Vimy Ridge Memorial In Arras, France

Title

Vimy Ridge Memorial In Arras, France

Artist

John Twynam

Medium

Photograph

Description

A long path leads up to the Vimy Ridge Memorial at sunrise, commemorating the Canadian soldiers who fought and died during World War 1.

During a September 2019 trip to Paris, I had a day set aside to visit this memorial, since it was only a short train ride away. I booked the train tickets well in advance, and the plan was to have breakfast and then take the Paris Metro to Gare du Norde to catch the train to Arras. I had used the metro numerous times during the few days before this, so I figured it wouldn't be a problem... but just my luck, this was the one day out of the week that the employees of the metro had planned a strike. They were operating during morning and evening rush hour, but shutting down in between that. The morning shut down started at 9:30, and we got to the metro at 9:32, so it was closed. What to do? There were no taxis to be found, so I tried an Uber, and it said it would take 17 minutes to pick me up. Usually in the heart of a huge city, it would be closer to maybe two minutes, so I took that as a sign that there was a lot of traffic and consulted Google for walking directions. I had just over an hour before the train left, and Google said it would take just over an hour to walk to the station, so I walked as fast as I could and didn't stop to admire anything I saw along the way. I made it with only a couple of minutes to spare.

The monument is the centrepiece of a 100-hectare (250-acre) preserved battlefield park that encompasses a portion of the ground over which the Canadian Corps made their assault during the initial Battle of Vimy Ridge offensive of the Battle of Arras. France ceded to Canada perpetual use of a portion of land on Vimy Ridge on the understanding that Canada use the land to establish a battlefield park and memorial. Wartime tunnels, trenches, craters, and unexploded munitions still honeycomb the grounds of the site, which remains largely closed off for reasons of public safety. Along with preserved trench lines, several other memorials and cemeteries are contained within the park.

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May 12th, 2021

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