Historical Armistice Day - 11 November in Paris

This post will be about the end of our latest trip to Europe. Since we were flying back home on 12 November, our last two days were spent in Paris. We did not remember that Wednesday 11 November was Armistice Day and a national holiday in France. The night before as we were returning to our hotel we wondered why all the parked cars had been removed from the streets but soon realized it was to make room for cars of the officials attending the ceremony. Next morning from our window we saw a row of cars parked below and could hear music coming from the Arc de Triomphe area.



We walked up the 2 blocks to the Place Charles de Gaulle where the Arc de Triomphe stands at the top of the Avenue des Champs Elysées in central Paris. It was erected in 1835 to honor the army of Napoleon. It was a cool, grey morning but quite a large crowd was already assembled. A huge screen near the Arc had been erected and I was able to take photographs of the screen for close ups of the ceremony.

Click on pictures to enlarge them

The Great War, also called World War I and The War to End All Wars ended with the armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, i.e. November 11 at 11:00 AM. Armistice Day (a French word from New Latin armistitium, from Latin arma + -stitium meaning suspension of hostilities by agreement between the opponents) also known as Remembrance Day has been observed on 11 November in many countries since. Here, in the United States, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day on 11 November 1919. It was observed here until President Dwight Eisenhower signed a law changing its name to Veterans Day to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans. The reason this Armistice Day was an historical event in France was because Angela Merkel was the first German Chancellor to attend this commemoration in France which marks the moment the guns went down on the Western Front. While the national anthems of the two former enemies were being sung by the choir of the French Army Chancellor Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe . They rekindled its flame and signed the commemoration book.

Pictures are not clear because taken at a distance from the large screen

Then the two leaders went to a small lectern where each gave a short speech. French President Sarkozy said: “…en ce 11 novembre nous ne commémorons pas la victoire d’un peuple contre un autre mais une épreuve qui fut aussi terrible pour l’un comme pour l’autre. Je veux dire que les orphelins allemands ont pleuré leurs pères morts au combat de la même manière que les orphelins français.” (…this 11 November, we aren’t commemorating the victory of one people over another, but an ordeal as terrible for the one as for the other. I mean that German orphans cried over the deaths of their fathers in combat just as French orphans did.)

he also said “…Cela fait presque un demi-siècle qu’ensemble nous construisons l’avenir, chacun d’entre nous aimant son pays d’un amour sincère et profond mais refusant désormais de confondre l’amour de son pays avec la haine de l’autre.” (For nearly half a century we have together been building the future, each of us sincerely and deeply loving our country, but now refusing to confuse love of our country with hatred of the other’s.)

Chancellor Merkel said: "Both dates, the end of the First World War, and the day of the fall of the Berlin Wall, remind us that we must always fight for the invaluable goods of peace and freedom, that we need to defend our values, of democracy and human rights, and that we keep working for European solidarity and partnership with America. That is our task."

she also said: “The Germans and the French, once bitter enemies, now stand united as neighbors in a way that nourishes hope and confidence that elsewhere in the world, too, deep trenches can be bridged and overcome” “I know that what has gone before cannot be erased, but there is a power, a power which helps us and which can help us bear what has passed: reconciliation.”

Then while the choir sang Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony the two leaders came close to the barriers to shake hands with the crowd. They came near us but in trying to move closer we forgot to take pictures! Then they joined their spouses and drove back down the Avenue des Champs Elysées.



I arrived home in Georgia with a bad cold which turned into an infection. My stay in bed allowed me to go through several library books on the Great War, such as The Great War Illustrated by Winter and Bagget, The First World War by Jack Keegan, The First World War a Complete History by Martin Gilbert and I also purchased the newer paperback A World Undone by G.J.Meyer which I am still reading (752 pages.) I’ll mention some facts that I gathered there for the benefit of my younger blogging friends who may not have studied this war too closely. I’ll also scan several vintage postcards from the 3 dozen postcards on this subject in my card collection.



