Calais has a casino, a lot of bars, and.......
In World War II the Germans bulked up their forces in and around Calais, France in anticipation of the allied invasion of Europe. As we all know the invasion took place much further down the French coast at Normandy. Calais was eventually isolated and taken by the Canadiens after the invasion, which had completely surprised the Germans with its location.
I have watched countless Hollywood versions of the invasion of Europe, known as D-Day and I noticed how the Germans and American always talked about Calais. From The Longest Day to D-Day the 6th of June, to Band of Brothers, Calais is consistently mentioned numerous times by both sides.
Now that I have visited Calais I can a rhetorical central question of the characters who talk about Calais. That question is, why would anyone want to go to Calais? While it is the closest place to England on the European continent, it has little else to attract anyone. There is a casino, restaurants, and countless bars.
When I was growing up in Philadelphia my parents used to make reference to the bars at the end of each block and the one in the middle of the block. In addition there would be a church between the bars. The bars and the churches both wanted your money, and neither cared much how they got it.
In Calais there are bars on the corners. There are taverns in the middle of each block and also in between the middle and the end of the block. There is also a casino and a port with a ferry that travels between Calais and England, which is just across the English Channel.
Calais has its small residential area but in my mind it will only be noted for its taverns. It has a couple of churches, but there are those pesky taverns again. I saw a small park near the town’s center but the hotel clerk warned me to be careful at night and to use the hotel bell to gain entrance because it was not safe at night. There are she said somewhat embarrassed, “A lot of bars here”.
Now that I have seen Calais, I can move on to Lille and never have to wonder what is in Calais again. Click on the photograph to see more of Calais.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
London, March 2009
My London visit has come to a conclusion. I made two mistakes with this visit. First, I did not schedule enough time to see more of the city. London is a huge city with 1000+ years of history and I did not even see half of it. Second I did not allow for time spent at the places I did visit.
I spent a couple of hours at the National Gallery and a couple of hours at the Tower of London. I walked to both places so I could see more of the city and I did not allow for the time needed to move my 62 year old bones across the city. The next time I visit London I will know better.
London proved to be a friendly city. Buckingham Palace, pictured on the left, is constantly packed with tourists. Many of them were teenagers, which prompted me to wonder why they were not in school.
When you think of the history of this place and the people who lived here, names such as King George III and his African ancestored wife Charlotte, Henry VIII, who had Ann Boelyn beheaded, Queen Elizabeth, all of them, and Queen Victoria, you realize that much of the history of the western world was dictated by people who lived in Buckingham Palace.
Trafalgar Square was undergoing maintenance and construction but was still a lovely visit. I walked the Buckingham Palace mall to get to Trafalgar and it was a lovely walk indeed. With verdant St. James Park on one side, the wide boulevard was lined with the flags of Great Britain and Mexico, whose President was visiting the Queen the day I was there.
Britain has a lot of statues and memorials to its famous generals. These men made possible the saying that "the sun never sets on the British empire". There were statues to men who had succeeded in India, China, Burma, South Africa, and France in the Napoleonic wars. There were no statues erected for Generals Clinton, Howe, and Cornwallis, who presided militarily over the loss of the American colonies. This is only further proof there are no honors or awards for second place, especially in war.
The Tower of London, a United Nations world heritage site, is a forbidding place and I can only imagine the horror for people who were sent there centuries ago. The crown jewels are stored here and it is still used as a fortress, as it has been for since it was built. The Romans first used this site and the British have improved upon the work of the Romans. Once used as a prison and execution site for enemies of the crown, it is now a monumental tourist trap.
I walked across the Tower of London bridge and crossed the Thames river, one of the world's great rivers. I also walked back to the hotel, or at least as close to the hotel as I could get before my feet, legs, and back gave out and I was forced to hail a cab.
The only bad spot in London was when I went to a restaurant named Olivo for dinner. The owner met me at the maitre'd's stand and informed me that he was full. I could plainly see that 3/4ths of the restaurant was empty and when he noticed me looking at the empty chairs, he told me he could seat who he wanted to seat. I told him I could plainly see how full he was, what with most of his customer disguised as empty chairs. I don't know if he had a racial problem or an appearance problem. I was dressed in a black baseball cap, black jacket, and blue jeans. Of course he could have just said my attire was improper but he did not.
All in all London is a great place. A diverse city with many different ethnic groups living and working together, it was also a clean city with a friendly populace. I had numerous conversations with people I did not know about America, Bush, Obama, and futbol. I cannot wait to visit the city again.
Click on the photograph to see a complete set of pictures from London. Now it is off to Calais, Lille, and Paris on the channel train.
I spent a couple of hours at the National Gallery and a couple of hours at the Tower of London. I walked to both places so I could see more of the city and I did not allow for the time needed to move my 62 year old bones across the city. The next time I visit London I will know better.
London proved to be a friendly city. Buckingham Palace, pictured on the left, is constantly packed with tourists. Many of them were teenagers, which prompted me to wonder why they were not in school.
When you think of the history of this place and the people who lived here, names such as King George III and his African ancestored wife Charlotte, Henry VIII, who had Ann Boelyn beheaded, Queen Elizabeth, all of them, and Queen Victoria, you realize that much of the history of the western world was dictated by people who lived in Buckingham Palace.
Trafalgar Square was undergoing maintenance and construction but was still a lovely visit. I walked the Buckingham Palace mall to get to Trafalgar and it was a lovely walk indeed. With verdant St. James Park on one side, the wide boulevard was lined with the flags of Great Britain and Mexico, whose President was visiting the Queen the day I was there.
Britain has a lot of statues and memorials to its famous generals. These men made possible the saying that "the sun never sets on the British empire". There were statues to men who had succeeded in India, China, Burma, South Africa, and France in the Napoleonic wars. There were no statues erected for Generals Clinton, Howe, and Cornwallis, who presided militarily over the loss of the American colonies. This is only further proof there are no honors or awards for second place, especially in war.
The Tower of London, a United Nations world heritage site, is a forbidding place and I can only imagine the horror for people who were sent there centuries ago. The crown jewels are stored here and it is still used as a fortress, as it has been for since it was built. The Romans first used this site and the British have improved upon the work of the Romans. Once used as a prison and execution site for enemies of the crown, it is now a monumental tourist trap.
I walked across the Tower of London bridge and crossed the Thames river, one of the world's great rivers. I also walked back to the hotel, or at least as close to the hotel as I could get before my feet, legs, and back gave out and I was forced to hail a cab.
The only bad spot in London was when I went to a restaurant named Olivo for dinner. The owner met me at the maitre'd's stand and informed me that he was full. I could plainly see that 3/4ths of the restaurant was empty and when he noticed me looking at the empty chairs, he told me he could seat who he wanted to seat. I told him I could plainly see how full he was, what with most of his customer disguised as empty chairs. I don't know if he had a racial problem or an appearance problem. I was dressed in a black baseball cap, black jacket, and blue jeans. Of course he could have just said my attire was improper but he did not.
All in all London is a great place. A diverse city with many different ethnic groups living and working together, it was also a clean city with a friendly populace. I had numerous conversations with people I did not know about America, Bush, Obama, and futbol. I cannot wait to visit the city again.
Click on the photograph to see a complete set of pictures from London. Now it is off to Calais, Lille, and Paris on the channel train.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
