do you ever wonder how these quotes become famous quotes? Do people set out to generate them, or are there people sitting around waiting for them to be said? Is there a committee that decides what is or isn’t a good quote? Who votes on them…is there a quotes academy? Okay, okay, I’m obviously being very facetious. The whole point of the quote from Thelen, who is an American History professor (I had to Google it), is that teaching history is not easy. One of the best ways to do it, is to have people experience it firsthand.

Well, it’s hard to believe that it has already been a week and a half since we returned from the trip. But I guess time moves just as fast when you’re not on a trip…

Day 11 ladies and gentlemen. Time to go home. It’s amazing how fast times flies when you’re on a trip. I guess that’s why they pack so many things on to the agenda; if you did a tour like this at a leisurely pace, you’d never see anything. The only problem is now I need a vacation from the vacation. I’m obviously tired, there isn’t anyone who isn’t, but I’m sure I’d be better if my throat wasn’t so sore. Damn cold!

Alright, we’re in the air on our way back to Canada. I feel a bit better now that all of the kids and chaperones on are the plane. We had this morning, for lack of a better term, a gong show departure. Somehow we ended up with a bus for 49 people, but there 50 of us including Jason. On top of that, the luggage compartment wouldn’t hold…

Day 10 kids and guess what? You probably guessed wrong, so I’ll tell you…I’m sick. Ugh, I knew this would happen. You get rundown physically, your immune system can’t keep up and bam! My throat is a bit sore and I can feel it in my lungs. It’s okay, I’ll tough it out (really, what else am I going to do). It’s the Dadistel way right?

Today is our last full day on tour…it’s very fitting that it’s Good Friday, the most solemn day in the Christian calendar. I think there are a lot of mixed emotions; it’s sad to be on the last day of the tour, but I think for a lot of us maybe it’s time to start thinking about home. I know that I miss my wife and my kids and it would be nice to see them again. Our agenda this morning starts with a…

Day 9 Mes Amies. The engine turned over this morning but she’s running a little rough. I slept well, though I woke up at 0500 and couldn’t fall back asleep. I could certainly use more time in bed, but c’est la vie. Today is going to be a very busy day and I am going to need every ounce of energy I can scrape up. Hopefully breakfast is good; based on this hotel, I have my fingers crossed.

So today’s adventure is going to take us first to Versailles, which is southwest of Paris. A bus will take us into the city, and from there we will take the train, the RER, to Versailles. I’ve never been there before, so I am quite excited to see it. I have taught about it a lot both in Grade 10 history (Treaty or Versailles) and in Grade 12 history (Louis XIV). That…

Day 8 Les Enfants. Even though I am still tired and could have stayed in bed a whole lot longer, I am not a complete zombie and have some vague human semblance. Since we roll out at later time today, maybe that extra hour of sleep helped. Who knows. In any case, I feel better. Maybe it’s because with a better wifi connection, I was able to FaceTime my family last night. As much fun as we’re having gallivanting around Northern Europe, I do miss them.

Okay, we’re on the bus now, making our way to Juno Beach. The whole group was enchanted with the town of Honfleur. What a gorgeous place! It’s almost so picturesque and idyllic that it you can mistake it for fake; Ms. Caza thinks it’s a place you could fall in love in. We walked along the harbourfront to St. Catherine’s Church, which had such…

Day 7 boys and girls. Yes, I’m a little more awake today, but barely. I still feel like I’ve been run over by a dump truck, but at least I got some sleep. The key is to be so comatose that you blackout the moment your head hits the pillow; I’m not sure if that is good or bad. We’ll see how tonight goes for a full scientific assessment.

Okay, we’re on the bus, heading toward Normandy. It’s another beautiful morning and it should be a relatively nice in the Calvados region. This is the point where, for the most part, we switch emphasis on the tour. So far we have been visiting sites associated with World War I, but today and tomorrow we will be focussing on World War II. We also see more of the French countryside, and Normandy is a particularly scenic place.

So after two hours…

Day 6 everyone. Yep, no smart@ss remarks this morning. Tired. Very tired. Too tired to think of clever adjectives or metaphors to describe the tired. I feel, and probably look, like an extra from the walking dead. Why you ask? I think I was still feeling the effects from yesterday’s ordeal in the sun, which has left me with nice burns around my neck (from the camera strap) and right behind my knees (the direct result of going in shorts yesterday). My roommate, who shall remain nameless, can also rouse said undead from miles away with their snoring. Oops, sorry, almost fell asleep trying to write the next sentence.

Alright, so we’re now on the bus toward Albert and rendezvous with the Basilica for mass. It’s about an hour away, so it gives me some time to reflect on our day yesterday. After sleeping on it, I still feel that…

Ugh. Day 5 children. I feel like a bag of poop; I know, wonderful analogy first thing in the morning Dave. It is what it is though. I fell asleep quick and slept well, but all those nights without sleep have caught up to me. Maybe it’s fitting that today is the April 9th, the day we go to Vimy and commemorate the 100th anniversary of one of the most important military (and otherwise) events in our country’s short history. I’m sure all of the those men were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as they crouched in those trenches. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.

I was up at 0500, but I didn’t go to bed until almost 0030. The wifi at this hotel is not very good, and I had to spend a lot of time fiddling around with their blog, trying to upload pictures and getting them inserted into…

Oy vey. It’s a sleepy morning today kids. I did not have a very good sleep last night. I’m not sure how much sleep I actually got, but it wasn’t much. I really feel like I’m running on fumes. In any case, I’m a big boy, so I’ll have to suck it up and get in my rear in gear. Today we’re leaving our hotel and heading first to Anne Frank House for a short visit. I’ll check in again once we’re back on the bus.

Amsterdam selfies, April 2017.

Amsterdam canal, April 2017.

Okay, so we’re back on the bus. A visit to the Anne Frank House is something one does not easily forget. It certainly puts a real human face on the price of conflict and in particular hatred. All of the kids are familiar with the story of Anne Frank and they were all very quiet as…

Good morning! It’s Day 3 kids. I’m sitting in the lobby waiting for 0845, which will be our departure time to head into Amsterdam. I had a fairly decent sleep last night, having gone to bed shortly after checking on the kids at 2200. The breakfast buffet was great and now I’m ready to roll on our adventures for today. Hopefully all of the kids will be ready on time.

So we’re here near the centre of Amsterdam waiting for our tour guide to show up. We were a bit late getting here, which was due to a road closure that affected the bus arriving at our hotel. Our guide this morning is Larae, who will be showing us some of the notable points of this beautiful city.

Alright, so we’re back on the bus after a busy day. Larae was a great guide, taking us around parts of the…