On 28 July 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Then from 1914 until 1917 major powers entered the war. France entered the war and subsequently was joined by 600,000 troops from Algeria, Morocco, Senegal and Vietnam (then called Indochina.)

Below is a postcard of the French infantry corps called French Zouave from French North Africa


Britain fought alongside its troops from the British Commonwealth such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Newfoundland and its Colonial Empire such as troops from India and other colonies. China, Japan, Russia were fighting with the Allies against Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. More countries joined the conflict – about 32.

Postcard below shows Britain Sir Douglas Haig introducing Sir Pertab Singh of India to Gen Joffre of France.

Click on postcards to enlarge them

The war brought an enormous amount of casualties. In October 1914 the Ottoman Empire of Turkey entered the war on the German side. Turkish men, representing the future of Turkey, fought at Gallipoli with great courage. In Turkey though corrupt and incompetent soldiers and irregulars of the army of the Ottoman Empire used the war as an excuse to massacre the Christian Armenians and Greeks within the empire resulting in more than two million innocent dead or enslaved. Terrible battles were fought – The Great War Illustrated book says: “What Gettysburg is to America, Verdun is to France and the Somme is to Britain. These legendary battlefields are still today sacred ground.” (page 156.) The Battle of the Somme lasted 5 months - from July to November 1916 – it produced no strategic gain but over 1 million casualties. The Battle of Verdun in north-eastern France was gruesome and a carnage. It was the longest battle of the war lasting 10 months (Feb to Dec 1916.) The German artillery fired over 21 million rounds and the French artillery 23.5 million. The French won but sustained more casualties (372,000) than the Germans (337,000.) Like the Battle of the Somme it produced no strategic gain but “Above all it normalized collective violence, the signature of our century [20th century.] – The Great War Illustrated, pg 361.


US President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) had vowed to keep America out of the war and had been re-elected because of that pledge. But after Germany sank three American ships in March 1917 the United States declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917. Many Americans were eager to serve and the first troops arrived in France in June 1917. By March 1918 General John J. Pershing had 500,000 troops under his command and he told French General Ferdinand Foch: “We are ready and anxious for a chance to do our part in the fight.” The Germans were very surprised when the fresh American replaced the exhausted French. Violent American attacks stunned the Germans and by November 1918 the Kaiser’s armies had been crushed and were retreating toward their German homeland. Turkey surrendered on 30 October 1918 and Austria-Hungary on 3rd November. At 5:30 am on November 11, 1918 Germany signed an armistice document. The fighting was ordered to end at 11:00 A.M. on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

Click on postcards to enlarge them

Below on the left, is a postcard of Marshal Foch which says: to the American Forces: “Your high spirit, your faith, made decisive victory sure for us.”


The destructiveness of the First World War (WWI) exceeded that of all other wars known to history. In four years the number of military and civilian casualties came to more than 40 millions: 20 millions dead and 21 millions injured. This number includes 9.7 million military deaths and 10 million civilian deaths. As point of reference, in four years the American Civil War had 600,000+ killed. As another point of reference: since June 2003 and up till 20 September 2009 there has been 4345 troops killed in the Iraq war – during World War I over 7500 troops were killed each week. The scale of destruction of WWI was enormous – whole generations were wiped out. Every town in France has a WWI monument with many names inscribed on it. Most French families have a member of their family who died or was severely injured in this war (mine included) and I suspect that it is the same in Germany. Whatever was achieved was not worth the human blood it spilled. People now are interested in World War II but, in truth, WWII had its foundation and roots in WWI.

So to see the leaders of France and Germany standing side by side by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, on this formal ceremony of remembrance, while both country flags were fluttering in the wind and their anthems were being sung, was a poignant and powerful gesture of reconciliation.


This was indeed an historical Armistice Day celebration and we are glad that we could attend it.

