News & Events

March Break European Battlefields Trip Inspires Participants

Story by Claire Racette, photos by Sahar Salari

Months of planning and anticipation could not have prepared me for my first time overseas on the March Break trip to France and Germany. As soon as we met our enthusiastic tour guide Daphne and hopped onto the Metro, I knew I was starting the adventure of my life. Paris was simply amazing. We saw a ‘Moulin Rouge’ style show, marveled at the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, cruised on the Seine river, toured the catacombs under Paris, and viewed the famous Mona Lisa. We then took an overnight train to Berlin, where we went to Checkpoint Charlie, toured Sachsenhausen (a concentration camp), saw the infamous Berlin Wall, and met up with our friend Linnea Pauls, an Elmwood Alumni, now living in Sweden!

One of my highlights was when we visited Versailles, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed. We enjoyed the French culture at a local farmers market, with mountains of baguettes, fresh strawberries, delicious cheese and of course, croissants. We also toured the breathtaking Palace of Versailles, where many Kings and Queens lived, including Marie Antoinette!

An important component of this trip was to celebrate and commemorate Canada’s participation in the First and Second World Wars. A highlight was Vimy Ridge, where during World War I the Canadians captured the ridge, something no other army could do at the time. At the impressive Vimy Ridge Canadian Monument, we took part in a ceremony where we laid wreaths, read poems in both English and French, and sang ‘O Canada’ to honour all the Canadian soldiers who gave their lives. Looking at the many kilometres of trenches dug, tunnels created, and craters formed by shells was terrifying to think about, but it also made me feel proud as a Canadian to know that it was our soldiers who bravely faced the ridge and came out victorious. 

The next day we made a trip to Ypres, Belgium where we toured the Flanders Fields Museum, Passchendaele, and Hill 62. The trenches at Hill 62 have barely been touched since the WWI, which made it very real. They were covered in mud and barbed wire, and were extremely narrow with metal scraps all around them. We went into one of the underground trenches where we all screamed because we couldn’t see where we were going. Afterwards we compared our experience down there for just two minutes to how the young soldiers felt as they stood in darkness for hours waiting for battle. Hill 62 made me really understand the brutal reality of World War I trench warfare.

Every night since 1928 a ceremony is held under the Menin Gate in Ypres to honour the fallen soldiers with the playing of the Last Post, the laying of wreaths, and a moment of silence. Sahar and I were honoured to participate in this ceremony by writing respectful thoughts on a wooden cross and a postcard, which we laid down at the ceremony. I will always remember what the soldiers did for our country, and the world.

In the lavish Normandy region of France, we went to Dieppe and saw 2 of the 5 beaches involved in the D-Day Landings during the Second World War. The rock and sand beaches were beautiful, and on the horizon floated remainders of the amphibious port from D-Day inspired by Winston Churchill. I loved when we went to Juno Beach, where the Canadians landed to face the Germans on D-Day. I got chills looking at the beach because I could only imagine how scary it would be to land there as an 18 year old, relatively unprotected and facing the German guns from the beach observation towers. 

The Europe trip this March Break was absolutely incredible. Not only did I get closer to other students and teachers, fly over the ocean for the first time, learn about other cultures and improve my understanding of war; I also gained a strong sense of nationalistic pride. Seeing where Canadians fought and how hard it would have been made me appreciate and understand the soldiers’ bravery, courage, and perseverance. Every Remembrance Day from now on will have a new and special meaning to me, and I wish that everyone had the same opportunity that we had to experience this, because it was truly something special that I will never forget.