April 18^th, 2024

Well, our “escapes” around Europe are coming to an end.  he northeast corner of France will be the last place we travel with Minou.

We have one last site on our list to see before selling: The Vimy Ridge Memorial.

When we were a few kilometres away, we could see this monument in the distance – wow, it’s huge.  Oh and the sky today is gorgeous with no rain in the forecast – but it won’t warm up much and the wind is cold; it’s barely reached double digits (C) these days!

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a war memorial site dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during WWI.  It also serves as the place of commemoration for Canadian soldiers of the First World War killed or presumed dead in France who have no known grave. 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.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force participated in a battle as a cohesive formation, and it became a Canadian national symbol of achievement and sacrifice. France ceded to Canada the 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, tranches, 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.

The project took eleven years to build. King Edward VIII unveiled it on 26 July 1936 in the presence of the then French president and a crowd of over 50,000 people, including 6,200 attendees from Canada. Following an extensive multi-year restoration, Queen Elizabeth II re-dedicated the monument on 9 April 2007 at a ceremony commemorating the 90th anniversary of the battle. The site is maintained by Veterans Affairs Canada. The Vimy Memorial is one of only two National Historic Sites of Canada located outside the country, the other being the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.

After parking we walked over to the monument about 900 m / 2960’ away.  We strolled around it in awe of the size and sobered by the names of the thousands named (and unnamed) soldiers who died in this war.

We just missed an anniversary ceremony:

Then we wandered over towards the Visitor’s Centre passing by the fenced off fields of unexploded munitions.

This sign was posted everywhere behind the electric fences:

Nearby the Centre you can walk in both the Canadian and German trenches – ONLY 25m / 82’ apart – and see the stairwell that enters the underground tunnels.

Canadian side:

No man’s land in between:

The German trenches:

Entrance to the underground tunnels:

This was quite emotional and again gave us a sense of how grateful we are to live in the free world and not during a time of a worldwide war.

As mentioned in our last post, we listed Minou for sale on a few sites and now have received nearly twenty inquiries.

So first it’s time to get the Controle Technique done that is required before selling.  Doug had made an appointment on the north side of the city of Reims (which we visited last year) and was where we listed the vehicle as being located as it was one of the first major city inside France from Belgium away from the border.  We took the toll highway to get here which saved over an hour and cost €34.30! – as mentioned before, France has the highest tolls in Europe.  Accordingly, we arrived early for our appointment.

They took us about hour earlier than our appointment and she passed!  There were a few minor things that he pointed out to be aware of but nothing that caused it to fail the test.  Yeah!

Across the road from the inspection place was a car wash with an uncovered bay that would fit Minou, so we gave it a thorough exterior washing.  The system sucked at taking dead bugs off the vehicle so we spent awhile cleaning those off after by hand.  We had already arranged for the first really interested couple to see Minou on Monday afternoon but since she passed the test already, we texted them to see if they could come this evening or tomorrow morning before they went away for the weekend; they were game.  We got parked in a huge parking lot next to a mall which we found on park4night, did some more cleaning and clearing out and had a bit of an early dinner so we could be done and have the dishes washed before they showed up.

Amelie, Cyril and their daughter, arrived just before 7pm and we spent about an hour with them and by the end we had a deal at our asking price.  The way the sale works here on the site we listed it on, is that they buyer “makes a reservation” to see the vehicle; then they put the purchase price in escrow.  We strike and deal and once the money appears in our “wallet” we can hand over the keys.  The glitch is that it can take 3-4 business days for it to show up in her account to send to us and that part can also take up to 3 days to show up in our account. So we wait.  But hey, it’s sold and we can begin taking next steps slowly.  They were able to show us the money was enroute to her account and we felt confident in the system.

We had already begun going through things to decide what stays with Minou and what goes so that needs to be done.   The buyers are getting lots of “extras” thrown in since we can’t take everything especially big items, like chairs, the telescoping ladder, dishes, pots/pan, small appliances etc.  Once we know we have the money in our “wallet”, we’ll get a hotel for that night, lug our stuff inside, drive Minou over to the new owners and hand over the keys and paperwork.  Cyril had already prepared the papers required and apparently it can be transferred online and the new registration document (the “grey card” as they call it in France) will be mailed to them.  We can then transfer the money in our wallet to our bank in the US.