“Calm fell. From heaven distilled a clemency;
There was peace on earth, and silence in the sky….”
- Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

Trip report and Happy Thanksgiving

Unfortunately since my return my cold intensified and turned into an infection. I had to have more bed rest and am still taking antibiotics (until Thanksgiving) - but I’d like to make a post to keep in touch. I’ll use some postcards now as I have not looked at all my trip pictures yet. The above photograph is the first one I took upon arrival at the airport. I do thank you for visiting my blog and shall go and visit yours very soon.



During my illness I did read at least 6 or 7 books, some in French e.g. as Henry de Monfreid’s biography. Henry, pictured above, was a French adventurer, smuggler and watercolourist. With his boat he traveled across the Red Sea in the early 1900s and evaded many deadly close calls. He wrote 70 books and if you can find one in an old book store you will enjoy it. You can read more on him here. I also read a small book on the First World War (have another couple to read), a French book by Emile Zola titled “Le Ventre de Paris” (the belly of Paris) and some light reading such as a mystery by the New Zealand writer Ngaio Marsh. That was the good part about being sick - reading. I also thought about my trip and tried to remember what I observed in Europe.

Below is a postcard of the Palace of Catalane Music in Barcelona (by Triangle Postals.)


Here are a few observations, not in order. These are just observations and do not imply that what I observed was better or worse than in the US – they are just my random observations.

1. The people in the countries I visited in Europe wore very dark clothes, mostly black with some navy or dark grey – very few brown or dark green and no vivid colours. About 90% of the women in Paris wore boots of many styles and shapes (boots are quite expensive there.) Trousers were tight and women quite slim – I saw very few overweight people in any of the countries visited. Did not see many jeans or sneakers – just some kids wore them. Also the newer generation is quite tall. There are many young men and women who now are over 6 ft tall.

2. In France the tourists were from Italy, Germany, Spain, Russia, and the Orient – I heard only one American couple (sitting on a bench in Paris eating a sandwich) and just a couple of Brits – could be the time of year. In Spain I heard one American couple on the main road. However, we did not go to many touristy spots.

Postcard of Norvins Street in Montmartre, Paris (by Artertre.)


3. Watching TV – the news included more stories about the world than we get here – the TV channels there gave local news but also news about the USA, Japan, Africa, etc. The weather info included the weather in many parts of the world. There are many game shows on Italian and Russian TVs. France TV was still talking a lot about Michael Jackson and showed old American soaps.

4. I watched television channels from France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Russia, England – there were many channels from each country – but I never found a single religious channel (Christian or otherwise.)

5. A popular reality TV show in France was “Maman Cherche l’Amour” (Mommy is Looking for Love.) I did not watch it but just saw a few clips and it looks like a divorced/widowed/single mother is looking for a partner and a few are offered to her during the show. The interesting observation I made was that when I saw the clip the mother, a white young woman, had selected a young black partner. I don’t think such a show would be popular here or would even appear on TV, but I could be wrong.

Postcard of Tunis, Tunisia (North Africa) (by Carte d’Or.)


6. In Tunisia, a Muslim country, I was surprised to see so many women without a head covering. Most of the younger women in Tunis were bare headed and wore stylish clothes and make-up. I had been there before twice in the 80s and thought that this had changed (more strict) –but it has not.

7. There were many beggars in the main street of Paris and other large cities. They usually come from Eastern Europe (Romania) and also from Colombia. They would sit on the ground - women had kids sitting with them and the men had puppies. I wonder what happens to the dogs when they get older. Puppies are so cute; I guess that is why they use them.

Postcard of a window in Provence (by Septemes-les-Vallons.)



8. A Euro cost $1.50 then (it is $1.54 today.) So everything was 50% more for us. For example 2 cups of coffee at a café, standing by the bar not even at a table, were 3 Euros each (total $9.00 for two cups.) The cheapest lunch was 15 to 20 Euros (about $30 each) in Paris. We did though eat a great couscous in Marseille in the Arab quarter for 6 Euros each.

