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« on: 06-05-2009, 02:05:28 »
I just got back from France yesterday, some great historical sites! In Paris, Les Invalides had a fairly good museum on the Great War and the Second World War. And when I went to visit mu uncle up near Arras, I saw all the sites from the First World War. If you have the time, stop in Peronne to see their museum of the Great War, and the underground museum in Albert is remarkable too. It stretches about a mile under the city, and has many artefacts, even authentic headgear from the wars and the Cold War for sale! Even more amazingly, it's right under the famous basilica of Albert itself, the site of the "Leaning Virgin." Memorials dot the landscape of French Flanders. Particularly moving to me was the care and devotion still given to the graves of the dead, both Commonwealth and German. The cemeteries are tranquil and well-kept. Memorials of those who have no known grave also frequent the area, I went to see the name of my great-grand uncle, a VC winner killed at the Battle of Cambrai. I had been told much about him, but we went to the town he was killed at, and it was quite an experience.
Also, the Newfoundlanders memorial has preserved the battlefield of the Somme. You can still see the original, non=tampered with trenches that men went over the top with on July 1st, as well as the thousands of craters. The original barbed wire stakes have been left in, as well as somw war-weary trees in No-man's Land!