Visiting Vimy Ridge Made Me a Better Canadian
One of the highlights of my 2014 trip to France was visiting the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. For many of us, Vimy is simply something we learn about in middle school; something we recall again during Remembrance Day ceremonies or see played out in Hollywood mini series. But you don’t have to look too far down the lineage of a Canadian family to find a relative who served in World War I. We visited on an inconspicuous Sunday in May, and we were hardly the only Canadian visitors. Our Canadian National Vimy Memorial Experience We departed Paris in the morning, arriving in Arras around 11:00 a.m. We arrived at the visitor centre by cab not more than 25 minutes later. Before the taxi left us we collected a business card from our driver which came in handy later, when we had a bilingual staffer call a cab to collect us. At the visitor centre we first signed up for the free 1 p.m. tour, then watched a short documentary and picked our way through the interpretive exhibit. Following that, we walked …