9. My cousins live in a small town, 17 miles South of Paris. They told me that since my last visit in 2005 there have been several apartment buildings built as well as many condos and a few subdivisions. It was interesting to observe though that for a city of 15,510 people they did not built any new churches. The 13th century church is still the only one in town. By comparison, in my neighborhood near Atlanta, 5 new churches have been built during these same 4 years in addition to the several already here.

Postcard of Malta (by Perfecta Advertising Ltd.)


10. Another observation: in the various countries we visited, including Malta, the country flags were only flown on administrative buildings. We even had a hard time finding the post office in both Malta and Italy because they did not have flags. There were no flags on people houses.

11. I did look but never saw a “God Save Italy” sign or bumper sticker (I guess it would be translated as il Dio conserva l'Italia) or God Save France (could be translated as Que Dieu Sauve la France) or God Save Spain (maybe Dios ahorra España) as we commonly see "God Save America" in the US. I never saw any car in these countries with a flag on its bumper or windshield. Now I am not saying that European countries are not patriotic or that America is too nationalistic – these are just neutral observations which I find interesting.

Postcard of Sicily, Italy (by Cartoleria Nigri Carmen.)


12. During lunches and dinners aboard ship I enjoyed listening to our dinner companions discussing various subjects. Many if not most of them had traveled to the US and enjoyed their visit very much but they could not believe the debates in the US on healthcare policy. It was unreal to them. An article had come out from the US Census Bureau saying that over 46 million Americans were without health coverage. The fact that the lack of health insurance had caused 45,000 preventable deaths in the US last year made a very negative impression at the lunch table. I remember a retired couple from Belgium at lunch saying that it was monstrous for the US in 2008 to have let 17,000 children as well as over 2,000 veterans die due to lack of health care (they said that this was more than 5 times the number of victims from 9/11.) They could not understand why people were not demonstrating in the streets en masse against this. There was a strike in Italy that day and another one in France when we came back – I observed that the European people are not bashful to demonstrate for what they think is their right. The lunching couple told me that it was a disgrace to be so uncaring of the weak and worrying so much about taxes, but I did not want or could not give a satisfying explanation to them. Then when it was reported on Italian News that the American Medical Association said that 50% of children in the US depend on food stamps to eat they were outraged. Changing the subject to travel was a nice respite.

Postcard of of Boccadasse Cove in Genoa, Italy (by Edizioni Marconi)



13. The Italians are, as a rule, very vocal and they voices are quite high. On board the ship most were Italians, and it made for a very, let’s say “dynamic” group. Children up to 17 years old could accompany their parents free of charge, so there was a large number of children and many young couples. In comparison, in the US, cruises tend to have more mature people. About 90% of the families had only one child, usually quite young and the children were not very loud. I rarely heard one scream or talk loud during meals or have the parent talk to them loud like they do here (as if the children are hard of hearing.) Again, these are just observations.

14. The news on TV talked a lot more about the environment, climate change than in the US. Also I read local reports saying that the number one problem was overpopulation rather than climate change (here overpopulation is rarely mentioned.)

15. The latest fashion in Paris is to wear a very long scarf, circled around the neck and hanging almost to your knees (for both men and women.) The “in” color is purple – mostly in the plum shades. I did buy a scarf in this color, but it is not long enough. It was only 14 Euros. Here it is below



16. While riding trains we passed by many cemeteries. All the tombs were covered with fresh flowers, mostly yellow or dark red chrysanthemums. It seems that in early November everybody goes to place flowers on their family graves. Florists offer hundreds of chrysanthemum varieties for that purpose.

17. I observed more people walking in the streets than around here. Also the cars tended to be much smaller. There are few SUVs in cities and even less outside metro areas.

18. One final observation: when people found out that we came from America they were very interested and friendly. We never found a cold reception from French people or from those of other European countries or Asia (we spoke with people from New Zealand and Hong Kong too) and since I can speak French and Italian, they were always interested to find out about where we live and our life here.