We had an okay night in the parking lot but wanted to move on to somewhere else for the next few nights; this lot has a large number of what Amelie called “travelers” parked in it and at times they can get raided by the police for a number of things including squatting.  We took it easy Friday morning and as there was one of these outdoor laundromats here, Fran took advantage and did some laundry including all our floor mats etc.

We told the new buyers we’d be leaving them lots of items and asked if they wanted us to leave the bedding etc.  She kindly said, “leave whatever you want and if we don’t want it, we’ll donate it to charity.”   That was very nice and convenient for us.

So Friday morning after laundry and breakfast, we drove over to one of the two free RV aires Fran found that offered power for a couple of euros.  We chose the further one because it had more spots.  We got parked; there was one other RV there and connected to power for €2 – it seemed to last barely 30 minutes which was ridiculous and pricey.  Doug went out and pushed the button again, and we got another 30 minutes but after that nothing.  It was a quiet night until about 7am when the church bells began and the birds woke up!

It got quite cold overnight; down to freezing so we had to use the furnace.  We still have one full bottle of propane so that’s no problem.

We spent Saturday checking into trains/bus/planes to get us to London first for a couple of weeks (we’ll rent a car and see the parts of England we missed in 2022) and then onto Canada.  Fran did a bunch of catching up on website stuff (it’s been so hectic lately, she’s falling behind) and we did some more sorting, a lot of packing  and more cleaning.

Sunday we did some more culling and packing and then in the afternoon moved to an aire closer to the town where the buyers of Minou reside.  We had a quiet albeit cold night (dropped to freezing!) and the next morning we heard from the buyers, that the money was in the escrow account and we could meet up when we were available.  She had already given us names of hotels to spend the night in after the sale and Fran booked us one.

Enroute we did see the huge basilica in L’Epine.  It’s a tiny town so not sure why a basilica, let alone this of size magnitude:

We checked in a little early, emptied Minou of our belongings (2 large duffel bags, 1 small one and three carry on size suitcase as well as our 2 back packs), finished cleaning and we met with Cyril and Amelie in the hotel parking lot.

We walked them through how things worked etc. and then sat down to do the payment  transfer on the phone – Amelie transferred it to us and two seconds later the money was in Fran’s account on the sale site and we pushed the button to have it sent to our bank account – done!

We finished all of the paperwork, cancelled the title and she got online to register the transfer – no going to some office to get it done and it was convenient she could do it for us as it’s all in French.   The money will take up to 48 hours to appear in our account but at least it arrived in our wallet from their escrow account and we are confident we will receive it.

The mileage when we sold Minou was 136227 km vs the 80,411 km when we purchased her.  So we travelled over 56,000 km / 35,000 mi!  It was a good run.

We had received nearly forty queries in total on Minou in the end and we sold to the first ones who asked to see it.  We got the full asking price and lucky for us, she spoke English and knew how the sale website work, how the French DMV worked and it all made the process so much easier!   Merci, Amelie!  We hope that you, Cyril and your children enjoy Minou as much as we did.    This transaction could not have gone much smoother.

We then returned to our room, booked the trains to get us to London tomorrow, a rental car to pick up for a couple of weeks and then flights back “home” on May 8^th.   We also prebooked an Uber for the morning to take us to the local train station for our 8:12 am train.

Phew – tomorrow will be hectic with train travel, crossing the border and dealing with our entire luggage but we’ll get through it.

After so many cold nights in Minou, we both found the hotel room too warm to sleep!  We have the heat off but it didn’t matter and in true European style there was no top sheet on the bed, so we had only the duvet.  Neither of us slept well and after showering we were ready well before our pick up time.

Today we had many steps that all had to go well.

1. The Uber: The driver showed up a bit early which just meant we were at the train station even earlier than needed.

2. The First Train – Chalons to Paris: The train arrived a couple of minutes early which was great as we had to get all six bags (not including our backpacks) on to the train.  They are all heavy so it was one at a time up the three steps.