These are the few observations I made during the trip. I’ll try to write future posts on the towns visited. But for now I’d like to end this post wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Here is a vintage postcard for this occasion.

Voila! Back in town

We came back from our trip several days ago but I caught a bad cold which developed on the flight back home. Since then I have been staying in bed with a miserable head cold, sore throat, teary eyes and am today just starting to feel better. My head is not clear enough though to write a decent post so I’ll just refer to my post of October 30, Across the Seas to tell you which cities were on the postcards shown in it. Some of you guessed quite well.



All in all we had very good weather. We flew to Paris and took a train to go 27 kms south to stay with my cousins for a couple of days. We went back to Paris and stayed there two more days. We then took a fast train to Marseille and boarded the ship which stopped in the cities shown on the postcards above. When we came back from Marseille we stayed with my cousins again then finished the trip with two more days in Paris. By coincidence we were in Paris on 11 November and that morning could hear the music from our hotel window announcing the start of the celebration for Armistice Day (which is the holiday commemorating the end of World War I.) We walked up the two blocks to the Arc de Triomphe plaza where this was taking place and could see both the French and German flags flying side by side in the wind. In a future post I’ll show the photos taken during this historical event – it was the first time Germany was invited to participate in this celebration.




Back at home we were surprised to see that our azalea bush in front of our kitchen window, which never bloomed in the Fall before, had two small flowers waiting for us. I’ll post them here to thank all my blogging friends who came and visited my blog while I was away.

Gone... So Gone…

Above is a painting by Belgian artist Alfred Stevens (1828-1906) suitably named “On a Stroll.”

We are still away on our little trip. Before I left I read the short poem below and it gave me the idea for this post.

Gone... so gone...

Please excuse if I don't respond.
Far... so far. I can't b reached in a plane or car.
High... so high. Forgive me if there was no goodbyes.
Don't kno if ill b away 4 long
But right now I'm daydreaming
And I'm gone... so gone... – Ryan Jones

Ryan Jones is a young poet from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I did find a vintage postcard of Baton Rouge and here it is below –



From this little trip there should be new landscapes with plenty of photographs and ideas for future posts. This voyage may even include a walk in the autumn woods as in the vintage postcard below –

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” -Marcel Proust

Across the Seas

This post is being published while I am away “across the seas” as we left for a little trip. My daughter will administer the comments for me while I am away.

Rather than telling you where we are I thought I would post some postcards, vintage and new, to give you a hint of the countries and cities we will visit. Let me know if you recognize any scenery.

No. 1 - We flew to this city and may visit this building –




No. 2 - Then we will take the train to this city. The port used to look like this years ago – and it could look the same. I shall take some pictures and bring them back.



No. 3 - Then we will stop in this city and visit this park, may be –



No. 4 - After all the walking we will be pleased to stop in this country and eat some local food –



No. 5 - This will be my first time in this country, which is small but quite old –



No. 6 - I have been in this country several times but never on this island –



No. 7 - I visited this town many years ago when I was a teenager. I am sure much of it has changed, but on the other hand, a lot will be the same –



No. 8 - I stopped in this port with my mum when I was a little girl so I won’t recognize any of it and it will be fun to re-discover it.



So this is my little trip. I picked up the idea of the title for this post by reading one of my vintage cards. The few lines were written by Clifton Bingham (1859-1913) who wrote many verses for children’s picture books in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. He was from England and started working in his family’s extensive bookselling business but then branched out to writing and composing. He wrote the lyrics for the famous song "Love's Old Sweet Song" which was sung by Deanna Durbin the famous Canadian movie star from the 1930s. Here is the well known chorus -

"Just a song at twilight, when the lights are low,
And the flick'ring shadows softly come and go.
Tho' the heart be weary, sad the day and long,
Still to us at twilight comes love's old sweet song."

Here is Clifton Bingham’s little poem from my vintage card, shown below:

“What happier greetings can there be,
Whatever may befall,
Clasp hands with me across the sea,
And God be with us all.”