3. The Second Train: We arrived at Paris East station on time and had to walk over to the Paris North station to catch the Eurostar to London. We’d read the shortest route was up a long set of stairs which we were prepared to do (one bag at a time) but it turns out there’s an elevator.
   1. We had to “check/register” a bag each as you are only allowed two suitcases on board so our first stop was the ticket office to purchase a ticket for each bag. They cost €60 each (unless you book it two weeks in advance) but it was the only way to go.  After you buy the ticket you have to take it to a baggage office to drop it off and get a receipt – that was a$$ long walk with all six bags and our backpacks.  Registering the bags probably took ten minutes and then we had to walk all the way back to the ticket office as the check in was located next door.  But first we stopped to get a sandwich and a drink.
   2. We then walked passed the ticket office to check in. First your passport needs to be validated and your photo is taken.  Then you get stamped out of the EU and into the UK at the next desk.  Then it was to security to x-ray the bags.
   3. Now you walk to the London Hall and wait. We were very early but we knew we would be.  The website said arrive 90 minutes early if you’re registering bags and the email from EuroStar said 120; we were 150 or so minutes before our departure.   We made the train no problem, got the four bags we were allowed on board, sat down and enjoyed the ride.

So our final journey in France we drove 338 km / 220 miles.

For more photos of this part of our escape, click  here.

FUN FACTS ABOUT FRANCE

1. The camera phone was invented in France in 1997 by an enterprising Parisian called Philippe Kahn. The first photo he took was of his new-born daughter, Sophie, which he sent to his family and friends. 
2. Since French writer, Sully Prudhomme, won the first ever Nobel Prize for Literature in 1903, the country has taken the accolade a further fourteen times (the USA and Great Britain come in second with twelve prizes apiece).  
3. Supermarkets in France are not allowed to throw away food that is near the “best by” date. Instead, they must donate the food to a charity or food bank. France passed this law in 2016 to help reduce hunger and prevent food waste! Why doesn’t everyone do this?
4. Louis XIX was king of France for only 20 minutes after his father had abdicated. Ironically enough, Louis XIX also abdicated about 20 minutes after his father appointed him the throne. 
5. Did you know that the French Army was the one to invent camouflage? The French invented camouflage during World War I in 1915. They hired artists to paint both their vehicles and their guns so that they would blend in with the environment around them. They did this by painting lines that would distract from the shape of the object.
6. The French believe that placing a baguette (or any type of bread) upside down on a table can cause bad luck. This legend dates all the way back to the Middle Ages and has never gone away. Back in that time, the town executioner would often not have time to pick up their bread in the morning. The baker would hang a loaf upside down for the executioner to pick up later on in the day. Because of this practice over time, upside-down bread became a symbol of fear and death. People would avoid any upside-down bread to avoid misfortune. 
7. France has a land area of 547,000 square kilometres, making it the largest country in the EU Schengen Region. If you want to imagine how big France is, a good comparison is that it is slightly smaller than the state of Texas!
8. Some stories suggest that French toast doesn’t actually come from France – instead, it was invented a world away by a man called Joseph French. A humble inn keeper in New York, Joseph French forgot the apostrophe when penning his creation and “French’s toast” became simply “French toast”.
9. Another interesting fact about France: two new cookbooks are published here every day. France is known for its mouthwatering cuisine, held as a standard the world over. Some of the most famous dishes to originate in France – and that are still cooked to perfection today – range from coq au vin to chocolate soufflé to  French onion soup.
10. France might be the spiritual home of the croissant, but the pastry actually began its days in Austria. The “Kipferl” – ancestor of the croissant, was born in coffees shops in Vienna in the 13^th   Made of denser and less flaky dough, the “kipferl” later crossed the border to France and became the famous croissant.
11. Of all the countries in the world, France is the most visited! Approximately 89 million people visit France every year to take in the culture and enjoy the food.   
12. The Louvre Museum in Paris, is the largest art museum in the world. This museum is so big that if you wanted to spend 30 seconds looking at each piece of art, it would take you approximately ONE HUNDRED days to get through the entire museum.