The Haunted Windsor Hotel in Americus, Georgia

Last August my husband and I drove to middle Georgia where he was attending a sports event. I dropped him off and kept on driving to Americus in Sumter County which is about 116 miles (187 kms) south of Atlanta. We had made reservations at the Windsor Hotel there. This hotel was originally built in 1892 for rich northerners escaping the winter cold.



In 1991 a total of $8 million dollars was invested to restore it authentically. This is an eclectic Victorian hotel with a landmark tower, balconies and an unusual array of window styles. The five-story Queen Anne castle-like structure covers almost a full block of downtown Americus.

Click on the picture to enlarge it

I had heard that this hotel has been recognized as a haunted hotel by the Big Ben Ghost Trackers, a north Florida paranormal group. Their report on the Windsor Hotel, which you can read here, states that based on their investigation they can certify that this hotel is haunted indeed. It seems that in the early 1900s a little girl and her mother who lived in the hotel - as the head housekeeper - were murdered when they were both pushed down the elevator well. Their ghosts still haunt the hotel. Staff and guests have seen the reflection of the woman in a long black gown in a mirror in the hall of the third floor. I went up to the third floor that afternoon, all was quiet and I did not feel nor see anyone.



The kitchen staff has also reported that late at night they have seen pots and pans flying around or are misplaced while the radio is turned on and off mysteriously. Another spirit reported to haunt the hotel is a faithful doorman named Floyd Lowery who worked at the hotel for 40 years.



As I entered the lobby I really felt like I had entered another time of genteel southern elegance. A three-story atrium greets you with balconies, palms, antique chandeliers and comfortable furniture. I loved the original antique golden oak and marble floor.



There are 53 period-style guest rooms with 12-foot ceilings, ceiling fans and plantations shutters. We had a standard guest room. It looked better than in my picture below –



All the guest rooms are individually appointed so that no two rooms are the same. It is rumored than John Dillinger and Al Capone, the famous gangsters, spent the night in what is now the Bridal Suite and had armed bodyguards posted at the bottom of the stairs. The Presidential suite was renamed in honor of President Jimmy Carter who is a native of Sumter County and lives in Plains, about 10 miles from Americus. The Roosevelt Boardroom is so named because Franklin D. Roosevelt made a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in the adjoining balcony in February 1928 – when he was Governor of New York. The hotel itself was named after John T. Windsor, a leader in Americus in the 1880s. You can read more on the history of the Windsor Hotel here.



It was a warm Friday afternoon with few guests in the hotel so I inspected it well, with my camera. I checked the veranda where wicker chairs were inviting me to sit down and relax. I thought it would be better to come back at dusk with a mint-julep or early in the morning with a strong cup of coffee.



From the patio, close to the tower, I could see the other historical buildings facing the hotel.

Don't forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them

Downstairs the mahogany phone booth and cozy parlor looked like they should be in an aristocratic hotel in England rather than in the peanut growing area of middle Georgia.



The dining room looked elegant and inviting -



On the second floor Rosalyn Carter’s Tea Parlor was closed unfortunately – I would have enjoyed a spot of tea there!



Leaving the hotel to take a stroll in town, I passed the 1921 Rylander Theatre where President Jimmy Carter, with 600 guests, celebrated his 85th birthday on 27 September 2009. Passing by the theatre I saw the imprints of President Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn Carter’s hands in cement on the sidewalk.



Americus is also the home of Habitat for Humanity International which is a charitable organization working to eliminate housing poverty around the world. They renovate, repair and make housing for disadvantage families. They have a global village in Americus where you can visit life size Habitat houses from around the world but I did not have time to visit it as it was getting dark, so after a quick picture of an historical marker it was time to go and pick up my husband then drive back to the Windsor Hotel.



The next day we visited the small town of Plains where Jimmy Carter grew up and still lives. But that visit will be recounted in a future post.